WHAT THEY SAY

01-29-08, 10:31 Jacques D. Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Belgium - - APUG.ORG
Indeed, nothing compares to slides...I shoot a lot, both in color (Velvia 50 & 100, E100VS) and black & white (Pan-F, Foma R100, Rollei PAN 25, APX-100, TMX100, Efke CHS25...) The best process for b&w slides is dr5 in Denver, Colorado. Definitely worth the wait (about 3 weeks if you live in Europe like me) and for their quality and service, the price is not excessive. To enjoy slides it is important, to have a good projector. My Leica P2002 is still delivering the goods... I know, I may be a bit conservative, my cameras belong to another era too (Leica III, IIIa, M2, M6, MP, Nikon FM, FM2, F2, FT2). I am just a hobbyist fooling around and having a lot of fun with photography and I cannot imagine that my photography will get any better with all dancing, all singing AF digital camera's... Jacques

gavin smith , sep 22, 2005; 11:09 a.m. PHOTO.NET
I'm from Scotland and used a lot of Scala until fairly recently. I now use Ilford Delta 100, and get it processed by dr5 in the US. This film is incredible in dr5, much better than the results I've had with Scala. I use it for landscape work. I find it much easier to use than Scala, it has a great exposure latitude and great tonal range. It also makes beautiful Cibachrome prints. Regards the cost, it actually works out cheaper for me to buy Delta in the UK then get it processed 10 rolls at a time in the US than it did for me to buy Scala in the UK and get it processed by Primary in London! Dr5 customer service is excellent too, answering any queries and doing the best job with developing I've seen.

02-14-2007, 05:11 PM RICK OLSEN - APUG.ORG Marsbars ... I too have used this process for the past few years, mostly with HP-5. In fact, my avatar is an HP-5 image processed using DR-5. I photograph steam railroads and it's a real treat to shoot HP-5 at 800-1000 and get the great detail when dealing with the motion of steam trains. I have also used other film for still shots (Efke 25, Ilford FP-4) and the images were spectacular. Try a random lot of film to test out the tonal range and then send it off to DR-5. This way you can select the film that gives you the "look" you want. This is fun stuff. Good luck!! Rick.

Michael Gilday , aug 16, 2005; 02:15 p.m. PHOTO.NET
My very limited experience with Scala has been relatively poor. Processed normally, as EI 200, I found it to be very flat and low in contrast, unlike KR64 or E100. Processed by DR5, it was significantly better, more like E100 than Kodachrome, though with a little better exposure latitude (which may just be an inherent benefit of the faster film). After trying Efke 100 and Tri-X in DR5, though, I stopped using Scala; it's cheaper, I liked the results better, and, more recently, I'm not concerned about the continuing availability of Tri-X, though Scala may become unavailable in the not-too-distant future.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-28678.html ldhayden@mac.co 09-21-2006, 20:59 .....The dr5 process is well worth the money for both it's quality as well as the time savings in getting B&W chromes. I shot with a Mamiya 7 and have used the dr5 process extensively over the last few years. I'm not where I can post images but you can check out my blog for some of the images and a link to the dr5 site. Larry; http://haydenphotos.blogspot.com/

DR5 Slides Awesome! Randall Pukalo , feb 24, 2006; 07:36 p.m.I decided to experiment and try the dr5 black and white slide process. Just got back my first slides, and they are awesome! I tried Scala, HP5, and T-Max100 in this process. Each has a unique result. The Scala looks just like regular Scala in the Scala process (so this is a good replacement lab now that all but Main Photo can no longer do Scala). HP5 gives a very contrasty result with very black blacks, it reminds me of old photos. I shot it at 800 iso. T-Max 100 is my favorite - a neutral lower contrast black and white, with incredible resolution and lack of grain. Now I want to try the Sepia dr5 process with these films. Anyways, I highly recommend dr5 for anyone who wants to try something new and unique. If you have not tried BW slides, you will be in for a nice surprise. (hint, shoot people/emotions, or try architecture).

