Rangefinder Magazine
January 2005

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Lab Profile: dr5
B&W Chromes Reborn With Proprietary dr5 Process

For years, photographers seeking to produce black-and-white chromes directly from their camera film have had little choice. If they were willing to venture into a darkroom, they could buy a direct-positive chemistry kit and process their film, roll by roll. If not, there was only one commercial processing choice: Agfa’s Scala slide film. Now dr5, a unique lab based in Los Angeles, is offering a proprietary process that can produce black-and-white transparencies from a wide variety of standard black-and-white negative films.

Owner David Wood is a photographer who developed the dr5 process because, he says, he couldn’t find a method to produce black-and-white chromes that was suitable 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 offers two options—a neutral gray process named developer-1, and a sepia-type process dubbed developer-2. The company’s web site (www.dr5.com) describes the distinct attributes of dr5 chromes produced on each of several types of film.

Display board shows tests results of some 23 different films in each of the neutral (developer-1) and sepia (developer-2) dr5 processes.

Because of the unique requirements of dr5 processing, Wood commissioned the Italian company Tecnolab to develop a one-of-a-kind custom dip-and-dunk machine according to his specifications. To his surprise, Wood found that using the Tecnolab processor handles the dr5 process, and actually further improves the resulting black-and-white transparencies.

Why Black-and-White Chromes?
But a question arises: In the emerging age of digital imaging, who would want black-and-white chromes? “Any photographer who wants exceptionally high-quality black-and-white images,” Wood replies. “And there should be more of those photographers today than in the last 10 or 20 years. Everything we’re seeing tells us black-and-white imaging is on the rise, so we think this process will be useful—even the standard—for a lot of people.”

Wood’s testing on a variety of films indicates image quality is dramatically better in a dr5 transparency than in its negative counterpart. “Resolution, sharpness, tonal range—in every respect, the image quality is improved,” he says. “D-Max is 15 to 20 percent greater. There’s detail further into the darkest shadows and lightest highlights than in traditional black-and-white negatives, and far more detail in dr5-processed film than in the prints made from negatives.”

An independent dr5 test by Richard Lohmann: “Here are some comparisons of films and processing options. With the loss of Tech Pan film, and the problem of film grain becoming more apparent when scanned, (opposed to enlargement) many digital photographers are looking for better ways to process their black and white films. dr5 Chrome processing shows a distinct advantage over film processed as a negative. Velvia, when scanned and converted to grayscale shows more grain than this illustration describes, when large amounts of contrast are applied.”

The black-and-white chromes that result from the dr5 process also yield exceptional scans—even better, Wood claims, than scans from negative films. Of course, because the original camera film can be viewed as transparencies, photographers can see and pre-edit their work without having to make contact sheets or enlargements first. That reduces the turnaround time and costs involved in pre-production processing.

Testing indicates the dr5 process also offers great versatility for push-and-pull processing, allowing photographers to choose from a range of effective ISOs and contrast ranges. Of course, different films respond differently to the process.

Premier dr5 Film: Kodak Professional Tri-X / (TXP)
Wood began developing his dr5 process using Kodak Professional Tri-X Film (TXP), and he continues to consider it the most versatile film in the process. “It’s the premiere film in dr5,” he says. “Its range is exceptional in the process.” Tri-X film can be shot anywhere between ISO 20 and 320, but Wood considers 125 its normal speed. He says users can increase contrast dramatically at higher speeds or pull more detail and less contrast out of images at lower speeds. The range can be up to 10 stops! Wood rates the non-professional version of Tri-X film, TX, at speeds ranging from 200–1000.

Shot by David Wood on Kodak Plus X film, processed in dr5 Developer 1.	Shot by David Wood on Kodak Plus X film, processed in dr5 Developer 2.

Wood counsels all photographers to test their favorite films extensively in the process. “I designed this process to give the photographer the largest amount of control possible—essentially putting a custom darkroom inside the camera,” Wood says. “That means photographers can change the contrast, speed and tonal range at will, simply by changing the ISO or picking another film type.”

