Recreating CIA Technology Was Surprisingly Easy (Microdots)

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ธ.ค. 2024

ความคิดเห็น • 1.2K

  • @jkasaunder228
    @jkasaunder228 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +524

    During WW2, The UK used around 250,000 pigeons for various tasks. Some of which were used to converse with spys behind enemy lines. 32 of these pigeons received medals of the highest level for their service.

    • @julialungan4722
      @julialungan4722 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +46

      Cher Ami is one of the more famous prized pigeons. He delivered his message even tho he was shot, lost a leg and an eye and saved the lives of 200 soldiers (at least im pretty sure it was 200, i cant remember the exact number) that were stuck behind enemy lines and were being shot at even by their own people.

    • @dhonkeypunch
      @dhonkeypunch 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      a Lot of them wound up as succulent meals

    • @helpmaboab7
      @helpmaboab7 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      @@dhonkeypunch Not much of a retirement scheme.

    • @HueghMungus
      @HueghMungus หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      ​@@dhonkeypunchEveryone starving would eat a flying chicken nuggets. If I get stranded on a deserted island with someone weaker than me, if it is a man, I would eat him, if it is a woman then we start a family. That is just natures law 😂😂😂

    • @DrAxelStoll369
      @DrAxelStoll369 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      btw. they'd already used pigeons with cams attached during WW I.

  • @zoria2718
    @zoria2718 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1152

    As someone who used to be into the black and white photography in the 80s: yes, you can use the developer multiple times, but for each next film add some more development time (I've no idea how much exactly - I'm sure I used way different mixtures, in my case it was like +30 seconds for each next film).

    • @zoria2718
      @zoria2718 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +46

      (usually I used it to develop up to 5 film rolls)

    • @PaulusFlorage
      @PaulusFlorage 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

      Now I'm asking myself what happens if you would let it develop for too long?

    • @theterribleanimator1793
      @theterribleanimator1793 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +75

      @@PaulusFlorage ruins the image. Not in a cool sorta artistic way, it will just look like crap.

    • @anteshell
      @anteshell 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +14

      @@theterribleanimator1793 But crap can be artistic? Ever heard of _Artist's Shit?_

    • @alfepalfe
      @alfepalfe 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +17

      Blazinal is as far as I can tell Rodinal which is a one-shot developer.

  • @kolliwanne964
    @kolliwanne964 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3319

    Trying to read the small print in any banking contract be like

    • @Nagria2112
      @Nagria2112 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +86

      that still legal in your country? we made a law for minimal size - easy fix

    • @kieranclarke8899
      @kieranclarke8899 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +30

      How is your comment 2 days old on 1 hour old video?

    • @kolliwanne964
      @kolliwanne964 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +74

      @@kieranclarke8899 I travelled into the past with a time machine, dont tell the CIA.

    • @Nagria2112
      @Nagria2112 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@kieranclarke8899 youtube membership has early access to videos

    • @madbanana22
      @madbanana22 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@kieranclarke8899early access for paid subscribers?

  • @mcb187
    @mcb187 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1599

    Hey! Just a head’s up, you aren’t even getting the best possible results here, you’re using film with much too course a grain. You do mention that however you also seem to maybe be under the impression that you can’t get film better suited for the job. You can, actually, look for repackaged microfilm. Adox CMS 20 II is a common one, however you can get an even more fine grain film called MZ-3 from a Ukrainian company called Astrum. It’s ISO 1-3, and has insane contrast. If developed properly it will probably out-resolve your microscope. If you’re interested in seeing how far you can take this, I suggest checking it out!

    • @mcb187
      @mcb187 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +78

      Sent you a message regarding how you can get some of this film.

    • @sirloin6002
      @sirloin6002 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +45

      there are other ulta low iso film easily available in the US, from film photography project or wolfen, don't need to track down obscure ukranian film

    • @sensorer
      @sensorer 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +30

      I'm from Ukraine and I can find mentions of MZ-3, but cannot find a place to buy it :(

    • @mcb187
      @mcb187 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +34

      FPP sells MZ-3 and other low ISO films yes, but The Thought Emporium is based in Canada, so shipping is expensive, on top of the already high markup FPP has. For reference, 60M of MZ-3 direct from Astrum can probably be had for US$150-175. It’s even better if you order a ton of film at once like I did in May, around 1.5k ft of various film stocks in 35mm, 46mm (127) and 61.5mm (120) in bulk rolls.

    • @mcb187
      @mcb187 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +22

      @sensorer Look up Astrum LTD, they have a contact form on their site. Unfortunately can’t share the email here because TH-cam will auto delete it

  • @classicmax794
    @classicmax794 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1506

    0:56 two distinct neural pathways in my brain that have not been used in years have just been reinforced with the strength of titanium. you have committed a crime.

    • @terrariapro147
      @terrariapro147 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +92

      I JUST LOST THE GAME!

    • @MartinBuzon
      @MartinBuzon 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      😂😂😂

    • @Scootz_
      @Scootz_ 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +28

      This should be illegal

    • @NickiRusin
      @NickiRusin 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      fucking EVIL

    • @whenindoubtgotowikipedia.8292
      @whenindoubtgotowikipedia.8292 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

      @@terrariapro147What game? I forgot about any game😊

  • @korhonenmikko
    @korhonenmikko 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +205

    Pedantic correction: rolls of microform material are called microfilm and individual sheets are called microfiche.

    • @theKashConnoisseur
      @theKashConnoisseur 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +24

      Using the correct terminology prevents miscommunication and errors in understanding, so such corrections are appreciated.

    • @avsystem3142
      @avsystem3142 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      Microfilm is also used in discrete strips, not just rolls. See my comment above.

    • @TheZaxx
      @TheZaxx 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Interesting. Clears up some confusion I've had for years.

    • @RolandHutchinson
      @RolandHutchinson 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Another microform (the most general term) is the microcard, which, like microfiche has a grid of several page images (and it is similar in size and content to the microfiche), but it is an opaque, positive image, like a glossy photographic print, rather than a transparency. It's more or less what you would get by printing a negative microfiche on ordinary black-and-white photographic print paper. They were never as popular as microfilm (the earliest) or microfiche, and it could be a bit of a pain to find a reader. Nowadays I suppose a high-resolution flatbed scanner could be used to read them.

    • @fipachu
      @fipachu 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      @@avsystem3142 Yeah, TH-cam comments are not that neatly organized.

  • @bigmanbigplans7953
    @bigmanbigplans7953 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +18

    Making me lose THE GAME is CRAZZZZYYYY WORKKKK!!! I haven't thought about it in years!!!!😭😭😭😭 You broke the streak!!! 00:58

  • @astrokicked
    @astrokicked 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +839

    > "film is cheap"
    > proceeds to show Ilford
    LMAO

    • @T0fu-Freedom
      @T0fu-Freedom 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +19

      :Ye: Didn´t expected ilford look like this he must had made the development 100 percent right

    • @alfepalfe
      @alfepalfe 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +33

      Depends on where you live, sure, not *cheap* but a lot cheaper than Kodak at least where I live.
      Though I mostly use bulk rolled fomapan.

