Developing Scala

Alessandro Serrao said:

Adox Scala is nothing more than Adox Silvermax rebranded. Same film. It's not a reversal film, it's a negative one.

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But it is "reversabel" thus reversal film ??

Alessandro Serrao said:

Adox Scala is nothing more than Adox Silvermax rebranded. Same film. It's not a reversal film, it's a negative one.
Having said that, I've found that negative film processed as positive exhibit lower sharpness because the film is not planar in the slide mount (except if you use the very expensive Gepe glass mounts), you will wase A LOT of film just trying to get the development in the ballpark. To me it's not worthwhile.

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Thank you for your reply.

Alessandro Serrao said:

Adox Scala is nothing more than Adox Silvermax rebranded. Same film. It's not a reversal film, it's a negative one.
Having said that, I've found that negative film processed as positive exhibit lower sharpness because the film is not planar in the slide mount (except if you use the very expensive Gepe glass mounts), you will wase A LOT of film just trying to get the development in the ballpark. To me it's not worthwhile.

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So, what's the difference between b/w negative film and b/w reversal film, except that b/w reversal should have more silver (to get higher DMax, as Adox Silvermax) and colorless film base (to get lower DMin, as Adox Silvermax)?

I looked at the Foma reversal kit offered by Freestyle, and their price was $60 and their website stated this would develop 8 35mm films. Adding in the cost of plastic mounts, the price seems high for home development. Hopefully a more affordable kit will be available soon.

I anticipate an APUG'er with more free time than I have will try other regimens and discover and share a cheaper method.

dE fENDER said:

So, what's the difference between b/w negative film and b/w reversal film, except that b/w reversal should have more silver (to get higher DMax, as Adox Silvermax) and colorless film base (to get lower DMin, as Adox Silvermax)?

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Reversal should have more silver and colorless film base.
And maybe very small grains?
And there should be a chemical set readily available for making positives out of this film type.
For instance, there isn't a lab for Kodachrome or Agfa Scala anymore, although there are still a few alternatives for Agfa Scala around though not wide spread. Certainly not compared to the abundance for negative development (at home and professional lab).

BTW: what's in a name? "B&W reversal film" or "B&W positive film"? I prefer the latter due to the intended results, not the applied process.

Alessandro Serrao said:

Mainly different hardening process at manufacture and also different anti halation.

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You mean anti-halation layer must use CLS, which makes it impossible to process the film as negative? Different hardening process - did it really require for processing? And how do these parameters should impact on final result?