Adox CHS 25 or 50???

I am wondering how this film performs. Can someone with some experience with this film tell a bit about it?

Is this the same as a Technical Pan film???

They're Efke 25 and 50, formerly known as Efke KB14/R14 and KB17/R17. Definitely not the same as Tech Pan; they actually have reduced red sensitivity and are sometimes described as "orthopanchromatic", meaning somewhere between ortho and pan. A lot of people prefer them *up*rated a stop from box speed: the 25 at EI 50, the 50 at EI 100. Efke strongly recommend against overexposure---apparently the highlights run away easily, though it seems like opinions differ on whether it's as big an issue as all that.

The 25 version blew me away the first time I used it---it just has a certain je ne sais quoi, probably connected to the reduced red sensitivity---and I shoot a fair amount of it in medium format, mostly at box speed (in PC-TEA or occasionally Caffenol C). I actually really like it as a portrait film, although conventional wisdom would say that you don't generally want reduced red sensitivity for that application.

-NT

stradibarrius said:

I am wondering how this film performs. Can someone with some experience with this film tell a bit about it?

Is this the same as a Technical Pan film???

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This is one frame from a roll of 120 taken with a Mamiya 645 on Adox CHS 25; I developed it in Rodinal 1:50 for 12 minutes, no filter. It's a sharp film but in my experience it is prone to pinholes, I've use nearly all the other slow film such as Panatomic-X, Agfa Pan 25, Efke, Adox, Ilford PanF 50, KB, KB and ORWO etc. without any pinholes so it's not bad technique.

If you use it be gentle with agitation; I use a semi stand; agitate for the first 30 seconds then at 5 and 10 for 10 seconds each time. That's it; it works for me and might work for you. Pre wash to the heavy purple off, water stop and TF4 fixer from Formulary. It curls some if a non curling film is your goal then use Fuji Acros 100, it's about the flattest on the market. Want a really great film? Try Rollei Pan 25.

Excellent shot Curt!!! Great detail and tones.

Curt said:

This is one frame from a roll of 120 taken with a Mamiya 645 on Adox CHS 25; I developed it in Rodinal 1:50 for 12 minutes, no filter. It's a sharp film but in my experience it is prone to pinholes, I've use nearly all the other slow film such as Panatomic-X, Agfa Pan 25, Efke, Adox, Ilford PanF 50, KB, KB and ORWO etc. without any pinholes so it's not bad technique.

If you use it be gentle with agitation; I use a semi stand; agitate for the first 30 seconds then at 5 and 10 for 10 seconds each time. That's it; it works for me and might work for you. Pre wash to the heavy purple off, water stop and TF4 fixer from Formulary. It curls some if a non curling film is your goal then use Fuji Acros 100, it's about the flattest on the market. Want a really great film? Try Rollei Pan 25.

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Curt,

I'm glad you said that because I thought I was the only one going crazy. Last week, I've thrown out a bag of 20 rolls of 25 and 50 after getting immensely frustrated. Pinholes, pepper dots, you name it. Developed in Rodinal, Beutler, didn't matter, and my technique is spotless. CHS100 seems ok but 25 and 50, no way for me. Who needs the headache. Agree with Rollei Pan25..phenomenal.

Best,

Max

MaximusM3 said:

my technique is spotless. CHS100 seems ok but 25 and 50, no way for me.

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I use 4X5 CHS 50 atm, and I get the pinholes and what not too and in addition to that it seems that the individual sheets are of varying size, not much but evident when you scan them in a filmholder..

Great film, awesome tonality but the quality control seems to be inferior to others.. But then again, its dirt cheap!

FiatluX said:

I use 4X5 CHS 50 atm, and I get the pinholes and what not too and in addition to that it seems that the individual sheets are of varying size, not much but evident when you scan them in a filmholder..

Great film, awesome tonality but the quality control seems to be inferior to others.. But then again, its dirt cheap!

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Yes, this sums it up all right.

Curt

They can be beautiful films when they work, and they are available in many interesting sizes. However, they are very poorly made IME. The base is rough. The emulsion is very easily damaged. Holes are common. Sheets vary in size. The edge notch is often punched out of position, or not at all. If memory serves me correctly, there is no difference between the notches for different speeds; 25, 50, and 100 all use the same notch code, begging the question, why use a notch code at all? It reticulates easily. It does not have a lot of latitude. It does not handle overexposure well. It is very grainy for its speed. If you process it as carefully as you process a color film with regards to temperature control, make no radical changes in pH between chemical baths (meaning that you skip the stop bath for sure), and use a hardening fixer, you might do OK. Maybe.

In other words, if you want to have the total experience, and not just the "look," of working with a film like people had to do it in the '50's, then Ekfe/Adox is your stuff. Films have come a LONG way since. I used to use it a lot in 4x5, but I gave up after having to resort to tedious retouching of technical flaws over and over again. I now just use it in the "funny" formats, like 127, 2x3, etc.

I used only the 25 and the 100. I found the 50 to be the least necessary, and the hardest to tame in contrast.

None of them are anything like Tech Pan. Tech Pan was, as the name states, a fully panchromatic film designed for technical work or reproduction, though Kodak did have a developer that would squeeze pictorial results out of it. The only things like that are Rollei ATP 1.1, or litho film (sheets only). I use The ATP at EI 200 (tungsten) to 400 (flash) with D-19 for copying text and the like for screen printing, so the contrast is off the charts (figuratively). If you want something like Tech Pan in a roll film, but do not want to pay the price for the ATP, try the Efke 50 at at least EI 200 in halftone litho developer (A+B) for three to five minutes, or maybe EI 400 or 800 in D-19. Both of these developers are very active, though, so they may exacerbate the pinhole problem.

I used CHS 25 in 35mm and medium format. I could not find one of the deficiencies, no holes, and no roughness. I found the grey rendering attractive and like the fine grain.

I've also been lucky, I guess, in having no pinhole problems with the Efke films. The emulsion is delicate, but I don't find it to be a problem---I just handle the film with a little extra care while it's wet.

In sheet film (100 in 9x12 and 2.25x3.25; 25 in 6.5x9 and a very little bit of 5x7) I haven't noticed any size variations, but I'm not sure how drastic an issue people are talking about. Are there sheets that fail to fit in standard holders? That would be seriously annoying.

The notch "codes" are the same---I think they're only there for orientation, not for film ID. Doesn't everybody keep a sticky on the holder with notes for development anyway?

-NT