APX 25 in 120

To me the best thing about the APX25 was its remarkable resolving power in combination with the really pleasing tonal gradations it was capable of. I could enlarge 35mm negs with similar resolution and graininess to a medium format ISO 100 film, without sacrificing too much sharpness.
I have seen an enlargement from a 35mm neg that had a Durst enlarger head all the way in the ceiling, and the paper on the floor. That negative was stand developed in 1+300 Rodinal and had amazing sharpness still. It was a close-up of a face profile in semi subdued lighting. The face occupied about 1/3 of the frame. In the enlargement I could very clearly count the eye lashes on the model. Some people think this is really cool, I used to be impressed by that. Now it's more about tonality, and I don't care about grain anymore, plus I never really print that big... But those features are probably some of the most common reasons why this film is considered legendary.

- Thomas

Soeren said:

Someone please fill me in. What's the big deal here? What makes APX25 so special that people are willing to pay twice the price of current films or more for outdated out of production products?? Im not trying to bash anyone or start a flamewar I just don't get it. :confused: :confused: I mean If it really was that good more people would have used it and it wouldn't have been discontinued in the first place. Please WHY??
Kind regards
Søren

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I used to use Agfa 25 in 4x5 as my standard in the early 80s. I also used it in 35mm. It was discontinued right about the same time that tmax 100 was intorduced.

Anyway I tested it and used it quite a lot and found the real ASA then to be 6. If you want a full zone 1 that is. Didn't bother me that it was so slow. I processed it in Rodinal 1 to a 100 or in beutlers and got amazing long beautifully gradated mid tones and it made a "makie" sp? edge line really nicely.

Right after they stopped the APX25 in sheet film Agfa "New and Improved" their Portriga Rapid and it went from great paper to trash. it was pretty devisating to me to lose both my paper and my film in a couple of months time.

dpurdy said:

I used to use Agfa 25 in 4x5 as my standard in the early 80s. I also used it in 35mm. It was discontinued right about the same time that tmax 100 was intorduced.

Anyway I tested it and used it quite a lot and found the real ASA then to be 6. If you want a full zone 1 that is. Didn't bother me that it was so slow. I processed it in Rodinal 1 to a 100 or in beutlers and got amazing long beautifully gradated mid tones and it made a "makie" sp? edge line really nicely.

Right after they stopped the APX25 in sheet film Agfa "New and Improved" their Portriga Rapid and it went from great paper to trash. it was pretty devisating to me to lose both my paper and my film in a couple of months time.

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Apologies for the pedantry but many people confuse ASA/ISO with personal film speed. I've never heard of a film with an incorrect ISO rating from the manufacturer. However, personal film speed differs from ISO frequently, perhaps even more often than not.

Soeren said:

I mean If it really was that good more people would have used it and it wouldn't have been discontinued in the first place. Please WHY??

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Agfa's B&W films were very highly regarded, and widely used, but that didn't prevent them from running their business into the ground. Popularity doesn't guarantee availability.