Agfa APX 25 Newbie with a few comments I mean questions.

[jetcode]

This film needs a LOT of light. It took 3 rolls to really dial it in. This film curls like crazy! Thank god I can keep a cool head while I have a curled up roll in one hand and the 120 reel in the other. Thank god the substrate is flexible enough to handle the loading cycle. Did a 18 minute stand development using Rodinal 1:100 on a scene that was 10 stops and it worked! It took a 16 second exposure. Of course this is because I was using a 75 Nikkor SW with a CF IIIB and a #11 filter. The format is a 6x17 Shen-Hao. I find that ISO 12 is more realistic. Just picked up a case (10 sealed bricks 07/2005) and it wasn't cheap. I have a d800E with some great lenses but the 6x17 is a mind bender. I love the format and this particular camera is wonderful. The whole rig with 75 nikkor, 110XL, 210S-S with filters, film holder, camera, and accessories fit perfectly in my backpack and it's light! Wahoo!

Any commentary or experience with APX 25 is welcome!

 

[thegman]

Never used this film, but would be interested to see the results from the Shen Hao.

 

[jetcode]

I will be scanning soon. I am off to Big Sur next week.

I do have a question for experienced APX 25 users. There doesn't appear to be a glue seal at the end of the roll. I don't know how to keep the roll from unraveling. Any advice?

 

[Chris Lange]

I like APX25 a lot for my 35mm cams...I do find it is more workable at EI12, but I use a red filter a lot, which brings my effective EI down to 3 or so.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

If you are a newbie to photography then a slow film and stand development are not the best choices. Slow films have very little latitude and pose a challenge with correct exposure. Stand development distorts the tonal scale of the film. A better choice would be a medium speed film and normal development. Once you have mastered such a combination you can try other more demanding films and techniques.

 

[Dr Croubie]

I will be scanning soon. I am off to Big Sur next week.

I do have a question for experienced APX 25 users. There doesn't appear to be a glue seal at the end of the roll. I don't know how to keep the roll from unraveling. Any advice?

I'm presuming you mean when you've unloaded a finished 120 roll? Keep a packet of rubber bands in your pocket (or stickytape).

I've got a few APX25 and APX100 in 135 in the freezer, just scored a frozen 50' roll for cheap too. I keep hearing how APX and Rodinal were born to work together, any suggestions for times and/or agitations? I can get times from the MDC, are they accurate? And is it better to do less agitations every 30s, or more every 2 mins?

 

[jetcode]

I am not a newbie at photography. I took classes in the mid 90's and have been shooting ever since. I am not a newbie to film either. I have had several darkrooms. I have never shot APX 25 before now.

The stand development was to introduce a N-2 development since I had 10 stops of light and most all the detail was in the mud. So I brought the mud up to zone IV which would have blasted the highlights way out. Fortunately there is little detail in the highlights in this particular scene. I will put the negs on a light table and take a closer look at the highlights in the next day or two.

There are some links online for developing APX 25. I knew that I needed a contraction so my agitation was sparse and mostly in the first minute or two followed by longer periods of stand and the occasional inversion.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

Thank you for your clarification. The title was a bit ambiguous so I hedged my post by prefacing it with "If".

 

[JLP]

I've got a few APX25 and APX100 in 135 in the freezer, just scored a frozen 50' roll for cheap too. I keep hearing how APX and Rodinal were born to work together, any suggestions for times and/or agitations? I can get times from the MDC, are they accurate? And is it better to do less agitations every 30s, or more every 2 mins?

My standard N time for APX100 in 120 is 11minutes in Rodinal 1+50 20C gentle agitation the first minute and 10 seconds gently every minute thereafter.
APX25 10 minutes with same dilution, agitation and temperature.
Printing with a condenser head but they scan well too at this combo.
APX and Rodinal are made for each other as far as I am concerned.

Should ad that I shoot APX100 at 100 and APX25 at 20

 

[darkosaric]

Example in Rodinal 1+75, at box speed:

Dead Link Removed
Dead Link Removed

 

[jetcode]

Thanks for the development tips folks.

Jan what is the scene exposure range for your standard development of APX25? I shot the last test roll at ISO 12 but in fact I may have been compensating for bellows draw (75mm close proximity subject) and other less calibrated factors such as my meter which is a Soligar spot meter. One thing for sure this last roll is absolutely gorgeous. I did a N, N+1, N-1 exposure with N-2 development and the exposure and development are spot on.

 

[jetcode]

Well we had a storm clearing so I headed to one of my favorite vistas. I used Jan's recipe except for ISO 12. Had a small glitch when I got distracted away from the development after the 3rd minute and didn't get back until 20 minutes elapsed! It still worked and scanned well. I was amazed. The linked image is a lowly 1800 pixel test scan in sepia. I scanned a version at 3600 and the grain was minimal. This was shot with a 210 Sironar-S on a Shen-Hao 6x17 camera. The image is protected by DigiMarc.

The original image I thought made it through the 10 stops doesn't scan well since the mud is still in the mud. Bummer.

Off to Big Sur for a couple of days.

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

Nice pano!!

I came across some old Agfapan 25, the predecessor of the APX25. Still shoots beautifully:


Golden Gate Park fern grove Rolleiwide Agfapan25 HC-110dilH 9min30sec 21C 1minAg2x by rich8155 (Richard Sintchak), on Flickr

 

[jetcode]

A fellow shooter from over yonder. The detail in that shot is outrageous. Same with tone. Wow.

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

A fellow shooter from over yonder. The detail in that shot is outrageous. Same with tone. Wow.

Yes, 120. Shot with this:

 

[jetcode]

That's a great camera system. I have never shot 6x6 but perhaps some day I will bite the bullet. I love the view from the top into the frame.

 

[PKM-25]

If you wet print the mud neg, you might be able to control the local contrast better since optically enlarging seems to always play the nicest with the neg.

I have about a hundred rolls of it in 120, awesome film:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

If you wet print the mud neg, you might be able to control the local contrast better since optically enlarging seems to always play the nicest with the neg.

I have about a hundred rolls of it in 120, awesome film:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Wow, what a gorgeous image!

 

[jetcode]

If you wet print the mud neg, you might be able to control the local contrast better since optically enlarging seems to always play the nicest with the neg.

I have about a hundred rolls of it in 120, awesome film:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Yeah that is definitely where this one is heading. Wow you are sitting pretty with the film and I bet you got it for a song comparatively speaking. I need to get a subscription so I can take in the eye candy!

 

[jetcode]

Long exposures at Point Lobos last Thursday. I am certainly liking APX25. This roll I used a ISO 20.