Adox CMS 20 Ultra High Resolution Film

Has anyone tried a developer for this film ? I was thinking of mixing some Perfection XR-1 or stand Rodinal.

They have a special developper - adotech - not tested

Given it's a microfilm stock, and assuming for some reason you don't want to or can't use the Adotech developer J&C offers, I'd look at other developers intended for pictorial use on microfilm or Tech Pan. High dilution Rodinal, especially with greatly reduced agitation, is one good choice; high dilution HC-110 with greatly reduced agitation is another. Even high dilution D-76 can be made to work. Then there are POTA, Technidol, TD-3, H&W Control, etc. My own preference is for Caffenol LC+C, which I hope to try on a roll or two of CMS 20 sometime soon (need to order film this week, hopefully there'll be money left for some of this).

Testing will tell, but based on past results with Copex Rapid, I expect to see a useful EI between 32 and 40 with Caffenol LC+C (J&C recommends EI 20 with their Adotech developer, as far as I can tell). In my Spotmatic with Super Takumar 50 mm f/1.4, that's fast enough to be of considerable utility, and the film ought to stand extreme enlargement.

hey, Donald that's very interesting !
Is caffenol same that folgernol ? Maybe your formula is not secret and you could give it to us ???
I've been testing folgernol with FP4+ and result was very fine , you're right, why could'nt it be fine with CMS ^^
Will test too with my own folgernol formula and will give results here .

I mixed some H&W Control for developing microfilms;it's easier if the phenidone is dissolved first in 50ml isopropyl alcohol.
www.frugalphotographer.com/formulary.htm
It has kept well under inert gas,now 6 months old it still blackens a film leader.
I have not tried it on the Adox CMS 20 though.

You will need a "high energy" developer to get the most out of this film.

ooh - that looks liek a nice film, nad not too expensive either; I'm going to have to try some ...

Does anyone, by chance, know what microfilm stock it's cut from?

Is this film available in 120 roll? If so, any advice on where to look? JanC don't show it on their site.

ChrisW said:

Is this film available in 120 roll? If so, any advice on where to look? JanC don't show it on their site.

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Yes they do:
http://jandcphoto.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=96

Oh sorry, did you mean that J&C don't show it in 120 or that they didn't show it at all?

Alicouscous said:

Is caffenol same that folgernol ? Maybe your formula is not secret and you could give it to us ???

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I wouldn't recommend original Caffenol (aka Folgernol) for microfilm-derived products like CMS 20, though it's probably possible with develop for little enough time to get a usable contrast level. Caffenol LC+C is my own variant, a low contrast developer specifically for microfilms. I've used the older Caffenol LC (cut the coffee in half from original Caffenol) on Imagelink HQ and Copex Rapid with good results, but Caffenol LC+C (scroll down, near the bottom) gives about one stop better film speed than Caffenol LC, with only the addition of a tiny amount of vitamin C and enough additional sodium carbonate to restore the pH. I've found Copex Rapid gives excellent results at EI 64 to 80 with Caffenol LC+C; this is comparable to the results from highly optimized developers specific to this film.



Copex Rapid, EI 64, 13x17 mm negative size (Kiev 303, 22 mm Industar-M), on .EDU Ultra VC RC in Dektol 1+3.

Barring unforeseens, I'll be ordering a couple rolls of CMS 20 tomorrow...

Thank's Donald, all this is very interesting .
I have a roll from Gigabitfilm to finish and after i'll try CMS20 and will compare adotech and caffenol LC .
I don't know if I can find vitamin C here to try caffenol LC+C .
Will give my opinion on this thread later .

Alicouscous said:

I don't know if I can find vitamin C here to try caffenol LC+C .

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I got mine at a health food store -- GNC, as it happens; it was about $14 for a pound (454 g), and I got the 97% pure ascorbic acid "with rosehips" (must not be much rosehips, it dissolves completely -- rosehips, BTW, is the seeding fruit of the rose and one of the most concentrated sources of ascorbic acid in nature). I'd be amazed if there weren't supplement dealers in France who'd be happy to sell you ascorbic acid; if not, look for erythorbic acid sold as a meat and fruit preservative -- it's the same stuff but opposite chirality, and while it won't prevent scurvy, it works exactly the same in developers. Worst case, vitamin C tablets are almost certainly available over the counter at pharmacies, though the tableting material (starch and waxes, usually) is annoying to filter out of the developer.

And there are *many* other fine developers you can make with ascorbic acid, so it's worth having if you have any interest at all in mixing your own process chemicals.

Alicouscous said:

I don't know if I can find vitamin C here to try caffenol LC+C .

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In addition to Donald's reply, I'll add that sodium ascorbate or sodium erythorbate can be substituted for ascorbic acid, but you must then reduce the amount of whatever the formula uses as an alkali to get the pH back in line. It's conceivable you'll be able to find powdered sodium ascorbate more easily than powdered ascorbic acid. Both are sold as dietary supplements in drug stores and health food stores in the US.

FWIW, I favor developers that use these ingredients (I use the ascorbic acid form) because they're less toxic than hydroquinone, which they can generally replace -- not that hydroquinone is all that dangerous, but I've not found ascorbate developers to be inferior in action, so it's an easy way to very slightly reduce personal and environmental risks. I've not tried Caffeinol LC+C, so I can't comment on it. Mostly I use Pat Gainer's PC-Glycol and Ryuji Suzuki's DS-12 and DS-14, but I've experimented with a few others.

ADOX CMS 20 35mm film in Canada?

Is it possible to buy this film, and Adotech CMS developer from a Canadian retailer? I'm intimidated by importing the developer myself, as I assume it is classified as a "chemical" and therefore will be expensive to ship.

Thanks for any advice.

I lost my stock of Tech Pan. For certain subjects I loved it in Rodinal 1+150 for 6 minutes. I must look for some here.

Thanks for these posts.

Bob H