    • @BlixenBlorp
      @BlixenBlorp 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +33

      he's definitely a beginner...

    • @xander1052
      @xander1052 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +25

      @@alfepalfe Where I am Ilford and it's sub brand Kentmere are pretty much the king of budget for me, Kentmere is 50p cheaper than Foma and HP5 and co aren't much more.

    • @MrA3523
      @MrA3523 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +20

      FYI, DMEM is like CAD$80+ for 500ml, compared to that "film is cheap".

  • @zackl3094
    @zackl3094 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +249

    Old photography rule - f/8 and be there.
    Expand on this a bit: if you're in a hurry f/8 will usually be sharp enough if you focus well. Your glass may be its sharpest a bit more open or a bit more stopped down than this. Fast glass is typically at its best a stop or two down from max (largest, widest, smallest number) aperture. So like a f/2.8 lens might be happiest at f/4 or perhaps f/5.6. Kit glass, cheap glass, etc you'll usually end up around f/8. Much beyond that and diffraction becomes a problem quite fast.

    • @xander1052
      @xander1052 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +12

      An old rule of thumb is the middle aperture tends to be sharpest, so for instance on my big 300mm f/5.6 it should be sharpest around f/11. the f/8 and be there is genuinely pretty accurate for mid speed lenses though as their middle aperture usually is exactly f/8.

    • @zackl3094
      @zackl3094 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      @@xander1052 it might be sharpest then, but you've lost so much light and gained so much diffraction it's not going to be all that useful at the end of the day, especially for something like this at the highest end of what the system can resolve. When you're trying to squeak out max resolution, you need good light, good focus, and your lens to be at its best aperture for the task at hand, which may not always be the "sharpest" - it's probably good enough. There's focal length and depth of field considerations to be made as well. It's not as simple as f/8 and be there, but that will definitely get you close enough for most stuff. For specialty situations like this, there's a lot more to it. It's why string is useful for fixed focus cameras. It's "calibrated" so that you could hold it from the right distance to guarantee critical focus. The rest was basically decided for you in hardware, other than the lighting conditions.

    • @IstasPumaNevada
      @IstasPumaNevada 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      I second this; wide-open aperture will blur the image a bit. Sharpest image will be somewhere between maximum and minimum aperture (minimum will be blurred by diffraction).
      I usually use f/8 by default if image sharpness is a priority.

    • @gmaxwell
      @gmaxwell 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      For this application you can compute the diffraction resolution and make sure that your aperture is not too small. I suspect at the resolution they're targeting even f/8 may be pushing it.

    • @zyeborm
      @zyeborm 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      For the stuff he's photographing too he'll get a lot more contrast printing multiple times and overlaying the prints, Ensure the printer is set to maximum darkness. Applied science came up with a process for it for when he was doing similar things.

  • @sittingstill3578
    @sittingstill3578 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +52

    The intro makes it seem like this technology was primarily used for espionage but in reality it was in use many much more mundane sounding fields like archiving and eventually the photolithography that is the backbone of this digital age. Kudos for the creativity of the intro.

  • @AB-Prince
    @AB-Prince 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +217

    technology connections has a video about 'at home' film development. iirc, he said you can reuse the developer a handful of times, but after so many uses the developer starts to work more slowly as the active ingredirnt becomes spent.

    • @lottievixen
      @lottievixen 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +15

      Alec is awesome

    • @alfepalfe
      @alfepalfe 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      Blazinal is as far as I can tell just rodinal. Which is intended for single-use.

    • @illiteratebeef
      @illiteratebeef 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +10

      He said you can reuse color chemicals multiple times. He specifically uses semi-stand rodinal which is one-shot.
      The best way to find out is to RTFM.

    • @alfepalfe
      @alfepalfe 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      @@illiteratebeef All rodinal really is one-shot. Once mixed it oxidizes in about a day. Many other b&w chemicals are however reuseable, I currently use Kodak D-76, my current batch is at 10 films and works fine with time compensation.
      But yeah. RTFM indeed, most chemicals have this own data sheets that say how they're to be used.

    • @ZemiGaming
      @ZemiGaming 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I forgot what video I was on, and thought that "developer" here was referring to a programming job... was pretty confused there for a bit :p

  • @Forr0n
    @Forr0n 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +180

    0:57 2 Years and of all places i lose the game while watching The Thought Emporium. Great video as always!

    • @halfsine
      @halfsine 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      i've lost the game too many times in the past few months

    • @TeenHomesteader
      @TeenHomesteader 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      The game just ruined my day.

    • @cub1c065
      @cub1c065 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      I lost it twice today after a 2 year streak.

    • @MissBlackMetal
      @MissBlackMetal 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      It's been about a fucking decade for me.... 😂

  • @JohnQN
    @JohnQN 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +875

    2:07 I was bracing myself for the vpn sponsor
    EDIT: IT WAS FORESHADOWING!!

    • @genericascanbe3728
      @genericascanbe3728 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +45

      10:24 On that note, it ends right here

    • @JunkyardBashSteve
      @JunkyardBashSteve 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +35

      same. I thought it was about to hit but when it didn't I let my guard down. The trickster...

    • @olliknecks
      @olliknecks 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@genericascanbe3728 I love sponsorblock!!

    • @Gameplayer55055
      @Gameplayer55055 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Lol who's actually using these VPNs. I bet they collect everything about you, tor is tons better

    • @Nobe_Oddy
      @Nobe_Oddy 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      was thinking the same thing lol

  • @pladmitry
    @pladmitry 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +241

    11:00 I'm pretty sure that you are not supposed to use smallest aperture for things like this - lenses are usually sharpest somewhere at the middle of the aperture range. IIRC, smallest aperture get into the range of where diffraction becomes an issue - this is also why pinhole cameras have limited sharpness, as the light is always diffracted at their crazy small aperture sizes

    • @kylebowles9820
      @kylebowles9820 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +14

      I was doing some IR photography with lenses designed for visible light and suffered that problem too. Optimal was still quite small aperture

    • @nate_0723
      @nate_0723 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +23

      As a rule of thumb, f/8 is usually the sweet spot for most lenses.

    • @rkan2
      @rkan2 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@nate_0723exactly. More generally depending on variables.. f7.1-f11.
      Some fixed focal length lenses can be almost as sharp at their wide open settings. $$$$$ though 😂

    • @UncleKennysPlace
      @UncleKennysPlace 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      In theory, wide open is best, as larger aperture = higher resolution, but as lenses aren't generally near ideal, a stop or two down may get maximum results.

    • @EversonBernardes
      @EversonBernardes 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      @@UncleKennysPlace wide open would be the best from a diffraction perspective, but very few lenses are optimally corrected for geometric aberrations wide open (usually really, really expensive, really fast, ones). You also get into the issue of making perfect focus that much more critical, as DoF gets much smaller.

  • @kodiererg
    @kodiererg 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +134

    I worked as a radiographer from 2006 to 2018. I developed film in 5 gallon tanks by hand every day. Never wore gloves, but if you have an exposed cuticle or hang nail. You'll know.

