Would you buy and use a modern Autochrome type film?

[ME Super]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this isn't ever going to approach the quality (resolution, colour accuracy) of current C41 and E6 processes, is it? If so, I definitely wouldn't be a regular user but I might give it a once-off blast if it didn't require the purchase of large/expensive quantities of chemistry. If I could soup it using my C41, E6 or RA4 chems sitting on the shelves, all the better.

It would have to be film; I'm not bothering with a plate holder or new processing tanks. It'll have to either fit in a Paterson or Jobo 120 spiral or a 3010. I'd prefer 120 but if you're manufacturing this small-scale, my guess is that sheets are an easier option, in which case I'm fine with 4x5. ISO12 is usable for me though 25 would be better. And you'll need to provide development times/instructions for rotary development.

I would scan it for sure, but reversal processing or something printable to RA4 are both fine options. If the colour is good, I'd probably prefer reversal.

Price would need to be about $5/sheet (4x5") or less - you're competing with $2/sheet E6.

I'm with polyglot; it would need to be film - for me it would need to be 35mm. If this criteria could be met, then yeah, I'd buy it.

Dufaycolor is an additive color process, where the colors are put in "grains" in front of the light-sensitive layer. As such it would only need B&W reversal processing chemistry; no need for CD3, CD4, or the now-discontinued CD6.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dufaycolor

[erikg]

Autochrome was similar, just needed b&w reversal processing. Beautiful look, not at all like modern color. I'd be interested. Couldn't you just make the screen and sandwich that with a sheet of film?

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

Call me among the "let me see the results first" crowd.

I wouldn't be looking for an equivalent to E6 in terms of grain and fidelity, but if it is something with real character (e.g. the original Autochrome, which loses in the "objective" category but wins oh! so much in the "subjective" one!), then I can be a consumer for life.

Given that colour slide is now either Fuji or Fuji, anything new would be cool.

I would love 120, so that my 6x6 projector could be useful for the years to come. Even glass plates would be cool: that's why I got that plate back for my Rolleiflex! Shoot a square on 6.5x9, cut down with diamond, mount or tape corners, slip in trays, voilà!

[jnanian]

if i could afford it, i would use it,
large format would be nice

[Photo Engineer]

These imaging methods would not be even close to anything on the market today.

PE

[Prof_Pixel]

Polaroid offered an additive color film (Polachrome slide film) and the results never looked good to me.

[keithwms]

These imaging methods would not be even close to anything on the market today.

PE

Nor is daguerreotype nor a lot of other historical processes, but....

[Brian C. Miller]

I would buy an Autochrome-type film for the effect, and I would buy a Dufay-type film to use if normal color process film became unavailable. Dufay film was available in 120, so I'm sure that nothing will change for that process.

Since Ilfochrome will no longer be made, that would mean a replacement paper would have to be developed. The other alternative would be a balance for RA-4.

A prototype Dufay might be constructed using the Efke Aura. I would try printing a screen on the back using pigment ink, and then see if that survived normal processing. Their normal IR seems to have a decent back side for retouching, and it at least accepts marker ink quite easily.

[Oxleyroad]

I'd sure like to be be one to give this a go.

[holmburgers]

Thanks for all the comments everyone. Your participation in this "market research" has been most appreciated!

Here are some thoughts of mine...

35mm is probably not possible, but 120 should be. 4x5" would definitely be the bread and butter of any screen-plate product line, though you'd have to make 8x10" available just for the sheer sake of seeing something like that!

I agree that it's gotta be on film, no plates. ISO 25 seems like a good benchmark, but I suspect that means you'd have to have an emulsion of 400 or so. The screen will absorb a significant amount of light. I think good reciprocity characteristics (or at the least, well published correction tables) would be ideal.

Processing could be normal negative development, yielding a color negative to be printed on RA-4. But let's face it, more realistically they're going to be scanned and shared online. Scannability is crucial to the success of a modern screen-plate, and my experiments with slide-film reseaus show that the denisty is quite a bit more than my Epson 4990 can handle. Something to think about...

Negative processing would allow for pushing, which might be interesting. Reversal (positive) processing would be more rigid.

I think it'd be cool to team up with dr5 for reversal processing services, while also having a well tested procedure for obtaining good results at home. This would be the "recommended" method.

The results aren't going to approach anything resembling E6 or C-41, but that's not the point at all.