APX 400/Rodinal: jump ship or fill freezer?

MMfoto · Mar 2, 2006

I am trying to decide whether to stock up or make a clean break from APX 400. I develop with Rodinal and feel that this is a very distinctive combo. All the positive aspects of Rodinal and much less grain than with the other 400 speed films with Rodinal. I've done a decent sized body of docu/travel type stuff with this film and am not sure I'm ready to walk away. This film has been good to me. Any thoughts?

david b · Mar 2, 2006

Well I am somewhat pondering the same thing. I have about 100 rolls of APX 100 left and I've been thinking about getting rid of it and replacing it with FP4+.

Who knows?

In the meantime, I would not go overboard. Get what you can but don't go crazy.

Stephanie Brim · Mar 2, 2006

Just so you know...I've been looking for some APX 100. If you do decide to let some go, let me know. Just don't gouge me...I'm broke.

MMfoto · Mar 2, 2006

Stephanie Brim said:
Just so you know...I've been looking for some APX 100. If you do decide to let some go, let me know. Just don't gouge me...I'm broke.

I believe B&H has some as we speak...

Ryuji · Mar 2, 2006

I wouldn't hesitate to stock up a large quantity of unique films for which there is no substitute, like Konica Infrared in 120 size. However, I don't think APX400 belongs to this category. If I were you, I'd buy enough APX400 to go for another 6 months, and a few rolls of potential substitutes to test out before APX400 exhausts.

I'd suggest the same for Rodinal. People are too pessimistic about the future of b&w photography. I know of a plan of new b&w processing chemicals to be offered for sale by a small but motivated company (Not Fuji, Ilford or Kodak) and I also know that their catalog includes two or more new film developers. So, I wouldn't go crazy in stocking up a huge amount of materials.

(However, I stocked up about a grand worth of AGFA MCC and MCP. I don't know of any other paper that works similarly in my developer-toner combination, and I already started building my portfolio using this combination...)

So, market analysis is one thing, and faith to b&w photography is another thing.

MMfoto · Mar 2, 2006

Ryuji said:
I don't think APX400 belongs to this category.

I would for the most part agree with you. I do think though that this film expresses all of the positive aspects of Rodinal while maintaining much finer grain than similar films in this developer. Beautiful gradation, moderate accutance, and a pleasantly well defined grain pattern without being "grainy."

I have found that other 400 speed films in "accutance" developers that will give grain as fine as APX400/Rodinal offer poorer tonality and are bitingly accute. An example would be Hp5+ and Acutol. Although a fantastic combo with fine grain and high sharpness, this is a very different look than what I'm looking for/used to.

Stocking up or not, at some point I will have to make a switch. If I have to accept a different look with perhaps more grain than at this point I would have to say that Neopan 1600 would be my choice. Won't be as pretty for scenics, but the stop and a half or so more speed would be an appreciated tradeoff most of the time.

Ryuji · Mar 2, 2006

I would think about this problem in the other way. You are settled on a developer and selecting a film to match. This might have worked when you had many films to choose from. But today there are fewer films, although it remains the same that you can make any developer to suit your application.

I'd rather pick a well designed emulsion system and make a developer to suit your application. With a developer like DS-12, it's easy to get equal accutance and less grain than with Rodinal.

sanderx1 · Mar 2, 2006

Ryuji said:
I wouldn't hesitate to stock up a large quantity of unique films for which there is no substitute, like Konica Infrared in 120 size. However, I don't think APX400 belongs to this category. If I were you, I'd buy enough APX400 to go for another 6 months, and a few rolls of potential substitutes to test out before APX400 exhausts.

Theres a replacement for APX400? Which film? I keep getting much worser results in indoors shooting (inc with a flash) with all the other films, whetever with flash or just artificial.

Dead Link Removed aka the Agfa Liquidators keep auctioning off 100 roll boxes of APX at quite reasonable prices. (well, not just apx really)

Ryuji · Mar 2, 2006

My favorite indoor films are Fuji Neopan 400 (developed in DS-10 stock) and Delta 3200 at EI 1600 (developed in DS-10 1+1). But at the same time I don't particularly like the results I get with APX400 in any developer.

MMfoto · Mar 11, 2006

So I've decided that I'm not going to stock up on APX 400. Can't say that I've made a firm commitment to another standard yet, but I do hate long goodbye's. Besides, time spent putting is off is ultimately time taken away from whatever comes next.

Ray Heath · Mar 11, 2006

why is there a constant moan about unavailabilty of particular materials, get over it, try something else, halting manufacture is not personal, is your work really soo precious you can't use an alternative

MMfoto · Mar 12, 2006

Oh I'm sorry, did you here a moan?

Black Dog · Mar 12, 2006

Buy what you can while you test alternatives-in most cases there are close euivalents to a discontinued film/dev/paper. Anyway, Rodinal is pretty everlasting and v economical too-my 500 ml bottle should last for donkey's years.

MMfoto · Mar 12, 2006

Black Dog said:
500 ml bottle should last for donkey's years.

On my last bottle too. Good news though. It seems Rodinal is here to stay. Looks like JandC has R09 in stock, Photographers Formulary has Paraminophenol Developer kits in stock, and the beat goes on.

APX 400/Rodinal: jump ship or fill freezer?

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