    • @WhileTrueCode
      @WhileTrueCode 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      xray film all the way to 2018?? wowza! our company helped get a lot of imaging centers on a budget to switch to CR and (later) DX. TFT and CsI scintillator cost went down a lot; i cant imagine any reason to keep using film unless the crusty old doc is resistant to change 🤠 especially for ortho u dont need the highest DQE panels on the market

    • @techristopher8077
      @techristopher8077 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Indeed

    • @kodiererg
      @kodiererg 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      @WhileTrueCode industrial radiography, a lot of the time I was in remote areas and since the scanners and plates are expensive and can be ruined by lots of dust or bouncing down 2 tracks and dirt roads and you're hours away from the office, it is more economical to send radiographers with tanks and lead screens/film. I did some CR when I was working in the city close to the office.
      Even today at the facility I work at, I'll occasionally require the radiographers to use high emulsion film where CR just doesn't capture the sensitivity for whatever reason, but they use 95+% CR here. DR is still running into limitations at a facility with high temperature piping well above the ground. You can drop and break a film or CR cassette, or melt/warp the screen without it being the end of the world. 14x17 DR cassettes on the other hand are very costly.

    • @WhileTrueCode
      @WhileTrueCode 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@kodiererg hey cool! thanks for the follow-up, that is really interesting. yeah that sounds like a harsh environment so i absolutely see your point. pretty much all the products i worked with were for medical (which presumes a nice clean environment). we had a potential NDT contract but our panels werent designed for the high kVp and long exposures they used (lol the cutest little xray generator... ran off DeWalt drill batteries). cheers!

    • @Woodburnworks
      @Woodburnworks 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@WhileTrueCode film has infinite resolution

  • @Amazingdinosaurman
    @Amazingdinosaurman 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +17

    Hello! I've done a lot of developing, mostly colour c41 though so the chemistry is a little different. A few tips I have :
    Make sure everything very dry before putting it into the dark bag. Humidity and water make the film super sticky and hard to wind onto the spools
    Developer is fine to reuse! Every two or three uses, just increase your development time, I've used mine up to 15 times before swapping it out.
    To avoid any splotches it's helpful to do a clean water rinse between each stage of development, this also helps the chemistry last a few more uses.
    Particularly with colour development, temperature control is very important! I do all my development in a water bath held at the appropriate temperatures, this varies for each stage of development.
    Lastly, make sure you squeegee your film after developing, it avoids any water spots and it's also super satisfying.
    Love the channel!

    • @alfepalfe
      @alfepalfe 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      As for dryness, yes with plastic reels. Steel reels can be loaded soaking wet but cheap steel reels tend to be terrible and nice steel reels (Hewes brand) are expensive.
      Developer is usually fine for approximately 10 films per liter of stock solution. He is however using "blazinal" a varaint of rodinal which is a one-shot developer.
      As for temperature control, modern b&w film is remarkably tolerant of abuse. Far too hot and they may be a bit overdeveloped but other than that it should be fine. If I recall correctly the problem of reticulation requires something crazy like a 50°C temperature change during development with modern film.
      As for water spots, several methods are in use. Squeegees are fine but you need to be very careful that they're completely clean as any particles on it can scratch the film along the length.
      Personally I just wash the film using the ilford was method, then fill the tank up with destilled water and just 2 or 3 drops of wetting agent before hanging to dry. That usually gets it spotless.

  • @Gadalac
    @Gadalac 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +23

    For anyone wanting more tiny science like this, Applied Science has an excellent video on his lithography process using a large format camera on specialized but inexpensive litho film. The video is Antique 4x5 camera creates 20 micron photolithography masks. His process is even sharper

  • @DjVortex-w
    @DjVortex-w 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +73

    In fact, it's possible to create the microdots without a camera, as long as you have photographic film (which you can purchase at any shop). What they would do is create, essentially, a pinhole camera with normal household materials (carboard boxes etc) and use it in a dark room, flip the lights on for a second or two, and then cut the part of the film that had photographed the document and put it eg. under a stamp. All these materials for the pinhole camera are easily disposed of, and consist of materials that are not suspicious. No government officials would find anything suspicious in that apartment or on the spy himself, even if they searched.

    • @radeklew1
      @radeklew1 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      You can do this without a camera, the first step is to make a camera! :)

    • @DjVortex-w
      @DjVortex-w 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +19

      @@radeklew1
      The problem with a minicamera, as depicted in the video, is that if they search you and find it on you, it's highly suspicious due to the highly specialized nature of the camera, which no normal person owns, and is very obviously used for creating these microfilms.

    • @EphemeralPseudonym
      @EphemeralPseudonym 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      ​@@DjVortex-w they're referring to the fact that the box with a hole is a very primitive version of a camera

    • @DjVortex-w
      @DjVortex-w 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@EphemeralPseudonym
      So? It's very clear that when I say "camera" in my original comment, I'm referring to the devices shown in the video.

    • @EphemeralPseudonym
      @EphemeralPseudonym 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@DjVortex-w yeah they're making a joke
      it's a rude joke but I don't think they realize it

  • @RenzitoARG
    @RenzitoARG 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +26

    Photolab technician for over 10 years here. Yes the chemicals can be reused several, several, several times (the loss of its strength is minimal). But it will become saturated by silver at a point, and you'll start seeing a difference in contrast in the developed film as it does. For plain B&W with no shades of grey, you may want to overdevelop it (the 1st part of the process) for a little more time to get stronger blacks and whites.
    DO NOT THROW IT DOWN THE DRAIN. Sediment, decantation and reduction... And recover all that precious silver.

    • @wellscampbell9858
      @wellscampbell9858 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      I'll second this. I'm a photographer who worked for a commercial shooter before digital. He had a darkroom and the developer was in this big stainless tank, and was over ten years old! We would replenish it occasionally. He claimed that new developer wouldn't have that "magic" smooth look until it had been replenished a few times. There was likely hundreds of dollars worth of silver sloshing around in the sludge at the bottom :)

  • @ianmcewan8851
    @ianmcewan8851 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +16

    Photon sieves are just plain awesome!
    You're making them on film, but one important advantage is where I thought you were going when you mentioned etch resists: You can etch the transparent holes as actual holes in a metal membrane and not have to worry about the transparency of the substrates, making them useful over a very broad range of wavelengths. Not sure if you are going to go into the randomization of dot patterns or over-sizing holes, but I'm going to love the upcoming vids!

  • @avsystem3142
    @avsystem3142 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

    In the early 1970's I was employed by Microform Data Systems. The product was ultra-microfilm readers and media. This was on the cusp of the rise of digital information systems. The media was strips of 35mm film with six frames. Each frame held hundreds of pages of text reduced in size by a factor of 200 times. About ten strips fit into a cassette that allowed any strip to be fed into the reader. A large installation was purchased by General Telephone (LA) for their directory information operators. An array of readers was connected to a Digital Equipment Corporation PDP8 mini-computer. The computer held the programming to control the readers to select the correct strip, frame and exact page location on the frame for a given name input by the operator instead of thumbing through a mound of telephone directories. I worked there for three years but even then it was obvious to me that any such system would be replaced by entirely digital data systems. Even so. microfilm is still one of the most durable types of information storage.

