Did anyone use Agfa Scala 135/36 from B&H?

SuzanneR said:

Sh*t out of Luck... or some such. There's some good advice in this thread, if you don't want to take it, then don't. But let's tone it down...

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I can't see any good advice yet. The guy with "contrast" would be a delectable prey for Russian photogs at any of their professional forums, had he known Russian. They would tore his post apart and would taste every single bit of it.

I'm sorry that emotions run up that high...

Agfa is still alive, what went down is their `consumer product division´ and that manufuctured film until the end of 2005. Though nobody outside the industry will actually know how big the volume of stocked Scala film was then and when it was last coated.
As I said above this all is speculation but on a somwhat reasoned base.

Perhaps someone with actual Scala experience could chime in and give some advice on the physical properties of that film.

LaChou said:

1) I meant that I have seen Scala results at Flickr and elsewhere.
2) Agfa ceased to exist in 2oo4. How much "original" film should have been left by 2009? Can you tell when the last original Agfa's emulsion was coated?
3) Due to my business I know Germans. They do not consider it to be forgery to take an easily available Sanyo battery, put it inside a small box and sell it along with their equipment as "an original and specialy designed for this particular device" at 10x of its price.
4) Reversal B&W process is a "no fun" enterprise. I wouldn't bother with cancerogenic chemicals, if someone told me that my Scala is in reality APX100.

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1) I see what you mean.

2) Presumably the last "original" Agfa was coated when the factory in Germany closed...2004 or 2005? So any film now must be that old...guess it all depends on how it had been stored. I can only say that I have used the Precisa 100 and APX100 supplied by Lupus, and they are indistinguisable from the "Agfa-supplied" films.

3) Again, I see what you mean. That's not really forgery, though...I can buy a car battery from the main agency dealers, or get a similar battery at half-the-cost from an independent dealer. If I buy from the agency, I'm paying the extra for a known name, time-saving and convenience, and their technical knowledge of which battery I require.

4) Yes, I see....but all photo chemicals need appropriate care (as do many household chemicals). If you're worried about carcinogenic chemicals, I'd use one of the processing services.....the same chemicals will obviously be just as potentially harmful whether you are using them for Scala or APX.

"3) Again, I see what you mean. That's not really forgery, though...I can buy a car battery from the main agency dealers, or get a similar battery at half-the-cost from an independent dealer. If I buy from the agency, I'm paying the extra for a known name, time-saving and convenience, and their technical knowledge of which battery I require.

4) Yes, I see....but all photo chemicals need appropriate care (as do many household chemicals). If you're worried about carcinogenic chemicals, I'd use one of the processing services.....the chemicals you use will be just the same whether you use them for Scala or APX. "

My replies:
3) Let me remind you that I was talking about Germans selling Japanese batteries of Sanyo make as their own, specialized batteries.
4) I do everything myself.

LaChou said:

I can't see any good advice yet. The guy with "contrast" would be a delectable prey for Russian photogs at any of their professional forums, had he known Russian. They would tore his post apart and would taste every single bit of it.

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That attitude would make them unwelcome here. A simple thanks, but no thanks on advice you don't want to take would be sufficient. We like to keep it cordial on APUG, and not eat each other up.

They, unlike English speaking people, can afford themselves to eat each other up on account of a particular subject, but they wouldn't put a label on you, because it is considered to be an off-line and a bad behavior among Russian speaking people. I don't know how it is with English language, but in Russian language there are many taboo labels, which mean "fight" once pronounced.

LaChou said:

"3) Again, I see what you mean. That's not really forgery, though...I can buy a car battery from the main agency dealers, or get a similar battery at half-the-cost from an independent dealer. If I buy from the agency, I'm paying the extra for a known name, time-saving and convenience, and their technical knowledge of which battery I require.

4) Yes, I see....but all photo chemicals need appropriate care (as do many household chemicals). If you're worried about carcinogenic chemicals, I'd use one of the processing services.....the chemicals you use will be just the same whether you use them for Scala or APX. "

My replies:
3) Let me remind you that I was talking about Germans selling Japanese batteries of Sanyo make as their own, specialized batteries.
4) I do everything myself.

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O.K., then.......
3) A battery which I buy from my Mercedes dealer is supplied as their own specialized battery....it could well be manufactured by Sanyo for all I know (or care!), nothing wrong with that if it's approved and warrented by Mercedes. Half the components of the car are made by other suppliers anyway, (though hopefully to Mercedes specifications and standards!)
4) Fine...so do I whenever possible. But if I were really worried about the photo chemicals I use, I wouldn't be using them at all!

Anyway, most of use are on APUG in part to help one another so far as we can. And we do understand one-another's enthusiasm and concerns to make the best of our photography.

I have always particularly liked B&W reversal work, and my thoughts would be:-

I never got on as well with Scala as with the old Agfa Dia-Direct...maybe that was my methods and expectations, rather than blaming Scala. And, with the likelihood that any remaining supplies of Scala are now limited, my own suggestion would be to experiment with the reversal processing of other films (which hopefully will continue to be available) to get the effects and results which you want. The website at dr5 has some very comprehensive information and examples of what to expect from different films if you wanted to try their service, and there are numerous formulae available with a bit of searching on here and on the web generally.

Thanks for your reply railwayman3,
I visited Dr5 site, but it will be definitely easier for me to do my own processing, since I can buy almost ANY chemicals now in Ukraine or in the neighboring Russia. I also thought about finding a substitute to Scala but, after having re-studied the works of other photogs on Scala, I think that it is almost impossible. The Scala had something in its curve that made it stress both highlights and shadows. I can't name a film capable of that nowadays. Scala can uniquely treat some subjects, like Rokkors can treat blush on a white skin.