WHAT THEY SAY

A persistent client and the worlds largest encyclopedia has graciously thought the dr5 process worthy of being unique: WIKI listing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr5

@yahoo.com>Delivered-To: info2@dr5.comReceived: (qmail 17480 invoked by uid 399); 21 Sep 2008
I just wanted to thank you personally for the wonderful professionalism in processing and sending back my 220 film TXP320.
The results are astonishing! I did a ton of bracketing, since this was my first try with the dr5 process, but still came away with several "keepers" from the rolls. That is much better than I do normally, and I think that the processing brought out the rich tonalities and depth of the image very very nicely. This has proved to me that dr5 is NOT just for portraiture, but shows excellent results in landscape imagery as well. Scanned with my Epson V700. By the way...scanning the transparencies was a JOY! My usual workflow was cut by over 50% because the film scanned so well. Laurence

From: Jeffry Plomley / Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2008 5:12 AM Subject: Shipment Received Hey Dave, Just wanted to let you know I received the shipment. The processing looks awesome! Delta-100 is just a great film for fall colors. The spectral response to yellow is phenomenal. Ireally hope you can make it through to the other side of this economic crisis because I love what you can do with B&W trannies. I've shown many colleagues these chromes and they just cannot believe the results, particularly the scan quality. Makes shooting 4x5 worth all of the effort. All the best, Jeff

Got the film : Received: (qmail 21572 invoked by uid 399); 25 Jul 2008 17:27:21 -0000 David just want to tell you I received my five rolls of Scala and they look perfect to me.  I am definitely sold on dr5 and have more from last week’s trip to the Bristlecones to send you.  You are head and shoulders above the other guys! Thanks for clean processing and prompt service. Donna Cosentino Associate Professor, Palomar College And owner of Photographic Explorations Workshops

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


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

Focus on Imaging August 2004 : Viewpoint by Bill Hurter
From the film quarter comes an equally exciting development—the dr5 process for producing black-and-white transparencies. Like all great innovations, photographer David Wood developed the proprietary dr5 process because he couldn’t find a suitable method to produce black-and-white chromes for his own work. He applied his own chemistry background to the problem and over the past decade has perfected the process. Today, Wood’s lab, called dr5, offers two options—a neutral gray process named developer-1, and a sepia process dubbed developer-2. The company’s web site (www.dr5.com) describes the distinct attributes of dr5 chromes produced on each of several film type. Perhaps the best candidates for the dr5 process are Tri-X Professional film, which can be exposed from ISO 20–320 and non-pro Tri-X (ISO 100–1000). With detail deep into the darkest shadows and skimpiest highlights and a D-Max of 4.70, this seems like a winning combo. See page 27 for more details. Bill Hurter/Editor


--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.