    • @klx6265
      @klx6265 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      W display picture.

  • @g1234538
    @g1234538 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +22

    This video is absolutely fantastic! The way you briefly went from explaining film technology, to demonstrating how it gets used to shrink down images, and then incorporating Holographic Optical Elements! I actually didn't know you could do that at the scale where a standard negative film (and not a special microfilm, holographic film, etc) is able to capture. I love how you demonstrated so many examples of it, too! There seems to be not many videos going over this with so much to show, except for Huygens Optics incredible videos.
    Some things I would add is besides Fuji's HR microfilms, there are a lot of other silver-based materials you can use such as ADOX CMS 20 is still sold, their HR-50 seems like a good candidate as well, Rollei RPX 25, and you could probably investigate many holographic plates that are sold.
    Some of these microfilms can store up to 800 cycles/mm or more, but holographic materials can easily achieve 2000, 5000, and some close to 10000. The only problem is they're for the express purpose of recording interference patterns of coherent light, not normal optical images which start to become diffraction limited far before those figures (in Vis).
    Another fun thing was the Lippmann process where a special ultra-fine emulsion is used to photograph objects, but using a mirrored surface behind it the standing wave patterns of light interfering with itself _in the depth of the emulsion_ which effectively records the wavelengths of light; the color. It's a dyeless color process done through the light interfering with itself! And it was made in the 1890s and you can do it yourself as well! It's too cool!
    So, anyway, maybe I'm just "uhm ackshually"-ing the part about needing to immediately jump to something that isn't silver based lol. Especially with how difficult it might be to source a good photoresist. There's a lot of possibilities in silver halides!
    To get the sharpest image you need to balance your lens aberrations being curtailed by stopping the lens down to a smaller aperture versus diffraction which increases as the aperture gets smaller. Some well very well-corrected lenses can do this just a stop or two below wide-open, but for many lenses 5.6, 8, or 11 will be the sweet spots for reducing aberrations.
    Regarding your development setup, it's really nice! Glass seems to store the chemicals a lot better without needing to resort to crazy things like topping the bottle off with butane or something. And I just tried developing without gloves for the first time a few days ago... yeah I totally agree with you there, my fingers had such a weird smell on them the rest of the day.
    For developer, highly-diluted stuff is almost always considered "one-shot". You toss it after you use it. Like when people dilute Rodinal 100 times. But with dilutions that are a lot less you totally can, I just don't know the details about how to do replenishing "right". I might be overthinking it though, usually you just give it more time.
    I'm so excited to see what you do next!! This was so awesome!!

    • @thethoughtemporium
      @thethoughtemporium  4 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      I hadn't heard of the lippmann process before. Definitely gonna have to try it out!! Thanks for the advice :)

    • @g1234538
      @g1234538 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@thethoughtemporium Of course!!
      The Lippmann process is truly mindblowing. There's a guy named Nick Brandreth who shows some example photos he's made with it and some recipes. Jon Hilty is another who does a bunch of "alternative" processes and he also has recipes for them. They're worth checking out as resources! Also many holography resources have good information on Lippmann because it shares the space, both holography and the Lippmann process require ultra fine emulsions because they capture interference patterns!
      In general, making your own emulsions is an infinitely deep science on its own, considering what you can do by varying temperatures, times, layers, which halides, concentrations, sensitizers, etc. For making these microdots, CMS 20 is probably all you need but I imagine you can play with a whole bunch of variables and cook up your own film with cool properties!
      You don't even need a big plate camera, you could just use a microscope slide and load that in your camera in the darkroom lol

  • @polygondon
    @polygondon 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +16

    I was about to skip forward 30 seconds at 2:05 ngl thought you were about to drop the nord vpn ad

  • @Has-uo1lq
    @Has-uo1lq 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +272

    i knew what the qr code was going to be,,, yet i still scanned it

    • @bactrosaurus
      @bactrosaurus 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +31

      Rick roll?

    • @SonOfLemonRuss
      @SonOfLemonRuss 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@bactrosaurusdefinetely

    • @aerindinescarro47
      @aerindinescarro47 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +50

      @@bactrosaurusit’s actually a cheesecake recipe.

    • @admiralAlfonso9001
      @admiralAlfonso9001 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +13

      I scanned it thinking it would be a Rick Roll but what was there was actually better

    • @watchinyoutube8919
      @watchinyoutube8919 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +14

      ​@@VAL9THOUthere's a QR code on the letter that he shows us in the beginning

  • @Chewychaca
    @Chewychaca 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +19

    I accidently started the video without sound and I was able to follow what was going on and being explained. A mark of a good narrative crafter/ editor. Was thinking it was a kind of artistic silent cold open.

  • @jimphubar
    @jimphubar 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +116

    These are very different to the microdots I messed with in the nineties.

    • @CMINCOGNITO
      @CMINCOGNITO 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      closer to the windowpanes

    • @RobKaiser_SQuest
      @RobKaiser_SQuest 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +11

      But they still came on paper and let ya "receive" some "transmissions".

    • @Excelcior58
      @Excelcior58 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      Can't find it at all anymore :( very sad. Everything is a horrible fake RC. People these days don't even know what L really is.

    • @relativelynormalhumanperson
      @relativelynormalhumanperson 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      @@Excelcior58 Your comment is a real L

    • @bonnie9855
      @bonnie9855 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      ​@@Excelcior5860s Lucy was the true shit

  • @jerrylim6722
    @jerrylim6722 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +88

    if you found a way to consistently mass produce these for absolutely no reason besides masochism... you could probably fit an entire public library within a single large table or a massive suit case.

    • @coxfuture
      @coxfuture 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +40

      I mean, if you filled a soda can up with microSD cards you'd have 5 petabytes, which is probably enough for every book in every library ever

    • @jerrylim6722
      @jerrylim6722 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +23

      @@coxfuture yea but you'd need something digital to read it, where as this technically only requires a "magnifying" glass and the disregard of one's own eyesight lasting more than 2 years.

    • @npiper
      @npiper 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +11

      @@coxfuture And what is the shelf life of the charge in the floating gates of those transistors? 2 years? 4 years? Even good flash memory isn't going to save Lil' Timmy's Kindergarten photos until he graduates 6th grade without some read and write cycles. Even most spinning drives (I know about M-Discs) only last a decade in offline storage. Film needs a climate controlled space and it's good for a lifetime or more.

    • @theKashConnoisseur
      @theKashConnoisseur 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +17

      @@coxfuture The nice thing about storing data on physical media is that the data doesn't get lost if you forget to connect stuff to power for several years. I'm not saying microfilm will last eons (for that stone is obviously the best medium) but it'll certainly be more durable than an SD card.

    • @interstellarsurfer
      @interstellarsurfer 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      Wikipedia on microdots.

