Any Love for Efke 25?

braxus

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This film has been discontinued for 10 years now, and I bought a bit of my stash of it, when I found out it was discontinued. I've been saving the rolls for special shoots, mainly portraits. But I haven't been doing much of that the last few years. I always loved the look of this perticular film, as it did everything right for what I expected from it. It is higher in contrast, but still has lovely tones. And the grain looks just right with this film. Most of my rolls over the years were done in Xtol-R at a lab. Prices have been going up on this film, due to it getting harder to find now. Its a shame Adox refuses to make this film today, but they stated they never will. It would be impossible to make it now, since the old coaters are now long gone. And they just dont make film the old fashioned way (one thin coat coating) anymore. Im aware this film had its quality control issues, but I never ran into issues with the 25 film. Only their 100 had curl issues at the time. This is also a high silver content film, though we all know that means nothing today. I also love the ortho-panchromatic look from this film, especially when it darkens skin tones, like the model has a tan.

So who loves this film? What are the qualities about it that you do like?
 

Alan Johnson

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Thin Emulsion Films c1956

Marc Bergman posted these from "Modern Photography" https://www.flickr.com/photos/38552878@N02/28520637600/in/photostream/lightbox/ They were THE films until tabular grain arrived.
www.photrio.com
I still have a brick of 10 left, the last of the "acutance films" that got their sharpness from edge effects when developed in Beutler or Neofin Blue. For me it has been rather superseded by Adox CMS 20.
 

John Wiegerink

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I have part of a box of 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 I keep just for the special occasion when I put my ground glass back on my Kodak Medalsit II. It's like a mini 4x5 with that combination. Nice thing I liked about EFKE 25 compared to something like CMS 20 is the contrast was much easier to tame. Nice film, but I can live without it. Of course, there are many things I can live without, but it doesn't mean I don't miss some of them. Johnw
 

Rick A

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I shot a fair amount of Efke 25 in the past, beautiful film. It does have a couple of "special needs" when processing and is prone to "pinholes" in the emulsion if full strength stop bath is used. The company recommended the use of half strength stop or just a couple of water rinses between developing and fix. It's a single coat emulsion and can be easily scratched. I always shot it at rated speed and developed in D-76 1+1. Nearly all I shot had the blue film base.
 

Alan9940

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I bought 50 135-36 of it back when it was still readily available after the factory closed. It lives in my freezer, and I probably still have about 35 rolls in there. I love the tonality of this film developed in Pyrocat-HD. I print it in the darkroom up to 8x12" and scan/print to any size needed. Unlike Adox CMS 20, which is an EI 12 film for me, I shoot EFKE 25 at box speed.
 

Andrew O'Neill

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I do! I still have about 20 8x10 sheets that have been sitting in the freezer since '08! I do have plans to pull it out and use them all up. Along with its very fine, sharp grain (in Pyrocat-HD), I appreciate its unique look when a red filter is employed. Another overlooked quality is its reciprocity characteristics:

https://www.photo.net/discuss/threads/efke-25-reciprocity-test-results.119482/
 

JPD

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I have a couple of 35 mm, 120 rolls and some 9x12 and 6,5x9 sheets in the freezer, for special occasions. Very nice film, but the 120 curls. I also have about 20 rolls of Agfa APX 25 in 120 that I should use up.
 

Craig

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I liked the ortho, it is very sharp. However, the emulsion is very fragile, it is easily damaged in processing so needed very delicate handling.
 

craigclu

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I used a bit of it in the day. It was quite special in FG-7 and had a sort of "sparkle" to it. Very sharp in prints and less fiddly than Tech-Pan with my gear for exposures and contrast control, especially skin tones.
 

ntenny

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Efke 25 was really a great film. I didn’t realise Adox had said “never”, but I guess the market for a slow film is pretty limited, and they can’t be blamed for going where the demand is. I’d love to see a slow orthopanchromatic film re-emerge someday, even if it isn’t an exact clone.

I’ve still got a few rolls of 120 left, and maybe a box of 6.5x9. Considering the typical lighting in Oregon, it may last a while as I stretch it out over my two sunny days per year.

-NT
 
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braxus

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I shot 4 rolls of this film yesterday out of my stash. Im actually getting down on this film now. I noticed my first emulsion defect in one of the shots I took. It was a pinhole in the emulsion. Luckily it showed up in part of the frame that wasn't important. Im dealing with curling of the 120 film as well. It really depends on how it dries. Because of the temp inside my house yesterday, I had to basically develop the film for 3 minutes in Xtol 1:1 because it hovered between 29 and 30 degrees C inside. I really should have waited a day, as its cooler today. Because of this the rolls lack a little contrast and tones, but still turned out quite usable. Here is a shot of my coworker I took pics of yesterday. I'll have to do something about the dust in the scan.

