Kodak Vision2 500T in Microphen

std · Joined: 09 Feb 2010 Posts: 1826 Location: Bulgaria

Inspired by Ian's success here http://forum.mflenses.com/kodak-vision2-500t-in-fomadon-lqr-t50804.html with this cine film i have decided to try it too. The one i have found is part of a 1000ft roll 35mm Kodak Vision2 500T - 500 iso for tungsten light - it was not stored in cold place and i guess it is expired long time ago. This film has anti-halation backing layer called remjet. It is supposed to be removed prior to development but i did removed it at the last bath. You just need to soak the fixed film in solution of water and 1 spoon of baking soda for several minutes. Most of the remjet comes by itself after few strong agitations and you can wipe the rest with a sponge. The film looks a little bit thicker than normal 35mm film and lays very flat after drying.

After development following text appeared near the perforation: EH 25 8036 8789+32 EASTMAN 5218 033 0441 425 NE

The first test strip developed in Rollei RHS developer was a total disaster - very underdeveloped almost no image and clear orange film. This time i have tried it in Ilford Microphen 1+1 and surprisingly it came out good - the film now looks more brown in color.

After scanning i have noticed that it has lots of grain with this developer. I have to order Fomadon LQR at last Smile

There is sharpness and details but the grain is too much for my taste.
The samples below are shot Contax G1 with 2/35mm Planar @ISO 500.

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iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Not bad at all for a first attempt. Some looks pretty good. I agree that it's a bit thicker than more film and it does dry very flat.

Last few days since I ran out of Fomadon I've had to try some other developers with this film. I tried Paterson FX-39 first and results were bad, lots of grain and low contrast. Then I treed Speedibrews Celer-Stellar which was okay but still too grainy. Today I tried D-76 which is also okay but too grainy.

So I'm definitely sticking to Fomadon LQR for this film, I'm also going to try Fomadon LQN with it.

David · Expire: 2013-01-25

So the code that appeared after developing is Kodak's keycode system. They put it in use some time in the 1980s, I think, to facilitate TV production stockpiling and cataloging.

So let's figure out what this means.

EH 25 8036 8789+32 EASTMAN 5218 033 0441 425 NE

EH -- Kodak 5218 manufactured by Eastman Kodak. As of 2002, that was a currently made film.
25 8036 -- a six-digit code to identify your spool.
8789 -- a four-digit number that increases once per foot.
+ -- zero-frame reference mark.
Barcode -- a machine-readable code. I'm not a machine, so who knows what it means. Or maybe I am a machine.
Eastman -- film manufacturer. I'm unsure why they need the redundancy from the "E" in the EH code.
5218 -- product code.
033 -- emulsion number.
0441 -- roll and part number.
425 -- printer number
NE -- year code. I don't know the year codes.

And YES I do have that all memorized!

Not really. Here's the link.
http://motion.kodak.com/motion/uploadedFiles/US_plugins_acrobat_en_motion_postProduction_keykode_35mm.pdf

std · Joined: 09 Feb 2010 Posts: 1826 Location: Bulgaria

Thanks for pointing that out David Smile

I couldn't find what year NE means but found this on Kodak website

2002

KODAK VISION2 500T Color Negative Film 5218/7218 (EH), is the first product available in the VISION2 product family and features revolutionary low grain, providing superior image quality in all formats, with cleaner telecine transfer.

So it is not that old after all.
I think i have to try one roll in c41 chemistry.

David · Expire: 2013-01-25

I processed 50D in C-41 and had good results. However, it was VERY green. So your colors will be off. Also, there's some debate as to how long the negatives will last when processed in C-41.