  • @MoxxoM
    @MoxxoM 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +66

    0:57: Man.... That was uncalled for..

    • @ulisesmarcano2444
      @ulisesmarcano2444 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +10

      that was a crime... i hadn't lost the game in like 3 years

    • @zace1510
      @zace1510 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@ulisesmarcano2444unfortunately for me I typically only get 3 months before someone gets me.

    • @AttilaAsztalos
      @AttilaAsztalos 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Same... there should be a rule specifically excepting occurrences in public posts from triggering a loss!

    • @ddb5675
      @ddb5675 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      RAHHHH

  • @Sprengstoff
    @Sprengstoff 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +24

    Cool stuff, thanks! Do not use the smallest aperture if you want maximum sharpness, around F8 - F11 should give better sharpness on this objective. Use a roll of film and take the same image at different F-stops to find the sharpest one. You will find the sharpest to be in the middle somewhere, not the smallest for sure.

  • @sebastianprzybya5966
    @sebastianprzybya5966 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +14

    Just a few pedantic comments.
    Daguerrotypes were indeed made on metal plates, but it was polished copper that was then coated with silver. Solid silver plates would be way too expensive.
    The halide in your film would be silver bromide, iodide and chloride were used back in the day when collodion emulsions and POP prints were widespread.
    The development process doesn't darken silver crystals, the photon of light creates what's known as development center within the structure of silver bromide crystal, developer reduces the bromide to metalic silver, the grains altered by light are converted first. If you'd left the film in the developer for long enough, all of the halide would turn into silver.
    Have fun! The traditional photography spawned literally hundreds of processes, it's a bottomless pit for both time and money 😅

  • @woodenpints
    @woodenpints 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    I should have used this technique to make my formula sheets in university. I could have fit all my assignments on it and everything!

  • @MakeItWithCalvin
    @MakeItWithCalvin 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    Dude, developing the film brought me back to my community college days! I got extremely good at putting film onto a roll, and remember doing 7 rolls of B&W film at once, split between two canisters and that was a heck of a challenge but somehow I pulled it off. Film photography is absolutely incredible since it has the ability to capture things in a way that you can't get with digital in my opinion.

    • @theKashConnoisseur
      @theKashConnoisseur 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      As long as the same information is transmitted to the viewer, I can't see how the method of recording the information provided by the reflected photons in question should make any difference.

  • @Raphe9000
    @Raphe9000 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +10

    I'm so happy your family found this video and uploaded it after your tragic accident!

  • @makebreakrepeat
    @makebreakrepeat 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +13

    Totally doing this with the kids! This'll take their clubhouse messages to the next level 🎉

  • @minerharry
    @minerharry 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +16

    The overall project planning in these is just top notch, I adore how you’ve been able to turn the hundreds of prerequisite infrastructure steps for larger projects into videos with other interesting bits - because every stage of the infrastructure is interesting and has consequences in its own right! Can’t wait to see what you do next

  • @samuszoomer
    @samuszoomer 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    Hi! I do a lot of black and white development. When it comes to development with Rodinal (blazinal is just another name for Rodinal) the easiest way is a 1:100 dilution, for an hour, with some slight agitation at the beginning and then at 30 minutes. This will develop near perfectly nearly every time. You also dont need to use stop bath, as a water wash is perfectly adequate if you fix immediately. Blazinal is a one shot developer and should not be reused, though at your dilutions you may get away with it. You can however reuse fixer basically until it stops working, to test if its good you can just through your film leader into the fixer and see how long it takes to go clear, if its too long just make a new batch. I hope some of this info helps

    • @alfepalfe
      @alfepalfe 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Some things to note, if you're shooting for absolute sharpness as they are, rodinal and especially semi-stand development is not ideal as they enhance the grain. I also develop a decent amount and this is very noticeable with some films.

  • @Ifitaintshotbyvon
    @Ifitaintshotbyvon 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +25

    Never expected to lose “The Game” watching one of your videos 🤣

    • @yours-truely-sir
      @yours-truely-sir 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      🫰 is this the game you are talking about?

    • @joeyandolina4813
      @joeyandolina4813 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Hahah facts it has me stunned it’s been so long since I’ve lost “the game”

  • @samsonsoturian6013
    @samsonsoturian6013 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

    The famous "pen camera" was custom made for a Soviet general selling secrets for money back in the 1950s. The analysts studying blurry images of documents said to the case officer "Can't you get the man a better camera?" Hysterical laughter ensued

  • @ruevs
    @ruevs 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +18

    5:54 "film is cheap" :-D :-D :-D Film has become an expensive hobby.

    • @onyx_the_one
      @onyx_the_one 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      I jumped when I heard that

  • @DNX3M
    @DNX3M 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    That lever pull to move the film... I remember not pulling enough because because i was scare to break it. The result was nightmare fuel overlapping pictures.

  • @DavidHancock
    @DavidHancock 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +13

    If you want something even finer-trained then PanF+, Adox CMS 20 II is as fine as consumer films come. The exact sharpness apparently exceeds testing equipment. Kodak 2383 is an internegative or interpositive, I forget which, that I shot at 1.5 ISO and it's the only stock I've ever used that I can't see grain clumps on with either a grain focuser or a high-res macro lens and live view enlargement. Also, the Series E 50mm is a very good lens, but if you want to go crazy with some even better options for this project, I could make a few suggestions.

    • @arturors30
      @arturors30 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      Cms20 ii pro is incredible

    • @alfepalfe
      @alfepalfe 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      I sent him an E-mail right after this aired on Nebula with a few tips, among them recommending Adox CMS 20 II.
      He responded saying that he had ordered a few rolls as well at the Adotech developer to try out.
      Also love your channel and "All about film" series, keep up the great work.

    • @DavidHancock
      @DavidHancock 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@alfepalfe Thank you! It's always good to hear that because those take a LOT of work.

  • @heatonize
    @heatonize 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    13:53 blazinal (rodinal dupe) might give sharp results but also very grainy images. Ascorbic acid based developers like caffenol or xtol can give softer grain, but diluting xtol with water can make the images sharper, yet with finer grain than achieved with blazinal / rodinal. I recommend combining this with a low iso fine grain film like cms 20 II or MZ3.

  • @ArcticGator
    @ArcticGator 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    It sucks because im allergic to the developers, i couldn't even go into the dark room in my high school graphic design class, im really glad digital photography is a thing now lol

  • @DarkAttack14
    @DarkAttack14 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    My mother was a microfiche tech for a local township where I grew up and it truly is insane how much you can fit on one sheet! I believe her record was something like 2000 building blueprints on one 8.5x11 sheet or something around that!

  • @JarheadCrayonEater
    @JarheadCrayonEater 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    I worked for Lockheed and Rolls-Royce at Stennis Space Center from 2004-2012, and on my faculty was the same "resolving power test target" painted on the concrete. Except, it was about 200 feet wide. Used to calibrate satellite optics.

