Anti-Doom: Maco TP64c

[MSchuler]

Has anyone tried Maco TP64c as a substitute for Tech Pan? I ordered a couple of rolls from Freestyle to test but would love to hear what the rest of you think.

 

[schrottie]

Don't bother. Those films plastic backs make them hard to get on any reel, they curl like hell, tend to get pinholes and quite often i had bits of the emulsion come off and settle somewhere on the negative. It's not worth it, imho. Ever tried PAN-F or Acros instead?

 

[edz]

Kodak Imagelink film seems to be a much closer approximation of TP than any other film I know. J&C Photo sells it, along with a special developer, in a few different formats.

To suggest an "approximation" of TechPan really depends upon what one is looking for. If its sharpeness then the combination of Agfa Copex + SPUR Nanospeed is a vast improvement--- much better than TechPan with any developer I've seen, including the SPUR Docuspeed. The ImageLink product has even finer grain but is also slower. Both, however, don't have the extended red sensitivity. If its that what one wants then a good (even better) replacement would be Kodak HawkEye with a suitable developer. I don't care for T-grain films but as Kodak suggested T-Max 100 too is a replacement for many uses of Technical Pan. Technical Pan was not really the best at anything and for any of the applications in 35mm there are better options available.

The Maco product? Forget it. Junk. Some might swear by it but I swear at them. Worse still I've been strongly negatively impressed by Maco as a company.

 

[Dr.Kollig]

Dear Jdef,

there are two Maco 64 outhere, UP 64c is very close to Efke 50, the latter version with clear base, this film was discontinued in either 2003 or 2004, TP64c is a different film with a gamma curve close to Technical Pan. In Cologne I can get TP64c at reduced price, so I think this film is going to be discontinued soon.

Maco does a "fine" job at relabelling films at a "slightly" elevated prices, stickers got to be expensive these days, you know.

Dear Edward,

please use Maco Products like their superb Lucky SHD 100, at least the can can be reused. Mr. Schroeder set a final price of 2 €, while giving the retailers a hard time to get a trade price which would allow that price, like taking at least 500 films.

Just in case that someone is using Lucky try that film in combination with a staining developer like Pyrocat, that staining at least retains some highlight definition, a normal developer will not give you any chance.

Wolfram

 

[MSchuler]

Actually, I use Pan-F+ (in Rodinal 1+49) for about half of my photographs; I recently shot a roll of Tech Pan, liked the high resolution, and wanted to play with it a bit more.

 

[418E]

TP64

This is a great new film!

It is the best of the MACO line, HANDS DOWN.

http://www.dr5.com/macoTP64.htm

GOOD SHOOTING!

418

 

[Donald Qualls]

Wait.

Doc, are you telling me Lucky SHD film is actually Maco and is not coated in China in a plant partly owned by Kodak??

Also, FWIW, I've used SHD 400 with HC-110 Dilution G and was quite pleased with it -- enough so that, when I run out of TMY, SHD 400 will be my 120 format, ISO 400 film of choice. Excellent tonality, to my eye, very good definition and the grain isn't bad. Perhaps I was swayed by shooting it in a 1928 camera that beats most of my newer ones...

Lucky SHD 400, crop appr. 20x30 mm from 6x9 frame.