Efke/Adox 50 in Acufine at 1+1

[Lachlan Young]

Has anyone tried Efke/Adox 50 film in Acufine at 1+1? I am interested in this combination as the speed boost to EI 160 looks very handy while bring the benefits of the sharpness and grain size of an ISO 50 film compared to, say FP4+. I would like to know what sort of effect Acufine has on the Efke 50's curve.
Before you ask why I am using dilute Acufine there are two reasons:firstly BKA have published a dev time for Efke 50 in Acufine but not for Acu-1 and secondly the undiluted dev time in Acufine is ridiculously short - 2m45s which doubles to 5m30s when diluted 1+1.

All help much appreciated,

Lachlan

PS Thanks to Don Cardwell for his reccomendation of souping PX in Diafine for theatre work - I have got some extraordinary shots using this incredibly simple method!

 

[Lachlan Young]

BUMP!!!!

 

[Paul Howell]

Has anyone tried Efke/Adox 50 film in Acufine at 1
PS Thanks to Don Cardwell for his reccomendation of souping PX in Diafine for theatre work - I have got some extraordinary shots using this incredibly simple method!

Why not Efke in Diafine as well?

 

[Lachlan Young]

Why not Efke in Diafine as well?

I'll probably give it a go! I guess the EI would be about the same as in Acufine.

Thanks,

Lachlan

 

[BradS]

I've not tried the specific combination but, have done a bit with Acufine. I find the speed claims on the Acufine packaging a bit optimistic. I'd also be surprised if the Efke 50 in straight Acufine would really give any better results than FP4+ in straight Acufine.

Don't be put off by the ridiculously short dev time. Keep n mind that Acufine used to be used by newpaper photolabs - in dip-n-dunk tanks. They highly valued short times like this. Give it a try.

 

[Lachlan Young]

I've not tried the specific combination but, have done a bit with Acufine. I find the speed claims on the Acufine packaging a bit optimistic. I'd also be surprised if the Efke 50 in straight Acufine would really give any better results than FP4+ in straight Acufine.

Don't be put off by the ridiculously short dev time. Keep n mind that Acufine used to be used by newpaper photolabs - in dip-n-dunk tanks. They highly valued short times like this. Give it a try.

IIRC the BKA website said that with Acufine the thinnest possible negative was preferable for lowest grain - hence a higher grade of paper would be necessary. I think Acufine & Diafine negs exposed & developed as recommended by BKA will print best in the G3-G4+ range - hence 1 stop overexposure or so will bring it down to between G2-G3 range and a further stop overexposure and a little less development will print well on G2 or thereabouts. I seem to remember that Irving Penn used to shoot TXP and develop it for the standard time in UFG - a developer which claims to attain an EI of 640. At least that is my understanding of a very complex subject...YMMV. I believe that FP4+ and HP5+ developed in Acufine for Ilford's recommended times is very good.

Hope this helps,

Lachlan

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

With most films, I find that Acufine (stock) gets about one stop over the box speed and the negs print well at about grade 3.

I keep a replenished 5x7" tank of it so it's always handy. Be careful that the developer doesn't get too hot, or it will become inactive. This happened to me once while we were away on vacation for a few weeks in the summer and came home to discover that the air conditioning in our building had gone out for a few days--after losing about 10 sheets of 4x5". Now I always test it first with a blank strip of film.