General

photo

Cine

B&W REVERSAL NOTES

We offer B&W Reversal processing because no one else does in the UK anymore (if they do, they outsource) and the feedback we receive is that lots of people want to shoot on B&W reversal without the headache of sending their films abroad - but there are important things to note!!!

B&W Reversal is a highly specialised process with fine margins.

We process CINE B&W reversal by hand using Lomo Tanks for 16mm / 8mm Formats. Lomo tanks themselves generate acceptable but not commercial quality results - it’s the nature of the Lomo Tank with few exceptions.

We process PHOTO B&W Reversal by hand in Paterson tanks which are similarly not immune from uneven processing though better than a Lomo tank (in our opinion).

Uneven processing and cases of silver retention / silver removal are not uncommon and should be expected / factored into your purchase decision particularly if the footage is required to be of a commercial quality.

Whilst every care is taken, we have seen instances where films (particularly old expired films) don’t hold up too well with this highly (highly!!) acid process despite using hardening fixers.

We follow the Ilford method using PQ Universal Developer and a permanganate based bleach. This is not always the strictly recommended process by Kodak, Foma or Adox as it’s an Ilford process.

We have performed various tests on this chemistry and found it the best balance of results vs ease of use.

We also regularly strip test our chemistry and only re-use the clarifier and fixer that have very high capacity.

Developers and Bleach are performed as one-shot for a batch (max 2 films per batch).

The only machine processed B&W reversal process we are aware of is in Europe / USA.

Please bear this all in mind and if in doubt - reach out!