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Acros wisdom

ACROS

If you need extra speed from ACROS then Diafine is OK and Microphen will give at least 100. For regular use at 100, Fuji Microfine is great. Full speed and extremely fine grain. Microfine is available from Megaperls (www.unicircuits.com).
 
I'm a big fan of ACROS, but my only criticism is that Fuji's stated box speed seems motivated more by marketing needs than reality. Of the many developers I've used this film with only XTOL (and maybe DD-X) seemed to managed to achieve genuine 100asa results. In most developers it seems to really be 80asa,less in Perceptol. Of the developers I've tried so far I like it best either at box speed in XTOL 1+3 or at 80asa in Rodinal 1+50.
 

That's really true of any film though, besides something like Efke 25 and 50.
 

What kind of print sizes are you doing the comparison?

I currently use an Ebony RSW45 with a roll film back (6x7) with acros and pyrocat and have been wondering whether the hassle of developing sheet film and the expense would really be worth it for the quality increase.

I use the Schneider 110mm XL which, despite it's fantastic reputation, is not probably not going to stack up to Mamiya 7 lenses. I'm thinking about perhaps getting the 100mm digitar and sticking to 6x7 only if the results are so close.
 
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Those of you that use Rodinal 1:50 with 120 film, what is a good development time to start and also agitation rate ? The Massive Dev. Chart lists 2 times: 8 min and 13.5 min. Should I try @ 10.5-11 min first and then adjust ?
Thanks
 
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gphoto120 said:
Those of you that use Rodinal 1:50 with 120 film, what is a good development time to start and also agitation rate ? The Massive Dev. Chart lists 2 times: 8 min and 13.5 min. Should I try @ 10.5-11 min first and then adjust ?
Thanks
Click to expand...

I initially thought to reply that one of these times must be wrong. You can't have a difference of 5.5 mins and not have one of them wrong but then I looked on the MDC. The temps are different which accounts for the different times. Maybe you spotted this but I don't know. If you split the difference then what temp do you choose? If you choose the lower temp then 2.5 mins represents an increase of 30% which is still a lot.

I'd choose one or the other at the appropiate temp. I hope this helps

pentaxuser
 
Sorry should have said if you choose the higher temp then 2.5 mins( from 8 to 10.5) represents an increase of 30%. Equally if you choose the lower temp( 13.5 down to 10.5) then this is a decrease of 3 mins which is also quite a lot.

pentaxuser
 

I missed the temp. difference ! Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
 

Yeah, this is probably fair. Many people get great results with TMX, so clearly it can be done---my problem with it may well just be that I don't have the patience or motivation to treat it with the care it needs, when there are other films forgiving enough to let me get away with being sloppy.

With that in mind, let me ask the question another way: Is Acros as picky about exposure and processing as TMX, or is it a bit more bulletproof?

Thanks

-NT
 
gphoto120, I rate my film at box speed, and for regular brightness scenes I develop for 13 minutes with rodinal 1:50 @ 68 deg F. Agitate for first 30 seconds constantly, then 10 seconds every minute thereafter.

For scenes that have very bright highlights, I rate the film at ISO 80, and develop for 11 minutes with rodinal 1:50 @ 68 deg F. Same agitation cycles as before.
 
Sounds like this film is great stuff. A friend of mine says he love it in D76. I'll probably try it in Rodinal as I prefer dilute developers. The other great thing about this film is that even here in Mexico it only costs 25 pesos a roll (less $2.50) While Tri-X can cost up to 6 or even 8 dollars a roll. Tomorrow, i'll run a few rolls through the rolleiflex.
 
ntenny said:
With that in mind, let me ask the question another way: Is Acros as picky about exposure and processing as TMX, or is it a bit more bulletproof?

Thanks

-NT
Click to expand...

Hm. It's been awhile since I've used it, but my best recollection is yes, yes it is. But, it's really not that hard. Make sure to give plenty of exposure, I used ei 64 with Xtol 1+2, and don't develop too much. With these films I tend to use a dilute developer to get longer development time. The longer the time, the easier it is to be precise.
 
35mm film works fine at 13 minutes (20C), so 13.5 for 120 seems fair.


gphoto120 said:
Those of you that use Rodinal 1:50 with 120 film, what is a good development time to start and also agitation rate ? The Massive Dev. Chart lists 2 times: 8 min and 13.5 min. Should I try @ 10.5-11 min first and then adjust ?
Thanks
Click to expand...
 
Recently I've been using this film for still life @ ei 50, developed in Xtol 1:1 It's great if you like to use available light/long exposures.

I've also used it hand-held (6x7) in low light, and pushed it to 800 - (Xtol 1:1 again) - surprised how good the results were, you can see one example on my website here. I find it quite reliable and useful for different situations.
 

What is your time/agitation for acros @ 50 in XTOL 1:1?
 
To my mind Acros is prone to loosing detail in shadow but far less than T-Max family. This said, I also LOVE this film for it is very forgiving and (the most important thing) keeps the highlights present and smooth. Just mind, that if you have IMPORTANT details in shadows you'd better make tests and develop for them. In all other respects it is a MUST HAVE film. I developed it in XR-1 perfection formula (recipe from www.unblinkingeye.com) - highlights present at all the scale.
BTW, here in Ukraine, Kyiv they sell a certain ILFORD PAN 100 and 400 which is a very forgiving too, especially 400. I will not tell in "what-the-hell-of-severe-misuse-of-concoction" I put it last time for lack of any other developing mixture and it came out at least printable, when I thought it wouldn't. It gives IMHO the similar to Acros results, but we have it only in 35 format. If you can buy it in 120, it is well worth a try too
 
m_liddell said:
What is your time/agitation for acros @ 50 in XTOL 1:1?
Click to expand...

Sorry I've only just seen this post. The Acros I have used quite a bit at ISO 50 was 35mm and I processed it for the massive dev chart recommendations for ISO 100 - 9.5 mins at 20 deg. I currently have some medium format Acros shot @ 50 and think I will try it as stock - that's what the massive dev chart recommends at 8 mins, (haven't used medium format before in Acros at ISO 50 - only pushing to ISO 800, and also 400, which I've processed at 1 : 1 - and that also seems to work O.K.) but their recommendations for 35mm seemed to work fine. I had no problems printing the 35mm at ISO 50 - not particularly difficult subjects/conditions though, and not particularly contrasty lighting. Plenty of detail everywhere in the negs. It was my normal agitation 'but a bit less' (sorry not to be more specific, I don't stick to absolute regimes). If using stock I will agitate carefully (smoothly) - for example not quite as much or as vigorously as suggested by the Ilford agitation method. I'm still experimenting with using Xtol at stock - only started to do this recently with my film having always used 1:1 (have also used stock with Delta 3200, which worked well).
 
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Stephen, I enjoyed your video very much. The one thing missing, though, is how your combo compares to other combos. In particular it might make sense to compare your Diafine/Acros combo to D76(1+1)/Acros. I'd also like to know a little more about your agitation method. You say two slow inversions every minute. I'm assuming that doens't involve the standard 30 second initial agitation that goes with low agitation type methods?

Regards,
Peter
 
Finally printed some Acros 100 6x6 from Pentacon Six developed in XR-1 Perfection Formula a year ago...
Did not like it! Acros gave a cold metallic shine to the surfaces that were painted, not polished.
I had similar experience with TechPan but that was under harsh sun-rays, while the Acros gave the shining in totally gray and diffused light! An old light-blue painted car, rusty and scratched everywhere looked as if it had just been washed and polished on the print! That said, the film is great and more forgiving than T-MAx in shadows, though the very low shadows were lost even in Perfection Formula.:confused:
 
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