Developer for Aviphot Pan 200

DeletedAcct1

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Lemme understand better: 47 35mm rolls of 540 meter in lenght?
 

MCB18

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Alessandro Serrao said:
Is this the only reason to use an aerial film as a pictorial one?
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I mean, it’s just a stupidly cheap 125 ISO black and white film just like any other film, why wouldn’t you use it? Basically the only differences between it and something like FP4+ is the slightly thinner and clearer base, and the extended red sensitivity.

The grain is great if shot at 125 and decent if shot at 400, the dynamic range is good even when pushed to 400, it has a nice contrast, and it has a shitton of documentation seeing as how a ton of people shoot it whether they realize it or not.

Seriously, why NOT shoot it?
 
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DeletedAcct1

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MCB18 said:
Seriously, why NOT shoot it?
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1) because I am an amateur photographer not a photo shop owner, I buy films only when I need them to have them fresh, not 25000 meters of them all at once;
2) because Aviphot have all too much contrast and to tame it one should waste a lot of film...
3) because 1 roll of say Superpan 200 costs me in Italy about 7€, about the same league as Ilford and Ferrania, certainly much more of Fomas.
4) because I don't want to waste film unnecessarily I buy Foma, Ferrania and Ilford, for which I haven't to waste a single film to be developed proprerly.
 

MCB18

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If you don’t like the film, than that’s fine, but you absolutely don’t need to buy 25km of film or be a pro at photography to use it. Having the attitude of “it’s not meant for consumer use so you shouldn’t use it” is a pretty poor mindset to have, especially when cheaper film stocks that make good pictures are hard to find.

Some suggestions for anyone else who might want to shoot it, but the examples from resellers aren’t to your taste:

Rollei and a bunch of others give pushed development times that make it high contrast. If you want lower contrast, shoot anything made from Aviohot 200 at 100, and Aviphot 80 at 64 and reduce dev time by a minute or two. Best advice I can give.
 
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DeletedAcct1

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MCB18 said:
especially when film stocks that make good pictures are hard to find.
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There are plenty of film stocks able to produce excellent images: Kodak T-Max, Ilford Deltas and Hp5 or Fp4, Ferranias.
No need to resort to films meant for other pourposes imho.
 

Cholentpot

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Alessandro Serrao said:
Is this the only reason to use an aerial film as a pictorial one?
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Yes. #1 reason to shoot it is because its cheap. Some of us have lives aside from shooting film and would like to eat. If I could find film as cheap as Aviphot that was a nicer film I'd be shooting that. Shanghai GP3 used to be really really cheap. It still is in China, but they decided at some point to charge Tmax prices for it and I stopped using it.
 

MCB18

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It’s basically all I shoot now besides ECN-2
 
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Marcelo Paniagua

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Yeah, I once contacted them to get info about some other Aviphot (like Aviphot 40) and they actually contact you. I got a call from them. But yeah, you have to be prepared for big orders.
 

Marcelo Paniagua

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Alessandro Serrao said:
The reason I asked is because I don't understand why one choose an aerial film for pictorial pourposes while pictorial films are still available...
Maybe I can understand if you use Aviphot for reversal, but as a negative no...
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I do it because:
a) Is quite cheap. Got a large roll of Aviphot 200 that I cut for 4x5 and 2 1/4 x 3 1/4. Cheapest 4x5 film and decent result. Sure, not TMAX quality but no TMAX prices. You can get a roll of 9 7/16 x 250ft for around 130 dlls (expired), and you can get about 1500 4x5 sheets from it. That is about 8 cents a piece. Including developer (home made) total cost of each 4x5 negative is about 10 cents or less so yeah, price is big factor. There may be some fog (expired film) but nothig I can't deal with.


b) With the right developer you get result very similar (if not equal) to pictorial film. For example, using POTA developer I get great great contrast and grey scale. Other developer may get other results.

By the way, I still use/love Ilford Delta's and HP5+/FP4+ when I want consistent results or photos of moments that cant be repeated (like vacations and travel photos).
 

Nokton48

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SONY DSC by Nokton48, on Flickr


Olde Sinar Norma 18x24cm Wooden Film Holder, with "Strathmore 60 pound Coal Black Paper" Insert placed under 18x24 sheet of Aviphot 200 Aerial Film. This holds the flimsy Aerial film much more tightly in the holder with -no- ripples. A total success so I'm going to cut an insert for each side of my 18x24 Sinar Film Holders. I bought a pad of the Stratmore Artagain Coal Black 60 pound paper from Dick Blick Art Supplies. I also shoot Plus-X Aerographic in 18x24 cut sheets so I tightly load either film in this way.
 
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