Aerial Film: Uses on land, preferences, developing, etc?

[Thook]

Hey there. I'm a photography student at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. I'm currently working on my final project and I want to experiment with different types of film. I've heard that aerial film is designed to have special effects specifically for aerial photography, but I wanted to know if anyone knew what photographs using aerial film looked like if they were taken from the ground.

Also, I've done a thorough search and I've come up with some results from military surplus sales, but I wanted to know if anyone knew of a place to get aerial film for a 4 by 5 camera (preferably pre-cut but I've found that the vast majority available is in roll-form), and preferably cheap (once again, I realize it's more expensive than your TMAX or HP5 film, but I'm willing to spend a little more for interesting, different results).

If this doesn't sound like a good idea, would you have any suggestions of different types of film for a 4 by 5 camera? I've used TMAX, and even experimented recently with the Macrophot infrared film, but I'm looking for something different that will have an interesting effect. Unfortunately, Tech Pan film has been discontinued and lots of the great films to experiment with have been disappearing. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much for your time, attention, and help. I look forward to your responses.

Thanks again,

Dylan

 

[Hertz van Rental]

Aerial film is designed to produce a higher contrast - due to the lower luminance range of objects seen from the air. The higher contrast gives better tonal separation.
Some aerial films also have extended IR sensitivity for haze penetration.

 

[Thook]

Thanks. I didn't know that about the Aerial film. It sounds really interesting and I'm excited to see what it can do, both aerially and on land.

Any more suggestions? I basically want to experiment and push the limits of what I can do with the 4 by 5 format, and use different types of films and processes. I know that it's a somewhat rigid format, and with the dwindling types of films that are readily available I know that the typical choices are the most feasible and accessible. But I figured I'd see if anyone was knowledgable of some other options.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[Hertz van Rental]

Something I played around with in the 70's was loading a 5x4 darkslide with 35mm film. You cut it into strips and slide it down the channels.
Then I used to contact print it.
I did try out mixing film (b&w with colour). It works as long as you match the ISO's but I couldn't figure a way to contact print to get the effect I wanted.
I could do it now using a scanner (I was way ahead of my time ) but I don't have the facilities to process film any more.
I stopped doing it because it was a pain to separate the film out and process all the little strips.
I tried 10x8 but couldn't find a fool-proof way to stop the film falling out. I even tried double sided tape.
Anyone is welcome to use the technique - just give me a 'thank you for the idea' credit if you win an award using it