In all, Wood has tested his dr5 process with 23 different film types, and outlines the results of each of those tests on the web site. He’s also happy to spend time talking with photogra-phers who want to try the process, and suggest a film type based on their needs.

The dr5 process can be used for Agfa’s Scala slide film, too, once the only option for black-and-white transparencies. And Wood says Scala film performs well in dr5—even better, he believes, than in the Scala process. “Regardless,” Wood asks, “with all the black-and-white negative films available at less than half the cost (of transparency film), and with most producing better image quality in dr5, is the added cost of a transparency film worth it?”

	Shot by David Wood on Kodak TXP film, processed in dr5 Developer 1.

The Road to dr5
Wood’s quest to develop a black-and-white chrome process began when he was a fledgling fashion photographer. He researched the old reversal processes, bought raw chemicals, and began experimenting on his own. When one of those experiments yielded a horrid smell that almost got him evicted, Wood decided to go back to school to study chemistry. He stumbled on a formula that worked well for Kodak’s TXP film and stuck with that film for his future research.

Wood kept the process to himself until 1998, when he was working in Los Angeles and had a meeting with Bill Pyne and David Alexander of A&I Color Lab. A&I’s affiliate lab, AIM in downtown Los Angeles, began offering the process. The lab would collect the film and Wood would process it all—by hand—in the loft he converted to a lab. “I had maybe 20 to 30 rolls a day, and it would take me all day to do the processing using an old Arkay rotary machine,” he says.

At this point, he had only one developer, which yielded the sepia-tone result. Wood continued experimenting to develop a neutral developer. After six months, developer-1 was ready for commercial use. He took his process to the Photo District News West Coast show in June 1998 and helped A&I win the “Best of Show” award for the process.

Image by Leah Walker, shot on Kodak High-speed Infrared.

In late 1999, Wood decided to take the plunge and have a custom processor designed, and determined that Tecnolab was the company to make the machine. That was a $100,000 gamble, but it gave him the capacity to do 100 to 200 rolls per day (depending on the number of rolls requiring pushing or pulling). Wood thought he would need two machines, one each for the developer-1 and developer-2 processes.

Instead, Tecnolab proposed a machine that could handle both. The result is a three-lift processing machine with 15 tanks. Normal development time is about two hours. Wood typically processes a batch of developer-1 in the morning and a batch of developer-2 in the afternoon, though the machine can actually accommodate both processes at once.

He initially set up his dr5 lab in New York City, where the processor was delivered and set up in early August 2001—about a month before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The impact on business from those events prompted him to return to Los Angeles. Dr5 was up and running until that time. He’s also planning to add a custom black-and-white negative processing and fiber-based paper printing, as well as black-and-white positive cinema film processing, to round out the business.

Spending Time With Customers
Despite all the changes, one thing has remained constant: Wood provides exhaustive customer support. “The process needs extraordinary customer service because of its versatility,” he explains. “With the variable-contrast range you can achieve on the TXP film, and with the 23 film types to choose from in all, plus neutral and sepia tone options, if a photographer calls and says, ‘What do I use?’ you don’t just say ‘Use anything.’ You have to spend time and give customers a lot of attention to help them get optimal results. I’m happy to do it because the process delivers such terrific results.”

Will dr5 become widely accepted as the premier process for photographers using black-and-white film? Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, Wood says his business venture has paid a variety of dividends. “I really like the idea that I’m giving something back, providing something that photographers can use,” he says. “I’m actually more involved in the photographic community now than I ever was when I was shooting. Photographers don’t really collaborate on things easily. I have more photographer friends now than I ever did in the past. I’m not a threat to them; now I’m an ally.”

For more information on the dr5 process, contact David Wood via email at drwood@dr5.com, visit his web site at www.dr5.com/, or call dr5 lab at (323) 933-1dr5.