  • @cynicalrabbit915
    @cynicalrabbit915 หลายเดือนก่อน

    One thing I learned back in High School.
    Decades back, we used a Crown Graphic Press Camera with a 4 by 5 inch cut film negative film with an ASA or ISO of 400.
    Development was in a completely dark room with 3 trays in a shallow sink filled with temperature controlled water and the three trays from left to right, held the Developer, Stop Bath, Fixer, then rinse bath.
    The stop bath is usually a mild acid like citrus or white vinegar. The fixing agent was called Hypo and was usually ammonium thiosulfate. This removed the silver halide to remove light sensitivity. After the fixer came a water rinse bath, running water over each negative.
    I spent many evenings after school developing 6 different pieces of film, standing in absolute darkness turning each 4x5 pieces of film by hand. We didn't have a daylight tank.
    At least when printing the image on photo paper you could do it with, a red light on, as the paper wasn't sensitive to red light.

  • @Starkl3t
    @Starkl3t 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    professor: you can make a cheat sheet if it fits on one piece of paper
    me:

  • @looking4therealrepairmanjack
    @looking4therealrepairmanjack หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    9:08 Annnnd! There it is! We all knew it *had* to be coming!

  • @foxjesus4411
    @foxjesus4411 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    2:00 I started mashing fast forward because it sounded like you were about to go into a Nord VPN ad.

    • @foxjesus4411
      @foxjesus4411 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Ahh, yep. Nord ad came later.

  • @elenaschoerling
    @elenaschoerling 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    „Film is cheap😂 comedian of the Century born right there

  • @agxryt
    @agxryt 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    1:04 were doing meme archaeology with this one.
    If anyone is interested, I think my gramps has an old dusty textbook that talks about "the game" somewhere

  • @RubenKelevra
    @RubenKelevra 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    10:53 to maximize the contrast, you can stack 4-5 printouts with the same content on top of each other. This way, you block more light with the black parts. I recommend blocking out everything else out with black paper, too. To avoid glow

  • @rileyfaelan
    @rileyfaelan 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    If your optics has known aberration problems, you can reduce the optics problems by reducing the aperture (and, of course, correspondingly increasing the exposure time). The smaller the aperture, the more of the peripheral parts of the objective's light path are effectively blocked, meaning optical imperfections in these parts will not matter for the final result.

    • @wellscampbell9858
      @wellscampbell9858 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      That works, but has a limit. The aperture's edges are making a diffraction pattern, and when the aperture is small enough, the diffraction begins to dominate, and smaller apertures actually reduce sharpness and contrast. For typical lenses, the sweet spot is around f/8 to f/11.

    • @rileyfaelan
      @rileyfaelan 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@wellscampbell9858 Makes sense, but the aperture used in this video was the 'maximum available'. It probably shouldn't have been.

  • @vonzigle
    @vonzigle 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Thanks!

  • @SrirajaPanich
    @SrirajaPanich 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +101

    “Film is cheap” LMAO

    • @xander1052
      @xander1052 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +15

      I mean, comparitive to other technologies, B&W photo film is still pretty damn cheap.

    • @the_undead
      @the_undead 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +44

      Something to remember is this is the same guy who is trying to set up an array of neurons to play doom, compared to that nonsense film is absolutely cheap

    • @SrirajaPanich
      @SrirajaPanich 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

      No I understand haha, compared to the cost of his bio lab setup, media, and reagents, some B&W film is probably dirt cheap in comparison.

    • @markopolo1271
      @markopolo1271 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I mean compared to the materials used to do his bio-engineering stuff then yes it's incredibly cheap

    • @xoyhcprivate
      @xoyhcprivate 14 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Ilford black and white is basically given away for free. It’s really cheap.

  • @FilmFactry
    @FilmFactry 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    We used LITHO FILM. Developer can be reused, but extend development based on a table. Developer can also be REPLENISHED which means adding clean developer to your mix. Also a fin thing. Save your FIXER. you can recover actual silver when it gets depleted. Drop a penny in your fixer and the silver will coat the copper.

  • @reallifeistoflat
    @reallifeistoflat 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    if you're doing black and white with blazinol, just stand develop them. using a 1/100 or higher ratio you can just let it sit for like an hour and you get really solid results with virtually no effort. many photographers, including myself use this technique.

  • @charlizard_762
    @charlizard_762 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    As someone who works in manufacturing precision optics, this is super fascinating

  • @hanfo420
    @hanfo420 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Seriously? This is exactly the topic that I was digging into in the last months and my boy here simply recreates this awesome little technology. 👏👏

    • @hanfo420
      @hanfo420 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I should add *digging into for fun and interest

  • @notsparks
    @notsparks 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Yes, the developer can be reused, but each time it is used, it accumulates some bromide in the solution. This can behave in weird ways with the next batch of film, and if you're using it to send classified messages, you would probably not reuse the solution. But, as I think about it, the bromide actually could give you better clarity after it reaches its plateau level because it could reduce grain in the image because it decreases the film speed as its level increases, up to a full stop. As bromide increases, though, the images become darker because more light is needed.

  • @c222
    @c222 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Small caution about PANF: It notoriously has poor image retention properties, be sure to develop images taken on it within a month or so.
    I'd be curious to see what Delta 100 pull-processed at 50 looks like, though that usually mostly affects contrast, not accentuate. XP2 Super may be interesting, since it's a C41-process film that relies on dye to make the final image. FPP Dracula (aka Svema FN-64) is a wonderfully sharp and high-contrast film with a very clear base.
    For the lens: while shooting wide-open has its benefits, most lenses are not at their sharpest wide open. If sharpness is paramount, using a lens a stop or two down from wide open is advisable.

  • @soyoustartedwatching
    @soyoustartedwatching 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I just noticed how good this ad read was. A VPN sponsorship that actually detailed exactly what it does without any misleading promotion. Nice!

  • @wonko6x9
    @wonko6x9 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    It was fun to see my old test pattern from my own tests years ago. This is cool stuff.

    • @wonko6x9
      @wonko6x9 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Also, Minox 8x11 cameras are basically made for this.

  • @Brkschrk
    @Brkschrk 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I’m so excited for the diffraction-video! I’ve worked with diffraction gratings for lasers a lot, but I’ve never understood how it actually works, and you explain these topics so fucking good, so I’m looking forward to learn more.
    I really hope you look into shooting light or lasers through your diffraction-filters as well, as that could make some really interesting patterns judging by your examples shown in this video.

  • @redpug5042
    @redpug5042 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    I would like to learn more about the CIA's actual process. For example, did the spies write it on a piece of paper and then shred it? where did they store development equipment? where did they store the film?

  • @BariumCobaltNitrog3n
    @BariumCobaltNitrog3n 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    A couple notes: Nikon is OK but a sharper lens is Zeiss and they are on Leica cameras (rangefinder focus). The sharpest focus will be 2-3 stops down (smaller aperture) from wide open. Use a tripod and a shutter release. You can get more contrast by "pushing" the film from 1 to 8 stops by increasing the developer time and reducing the shutter speed. Experiment. Developer can be reused with diminishing results but each batch can develop 6 rolls. Sodium bicarbonate will help neutralize it for disposal. Fixer is reusable but is light sensitive, and you should be able to find replenisher to add to make it last longer. You can wash it out of the canister, a few flushes in the toilet will do. Soak 30 sec, flush, repeat. Foto-flo will decrease surface tension and make your film dry without spots. A few drops of Dawn will work, added to your rinse toilet. You might find a continuous tone film (a type of litho film) that has no grain. Also backlit film will be much less sharp than print with reflected light. Your copy lights should be aimed at the far side of the image at 45 degrees. Questions, feel free.