PHOTO TIP FOR THE WEEK: dr5!!! For those of you shooting film check out this traditional process offered by David Wood. I use it for all of our current works and compared to processing I was doing in house to include PMK this is better in virtually all cases. Here's the deal: most current black and white films can be exposed (according to required or desired contrast range) and then sent to dr5 for processing...the difference is that dr5 uses in-house proprietary chemistry and technologies resulting in transparencies (slides) -not negatives. These black and white beauties have extremely fine grain, great sharpness and a tonal range up to 11 stops! (Try that with a digital camera!) Additionally, slides scan better than negatives (on most scanners) and are far easier to edit. Check it out! Respectfully (if not humbly...) submitted,
Stephen M. Schaub

--Delivered-To: Received: 2 Jun 2004 23:57:22 SMTP; 2 Jun 2004 23:57:22 -0000Received: from Puufoto@aol.comby
Subject: FYI Hi Everyone, Sorry for the bulk e mail. The DR5 B&W process film just came back. (The Genesis stuff shot in Eden) It is stunning. By the time I digitize and adjust everything some of these images will be artistically the best work I have ever done. I am so fortunate I chose this process nd the lab did such a superior job with it!!! Great subjects breed great images. Thank you ALL for helping to put such strong content to film. Look forward to seeing you all. Things are a bit rushed as I leave for SF on Sat, and Huahine on Tues. to work for an artist. I will e mail some of these as soon as they are complete. Best, David

APUG 2/2005 : I've used dr5 a couple of times, and really like the process much better than Scala. I think the range and depth of tone is far greater with dr5 than with Scala. As David G. mentioned, the dr5.com website has lots of samples of both dr5 processes (neutral and gold/sepia toned) with various films. Obviously, it's most applicable to applications where the end product is scanned, projected, or printed via Ilfochrome. And, it may take a little fine tuning at the exposure end (clip tests are helpful on the first couple of tries). Once you're zeroed in, though, the results are absolutely yummy. Ralph Barker San Jose, CA


--To @dr5.com Received: 24 Apr 2004 00:40:18 -0000 Received: Subject: Customer Comments From: Mark Booth
Hello Dave, My son Tim and I have been sending film in for processing for the last 6 months or so, we have become convinced after careful assessment that dr5 is truly a revolutionary enhancement for those committed to absolute quality. We shot a wide-range of b&w film with our Leica systems and have compared traditional negative development with dr5 processing. We incorporate both traditional darkroom and digital output into our work. Hands down we see improvements with scanning detail, tonal separation, and exceptional sharpness. We have every reason to believe that dr5 should be very archival, perhaps on the order of Scala processed slides or even Kodak Kodachrome Professional slide film. For special exhibition projects we send our work to either West Coast Imaging in Oakhurst, California or to Duggal in New York. I look forward to printing with the new Chromira digital enlarging process by Fuji- similar to Lightjet, or a fine b&w Piezography print from a dr5 transparency. Thanks for your excellent service and support. Look forward to our continual use of your services with many of our future projects. Sincerely, Mark Booth ; Sammamish, WA

"BEST OF SHOW" AWARDS ANNOUNCED AT PHOTOPLUS WEST; ATTENDEES CHOOSE BEST PRODUCTS AND COMPANIES AT LOS ANGELES EXPO New York, New York -- The winners of the Best of Show awards were announced last week at the PhotoPlus Expo West show in Los Angeles. Attendees voted for their favorite products and companies in 14 categories ranging from cameras and lenses to darkroom products. The annual event, which took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, features seminars, product demonstrations and hands-on capabilities for professional photographers and serious amateurs. Special Achievement Award: DR5-CHROME for its introduction of the .dr5 process, which produces black-and-white reversal images from a wide variety of black-and-white negative films in a neutral and sepia form.