Babylon Kino film

xkaes

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Does anyone have any experience, thoughts, or interest in Babylon Kino film? It's from LOMOGRAPHY, but I don't know who makes it. It's a B&W negative film with an ISO of 13, apparently low contrast, and is available in 35mm. I have not explored it on line.
 

Donald Qualls

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I've used it -- superfine grain, and normal-seeming contrast in common developers. I bought a bulk roll from a reseller in Florida (who owns the ORWO name in the USA, it seems). Thick base, so it's hard to get 36 exposures in a cassette, but shorter rolls work fine.
 

Kino

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koraks said:
I think @Kino mentioned in his former workplace they processed a lot of this material as well. Maybe he can chime in.
Click to expand...

It's a Panchro Dupe Negative stock for copying Fine Grain Master Positives and (with gamma correction) existing release prints.

It will be ungodly slow as a camera original, but should be very fine grained. We processed it at .50, .60 and .70 relative gammas in D96, but it should work just fine in any MQ type developer with fine tuning.

Tends toward a long, flat curve with fairly sharp breaks on toe and shoulder (at least in Motion Picture Printers with Halogen light sources) so take that into account.

Hope this helps.

BTW; D96 is, more or less, a modified version of D76 with more buffering to keep the HQ from running wild as it ages and PH increases. D76 should give nearly identical results.

Dont' be afraid to give it good agitation if you want better contrast...
 
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Donald Qualls

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I'll also note that DN21 works fine in Xtol as well. And ISO 12 isn't *that* slow if you have a fast lens or bright outdoor conditions. That's f/8 at 1/50 under Sunny 16 conditions. You won't be shooting deep DOF indoor shots with it, unless they're static scenes, but I've used it in an f/4.5 6x9 folder (35 mm taking up to a 120 spool), hand held, with good results. And sprockets!
 
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xkaes

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Being a longtime Agfapan 25 user -- that I rate at ISO 12 -- the ISO of 13 is no obstacle at all. I'll have to put Babylon Kino on my TODO list -- once I get through testing FFP B&W IR 200 CINE film.

I also need to find out if ORWO DN21 is available in other film sizes than 35mm.
 

Kino

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I have heard an ISO of 8. Go figure...
 
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xkaes

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Lomography also has Fantome Kino in 35mm at ISO 8, but it's high contrast -- probably lith film.
 

Donald Qualls

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Search Google for ORWO USA to find the cine supply reseller I got my bulk roll from. They might have it in 65 or 70 mm for commercial projectors. I don't know that it would work well if slit to 16 mm or 9.2 mm, it's pretty stiff and might overstress the advance mechanisms in Minolta, Mamiya, or Minox submini cameras...
 
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xkaes

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Thanks. I was wondering mostly about sheet film. For submini cameras, I could cut it down from 35mm. I'll check it out.

I checked, and ORWO USA is sold out of EVERYTHING -- and the WORLD ORWO has "shipping" cost greater than the film itself, plus they only offer 2,000 foot rolls of DN21. That's a little too much for my needs.

I'll somehow manage to survive with the APX 25 that I've got.
 
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Donald Qualls

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xkaes said:
For submini cameras, I could cut it down from 35mm. I'll check it out.
Click to expand...

That's what I was talking about re: base thickness and stiffness -- even if cut down from 35 mm to 16 mm or 9.2 mm, the film may be too stiff for the advance mechanisms in submini cameras. Also, it'll be harder than usual to roll the film tightly enough to fit in the supply chamber in the cartridge.
 
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xkaes

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One more reason to pass on it. EIGHTY SIX it, as they say.
 

Donald Qualls

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I mostly agree -- it's nice for certain applications in 35 mm, but I'm not willing to try recutting it for my Minolta 16 format cameras.
 
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