  • @DigitalJedi
    @DigitalJedi 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    I feel like you guys would love to see things like the microbumps used in silicon-to-silicon chip stacking. Intel Foveros, of which I have been a principal semiconductor physicist. We use a bump pitch of 36 microns and can fit 828 per square milimeter on a 22nm FFL process node. The next-gen one brings back the infamous Intel 14nm in an FFL version and fits more, but I can't say how many just yet.

    • @theKashConnoisseur
      @theKashConnoisseur 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I like your funny words, magic man. Memes aside, that would be a fascinating process to observe.

  • @kia_the_dead
    @kia_the_dead 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    You could use Laser Lithography to achieve a similar result, and potentially also making it with a conductive layer to work as a circuit to store data on almost any object.

  • @agalah408
    @agalah408 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    This is sort of missing the point, but if you want to secretly transfer files across borders, take a picture of something with a digital camera, say a jumping dog. Then zip up your secret documents and pictures into a single file. Using old DOS commands you can save the secret stuff into your jumping dog image. The image file size is bigger, but if someone simply views the file that you put back into your camera SD card,they will only see the jumping dog. At the far end, use an unzipper program on the picture file and you can recover all your secret stuff intact. Often misdirection is better than encryption.

    • @fredericapanon207
      @fredericapanon207 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @agalah408, my second search on this subject led me to an organisation about Linux questions that also had Windows command line instructions (and Mac). Cool and interesting.

  • @xaero76
    @xaero76 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I did all this stuff in the late 90s for Art collage here in Australia, brings back memories as you are developing the film

  • @tristan1234531
    @tristan1234531 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    Applied science used a really old camera to do something like this few years ago.

  • @SteinGauslaaStrindhaug
    @SteinGauslaaStrindhaug 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    14:50 You can definitely reuse developers a few times; how many probably depends on the type of developers and some are probably not recommended to reuse at all. Some brands probably even has recommendations for how many times it can be safely reused and how much you need to change the development time for repeaded uses in the documentation. You are of course loosing some potency as you use it and for absolutely best quality, if you're developing art or fashion photography intended for large print you'd probably use a fresh developer. But I know press photographers when they still had to use film photography had a lot of tricks to save money (since they take an awful lot of pictures and print them at fairly small scale on crappy paper anyway they don't care about the best possible quality), I think they did stuff like "refreshing" the developer by adding cheaper chemicals to the used developer. I don't remember exactly (as it's more than 20 years since I learned about it but never tried to do it myself), but I think part of the problem with old used developer is that it starts to get saturated by dissolved silver from the films, so I think some of the refreshing tricks were adding some chemicals that made the silver fall out of solution and cover the bottom of the container and then you could pour the top off into a clean container and add some other chemical to replace the "spent" reactants in the developer. I think it works because most of the developer is fairly cheap chemicals, but the expensive stuff is sort of catalysts that isn't used up.
    I think you also could develop at least black and white film with some very cheap and common house hold chemicals too without any fancy additives and catalysts that real developers have, but it's much slower and harder to predict how well it works. And with those home made chemicals it's not at all worth it to reuse it.
    Press photographers also had other even more dirty tricks to speed up the development a lot. Apparently you can develop film super quickly (like in a seconds rather than minutes) by basically developing it with very hot chemicals (way outside the recommended temps). And if you were really in a hurry to get the photos sent you could also do a very fast stop bath and forgo the fix and rinse and just slap the wet film into the scanner (or some telefax like thing they used before digital film scanners) send the pictures to the headquarters. And then the original negatives would go bad afterwards because of the insufficient fixing, and you would have to disassemble the scanner and clean it; but you'd get the photos first. But I guess it's a good chance you'd also destroy the negatives in the process if you go a little too hot and/or too long.
    The press photographer who was my photography teacher 20 years ago, also told stories about how he also had been in the woods in the middle of winter taking pictures of a train accident (this was after digital film scanners were standard in press photography but before digital cameras were good enough in the early 90s), he had a laptop (or rather luggable computer), film scanner and sattelite phone with him, but he had to develop the film first and he was several kilometers away from any houses; so he developed the film by putting the developer can between his legs inside his sleeping bag to keep it above freezing and just guesstimated that if the normal indoor developer time was 10 minutes it would probably be okay at close to freezing after 30-40 minutes. It actually worked; I guess unlike with hot developer where the chemistry is super fast and the margin of error is very narrow; with too cold developer you have a lot of margin of error as long as you don't get actual ice crystals in the developer tank.

  • @prozacgod
    @prozacgod 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    OH! Centrifuge the used developer! - When I was younger in HS doing photography, I would often wonder... wait 'if I'm agitating it and there silver, I always wanted to see if centrifuging it down would yield and microscopic particles at all. Does the photographic/developer process loosen anything up?
    (I figured, you're a curious nerd like myself, AND you have the equipment - so the idea might have a chance at nerd sniping you and well... maybe I'd get an answer - Thanks for all your great videos!)

  • @Tobi-hs9pt
    @Tobi-hs9pt 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I have never seen a recent video. This is revolutional to me, cause this content is my death and life, warmth to the cold.

  • @npiper
    @npiper 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    14:29 Since generally people do their film processing in the same area they do their photo processing they are going to have running water within a few feet and that's more than enough for the drop or two you are likely to deal with...
    Plus the smell of the sulphur complexes on your hands is how we identify our own.

  • @neogeo8267
    @neogeo8267 หลายเดือนก่อน

    A few things that may be useful you for:
    1) your pages are not light tight, use transparency paper and stack multiple to get it light tight or at least better contrast
    2) you may be able to use a pin-hole setup. I'm really not sure about how this might work or the size of the pin hole required but it should provide infinite depth of field and remove the optical issues, other than diffraction of the pin hole is too small, or you get to close to the edge of the hole (vignetting).
    3) I'm not sure if it would help but consider experimenting with polarized light and filters

  • @matheusdardenne
    @matheusdardenne 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Dude is casually performing the double-slit experiment with an old camera.

    • @DeLittleCat
      @DeLittleCat 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I guess that's how the rainbow would have to be made.

  • @PrebleStreetRecords
    @PrebleStreetRecords 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Another couple suggestions.
    Most commercial lenses are sharpest around f/8 or f/5.6. Opening up or stopping down from there will typically lose sharpness of edges.
    Also, you might want to track down a “process camera”, basically a specialized camera meant to copy things to microfilm or for use in printing. They’re fairly cheap because they aren’t useful for art photography, and lot of schools and libraries had them and are getting rid of them.
    Also, you should check out the Adox CMS films, which are basically high contrast copy film. The Film Photography Project also has “Hi-Fi” film, which was originally meant for optical sound recording and would do very well for your purposes.
    Also also, depending of what you’re photographing, use a red filter on the lens to boost contrast. It’ll knock off about three stops of exposure, but with panchromatic film it’ll render the image in almost pure black or white.