What I wanted to ask was how common is it to have the edges of this film in 120 fogged? This seems to be more common on the rolls I shot recently, and I can't understand why. The seals on the Pentax 67 were replaced a while back.
 

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eli griggs

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I have this in 127 and in 35mm bulk loaded rolls, as well as Ekfe 100, in 120.

I think I still have about 50 feet of 35 mm in a bulk loader with spool, I do no remember if I bought two 100' rolls or no, but, in other formats, only about a dozen rolls, if that many, remain.

I like these films, but then, iso 200 Tri-x and 400 Hp5+ have been standard loads for me, for many years and this stuff waits well.
 

Saganich

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Was a nice film. Efke 25 in D23. Williamsburg waterfront circa 2002. Sort of a poor reproduction.
 

Pioneer

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I love it. This was the film I was using when I first started experimenting with various homemade developers. First with D-23, then Parodinal and now Caffenol. It always seems to forgive me no matter what soup I throw it in but I think I still like it best in D-23. It can be fragile sometimes but I almost always use Jobo tanks so I don't see emulsion damage on anything very often.

Here is one that I took out on Huntington Creek last year. It was developed in homemade rodinal. One of these nights I want to go back out and do some light painting here.

I am not certain what would be causing your fogging on the edges. It would seem to me that the aluminized wrapping would prevent any light fogging unless it happened because the roll loosened up in the camera itself. I have noticed some edge fogging in my Pentacon Six but that thing is notorious unless I get it loaded right. I just shot a roll of 120 in my Rolleiflex and did not see any problems. I haven't tried to print anything yet but I'll do a scan to see if there is something I missed on the negatives. I have another roll in my Ikoflex 1b and I'll check that one when I pull it out.
 

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Alan9940

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Hate to be a "me, too" but ME, TOO! Never shot it in 120, but I have a good stash of 35mm still in the freezer. Put this film behind Leica glass and you'll truly appreciate what is possible from a small neg. I develop it primarily in Pyrocat HD which, not only provides a very nice negative, but also mitigates the somewhat softer emulsion of EFKE films.
 

Saganich

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Another Efke 25 in D23 from 2002. Elmar 65 on a Visoflex. I have a brick of APX 25, which someday I may enjoy.
 
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braxus

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Well I got more defects in the rolls I shot on Sunday than my lifetime of using this film. Maybe rolls from Expirey 2014 didnt hold up so well?

A side note, I'll have to get my eyes checked and a new prescription for some new lenses on my glasses. I missed critical focus on the girls face in 95 percent of the shots. Never missed that badly before. But it was on a version 1 Pentax 67, where their focus screens are rather dark.
 

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Wyno

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I have 2 sheets of 8x10 left to shoot, and 8 sheets shot. I'll be developing them in Rodinal as soon as I've shot the last 2. It's a shame they don't make it any more. Now I have to shoot FP4.
 

JPD

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braxus said:
Well I got more defects in the rolls I shot on Sunday than my lifetime of using this film. Maybe rolls from Expirey 2014 didnt hold up so well?
Click to expand...
How have they been stored?
 
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braxus

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A couple of then were bought off Ebay, so I don't know. The majority of the rolls were bought by me in 2012 fresh from the store and frozen right away and since.
 

ntenny

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I love this film, but every time I develop it, I rediscover just how curly/springy the 120 rolls are after drying. I just had a strip coil violently and jump out of my hand as I tried to coax it into a scanner holder. The pictorial qualities are worth the inconvenience, though.

It looks like I got an unexpected pinhole in one frame, which hasn’t happened to me before with this film. Of course it looks likely to be the best shot on the roll, as usual.

-NT
 

JPD

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I put the dried negatives in sleeves and then put a couple of heavy books on top, and after a couple of days the negs are flat.

To avoid pinholes it's a good idea to agitate gently and use plain water as stop. It doesn't always work, though. The last Efke film I processed was a 127-roll of Efke R100, and of course it got a big pinhole in the middle of the face on the best portrait on that roll.
 

titrisol

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It's been a long time! but yeah it was fantastic
I used to develop it in Rodinal 1+100 for 10 minutes with pre-soak and water stop
 
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