P3D RE: B&W Slides : infrared

["Brown, Fritz LABS" <brownf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Marco writes:
;But note that Kodak HIE isn't very well suited for reverse processing.

At the behest of another list member responding to my offer to proces a roll
of slides,  I went out today and shot a test roll of HIE and worked out the
reverse processing conditions for it.  It worked out rather nice in the end.
The Dmax is nice and dense (I haven't done any densitometry on it so I cant
give numbers,  but visually it looks to be pushing 2.0 or better).  Dmin
isnt too bad either.  I dont have a loupe handy right now,  so I cant give
my impressions on the grain structure yet.  In general reverse processing
gives finer grain than processing for negatives.  The contrast seems to be
just a little flat for my tastes, but there isn't a whole lot of IR out
there today and I was working with pretty flat light conditions. That
probably goes a long way to explaining the contrast.

All in all I would say that HIE is not too bad a film for reverse
processing.  Now I'm just waiting for the requester to shoot and send me his
film.  Can't wait.

;There's a brand new infrared film MACO IR 820 that's probably great for
;this kind of application (haven't tried it yet). Check out my page for
;more details:
;
;http://www.pauck.de/marco/photo/infrared/maco/maco.html
;
;MACO also sells other b/w films that can be used for reverse processing.

This is the first time I have ever heard of MACO films.  Are they pretty
popular in europe?  Their IR film sounds interesting.  Is there any
information available as to the spectral sensitivity curve?  On your site
you say they are selling their pre-run off before they start actual
production.  Is any of it available in the US or is it only available in
Germany right now?  I would be interested in giving a few rolls of it a try
just for giggles if nothing else.

;BTW: Kodak has a *new* kit of chemicals for this, and Tetenal will also
;bring a new kit on the market within the next few weeks.

First I've heard of this too.  Any details available anywhere?

Thanks
 -Fritz M. Brown