  • @CarletonTorpin
    @CarletonTorpin 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    I can vouch for contact-dermatitis being induced by photo chemistry. Gloves are highly recommended for photo chemical developing.

  • @BeautyWithInOutNailsMakeup
    @BeautyWithInOutNailsMakeup 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Man that takes me back the projector machine when you go to reading articles newspapers an actually that was used way back when!

  • @private1177
    @private1177 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +48

    0:57 bro.... why. you cant do this. that should be illegal..... i just lost the game

    • @Gabe-vw2ux
      @Gabe-vw2ux 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      Wait, other people play the game?!

    • @LordDragox412
      @LordDragox412 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      @@Gabe-vw2ux Not anymore.

    • @im.empimp
      @im.empimp 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      Of course, by definition, if you know of it, you've already lost.

    • @GizziXZ
      @GizziXZ 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      congrats your comment was copied by a bot

  • @eeee69
    @eeee69 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    The channel Huygens Optics has quite a bit on diffraction/interference so when you mentioned that was the reason it was like worlds collided (my personal guess was something akin to micro-etching circuit patterns for the doom brain cells project, but I wasn't too sure of that. of course, now I am all the more intrigued by how you will use optical interference in your other projects)

  • @renebohmer3206
    @renebohmer3206 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    With black and white film, the silver halide Chrystals get reduced to metallic silver in the developing process. The fixing removes all the remaining halidechrytals that remain. What you are left with is basically little dots of silver that make up your image.
    The developer is in some cases reusable, check the manufacturer's data sheet (there's always a data sheet). There are special high resolution film / developer combinations. I would suggest to look into that. Adox CMS 20 pro and so on. (as others have already commended).
    Resolution on the film is a product of: Developer - Film - Optic - Steadiness
    When taking an image with your consumer photo optic, and you want to achieve maximum resolution, you should use f,5.6 - f8. An aperture smaller will decrease your resolution, and a more open one will also decrease the resolution.
    Reusing the developer could decrease image quality. The developer dilution will also affect your image resolution in many cases. Try to get dedicated "high resolution" films and developers, use your lens at its sweet spot and keep your camera very steady.
    All the best!

  • @evanduffy1015
    @evanduffy1015 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Blazinal is a rebranded version of Rodinal (probably the oldest and most ubiquitous developer still used today) and its generally not a good developer to use more than once, its sometimes called a "one-shot" developer meaning you use it once and toss it. I personally use Kodak Xtol which is excellent for re-use and has a great price-per-roll especially when using the "replenishment" method. However, for your use I would not recomment Xtol because its a "solvent developer" meaning it dissolves the sharp edges of the silver-halide grains and generally smooths out the grain at the cost of some sharpness, rodinal is probably the right choice for what you're using it for because it has exceptionally high sharpness, but you do have the side effect of very strong grain, but like you said you can get finer grain with lower-iso films.

  • @BejadedF
    @BejadedF 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    this brings me back to my photography class in high school lol, i felt like a spy or a detective developing film in a darkroom

  • @gblargg
    @gblargg 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    1:59 I was SURE this would be a sponsor ad about something.
    8:44 OK I was right, it was just a split ad. You got me on the first half.

  • @Wuskers69
    @Wuskers69 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    To improve the clarity of the lorax, I would have shot the images at f/5.6-8

  • @MicroMidas
    @MicroMidas 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    That's cool! The pattern stuff sounds/looks fascinating!
    Looking forward to the next one!

  • @sjamesparsonsjr
    @sjamesparsonsjr 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    I think fruits and vegetables should have laser-engraved QR codes because I dislike removing stickers when composting.

    • @thethoughtemporium
      @thethoughtemporium  4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      I'm fairly certain the labels are compostable if memory serves.

    • @sjamesparsonsjr
      @sjamesparsonsjr 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@thethoughtemporiumthey are edible but not compostable. Bennet compost in Philadelphia asks everyone to remove stickers from fruit and vegetables. 🤷

    • @avsystem3142
      @avsystem3142 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@sjamesparsonsjr I assure you that anything edible is compostable.

  • @koharumi1
    @koharumi1 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Imagine if the agent was never told where to look on the object but only told that there were some microdots on it.
    Worse than finding a needle in a haystack 😰

  • @Dogeater-tf7zv
    @Dogeater-tf7zv 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    9:06 i knew it

  • @norinvaux
    @norinvaux 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I thought 2:05 was leading into a VPN ad and was very surprised to find it wasn't after pressing right arrow a couple times.

  • @pvc988
    @pvc988 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    14:15 Developer, developer, developer, developer

  • @atxmaps
    @atxmaps 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I work in Utilities mapping. 20 years ago when I started we were digitizing hand drawn maps. And the guys that drew the maps were still there and one of them showed me how small and neatly they could write words on maps. It was amazing. I guess it just takes a lot of practice.

  • @CYXXYC
    @CYXXYC 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    you can also inflate a balloon, draw on it, and deflate it

    • @im.empimp
      @im.empimp 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Is there a photo-resist that would work on a balloon?

  • @steven1000000000
    @steven1000000000 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    The highest resolving photographic film in the world is Adox CMS 20. As a 35mm film, it out resolves any lense ever made at 800 lines per millimeter, resulting in a theoretical resolution of 500MP. According to Adox you can print a 35mm piece of film up to 2.5m without rendering any grain. The trick is that it's a relatively slow film at around ISO 20 if using their dedicated developer. In the case of creating microdots, that's not an issue though. Whilst Ilford Pan F 50 is a great film and fine grained, there are definitely even finer grained films available. Regarding Blazenol, it's basically a rebranded Rodinal which is a very old recipe (130+ years old). Whilst it renders a sharp image by accuntuating the edge of the silver halide crystals, it has the downside of enhancing the grain. I'm not sure whether this results in more readable text, but two other developers which could be tried are Ilford ID 11 (or the equavalent Kodak D76) as well as Kodak XTOL. XTOL is a developer which disolves the grain somewhat, resulting in a smoother image than with Blazenol but might be a little less sharp around the edges of the text. ID 11 should be a middle ground between the two.

  • @arashai
    @arashai 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Watched on Nebula, commenting for “engagement.”

  • @NonJohns
    @NonJohns 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    I was wondering how people were making projection necklaces (more specifically, custom tiny transparent images) and boom voila
    the tech for doing so was fed straight to me in a well produced and researched video
    thank you for sharing!

  • @TheCleric42
    @TheCleric42 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    Error at 4:15 . That’s not microfiche. It’s microfilm. Microfiche is a single sheet of film. Microfilm is, of course, a long reel of film.

  • @zanderthelegend8225
    @zanderthelegend8225 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    love your vids, they really get me into the science mood :3 loved your vids on the meat grape and rat organoids especially!