Cross Processing
 

Hello everyone - Do any of you have any experience or knowledge of "cross processing". It is a method I may be trying for my next City and Guilds folio and want to find out as much as possible. My first step will be the buy a colour film for my camera!! Should it be a colour reversal or negative film? Help.

Scratching the old grey cells here, never done cross processing myself. Basically you can process form a colour negative with most types of of colour slide film by doing a regular colour negative processing. Equally you can get a colour slide of sorts from a colour negative if you develop it with chemicals designed for colour slide film. If you print from a cross processed negative there will be a strong colour shift, with Ektachrome a strong shift to yellow, but you can use filtration to more or less correct the colour shift and then you will get a marked increase in contrast losing detail, a hard result with simplified colour. All rather hit and miss I seem to remember with the exact result depending on the developing/film combination. Hope that helps, have fun!

Thanks Mike - I m sure that they are not that grey! Going to go down the road of buying a 100 negative film and shooting at 200. Not sure who I am going to use to process it but I can but try. Interesting stuff. I'd love to hear from anyone else who may have knowledge of this technique.

A little puzzled by your reference to buying 100 ISO negative film and processing at 200 as that is push processing which is a different thing altogether. If you are going to do cross processing then you will have to use a lab where you can talk to somebody to explain what you want or your film will be rejected or processed in the 'correct' chemicals and you will just get normal results. Small local (pro?) lab if such things still exist.
PS My brain cells should be grey (apart from the white matter), I just note you do not query the 'old' bit! :D

Definitely mustn't query the "old" bit!!! What I intend to do is use a 100 ISO film but SHOOT the images with the camera set for a 200 film - this should sort out the exposure which I believe is needed if cross processing is to be done. Then I need to find a lab who will know what I want done - rather than someone who hasn't got a clue. There is a good lab in Chelmsford (or so I am told) so will try them in the first instance.

I don't know if this helps, but Phototools 2.5 is a free download that works with Photoshop CS4. Among other things it includes four effects based on cross processing. This might allow you to explore what is possible before committing yourself to using expensive film.

Thanks for your help. I have done a bit of research this afternoon and feel that I have to have a go with film! Nothing like an old fool eh! Although I'll download that file and have a play.

Still puzzled by the 100 ISO film exposed as 200 ISO. All this does is under expose by a stop then compensate by altering the development which increases grain and alters contrast a bit. It was primarily used to gain speed that was otherwise not available or increase grain for artistic reasons. I have never seen any reference to doing this for cross processing so I would be interested to hear more.

I have never done cross processing so I will follow this thread with interest. In fact as its warmer in the house than the workshop I think I'll spend some time tomorrow on a net search to see if that turns out any usefull info.

E6 (transparency) processed in C41 (colour neg) I have heard of but not the other way round. And therein may lay a processing problem if you go the C41 process in E6 route. To avoid overcontamination of a processors chemicals they need to be doing a lot of E6 to allow for processing a single C41. As Most film processors are doing more in colour neg then it would be easier to slot in one E6 film without screwing up the chemicals.

Also if its C41 being processed in E6 I would expect a longer than standard development time rather than exposing the film for push process.

There you go ....... committed myself to get involved now :D :D :D

Don

As far as I can discover cross processing tends to appear to over exposure the film about one stop so to compensate for that you need to double the ISO. This then makes the camera "think" that you are using a faster film. It is worth a punt just to try something different - not sure that my poor long suffering husband thinks the same though. As soon as I get any results I will try to up load them - will need to get then scanned though... Just one more thing to overcome. I would still like to hear from anyone who can add to this thread