Topic: solarizing negatives?

[moominsean]

anyone ever successfully solarized bw film negatives? i found one pdf on the web that explains how to do it, but i'm curious if anyone has previous experience or examples. i've done it with prints, of course, but the neg thing sounds interesting.

[Francois]

I've never done it but read that it gives you thicker Mackie lines.
I have an old GAF tank with a clear plastic reel that was made for inverting slides... basically the same thing as solarizing a negative. Probably makes things easier.

I have a few books where they explain it. Here is a short description:

For a high contrast negative, you can use Lith film processed for 3 minutes in lith developer. Rinse for 30 seconds. Exposed to a 7 1/2 watt bulb at 120cm (4 feet) for 30 seconds. Process again for  2 minutes.

For lower contrast, duplicate the negative on Kodak fine grain positive (old book ). Process for 1 minute in paper developer. Put in a tray of water for 30 seconds. Expose to a 25 watt bulb at 120 cm (4 feet) for 15 to 30 seconds. Develop for another minute.

By doing the solarization at 25% to 50% of the processing time will give the best results.

So... there you have it. It also works with negatives on regular film. Only thing is that if you mess up, the entire roll is at risk. The power of the bulb should be in relation to the film speed. Tri-X will require less wattage than Plus-X...