Fotokemika ...

djkloss · Sep 10, 2012

Photo Engineer said:
I coat glossy baryta, canvas, watercolor, velour and smooth papers. The prints look just great n these surfaces. They are all discontinued B&W paper surfaces now, but can be hand coated by those desiring to go to the effort to do it. Erie is just about 150 miles from Rochester. Come join us for a workshop sometime.

PE

wow! I didn't know you were so close. I'd love to! how do i find out about them?

Photo Engineer · Sep 10, 2012

I give workshops at George Eastman House.

PE

PKM-25 · Sep 12, 2012

Freestyle just got thier final order of both paper and film in, order up, it's going to go fast...

Richard S. (rich815) · Sep 12, 2012

PKM-25 said:
Freestyle just got thier final order of both paper and film in, order up, it's going to go fast...

No CHS 50 in 120! Digital Truth is out of that too!

scheimfluger_77 · Sep 12, 2012

rich815 said:
No CHS 50 in 120! Digital Truth is out of that too!

Still available in 4x5 at Freestyle

Pioneer · Sep 12, 2012

I got some more ISO 25 in 4x5 sheet and 120 from Freestyle today. I did note that the prices were higher.

NedL · Sep 12, 2012

Pioneer said:
I got some more ISO 25 in 4x5 sheet and 120 from Freestyle today. I did note that the prices were higher.

Hmm. I ordered a couple boxes of CHS 50 and a couple of CHS 25 on September 3rd after reading this thread on APUG. They are happily in my freezer ready for a project I've been planning. I paid the same price that is on the freestyle website right now. ( Now I'm worrying if 200 sheets will be enough... it's hard not to worry when you know it will be gone forever! I'm going to need some other relatively slow 4x5 sheets to do some testing before I start using it... any suggestions greatly appreciated. I'll be cutting it down to 3x5. )

Pioneer · Sep 12, 2012

NedL said:
Now I'm worrying if 200 sheets will be enough... it's hard not to worry when you know it will be gone forever!

When a film disappears for good I doubt you can ever have enough put away to be comfortable. In addition to shooting couple of upcoming historical photo projects I have in mind, I am also intending to use what I have stockpiled to help me find another film/developer/paper combination that gives me the same look I have grown to like. It should be possible but it will take a bit of playing around.

PKM-25 · Sep 12, 2012

I feel good about what I ended up with, 250 4x5 sheets and 100 120 rolls of IR820, 200 120 rolls of R25, all at the old prices. I did my part to get it out of the hands of eBay speculators...

zsas · Sep 12, 2012

NedL said:
I'm going to need some other relatively slow 4x5 sheets to do some testing before I start using it... any suggestions greatly appreciated. I'll be cutting it down to 3x5. )

I am mostly a 35 kind of photog, but would it make sense to buy some X-ray film? I have used a little of it and it sure is slow, it might be similar to Efke but not exact, as X-ray is ortho and Efke is pan-ortho film???

NedL · Sep 13, 2012

zsas said:
I am mostly a 35 kind of photog, but would it make sense to buy some X-ray film? I have used a little of it and it sure is slow, it might be similar to Efke but not exact, as X-ray is ortho and Efke is pan-ortho film???

I know next to nothing about x-ray film but that sounds like a good idea. I seem to remember reading you can develop in under a red safelight like true ortho film. Sounds like fun, actually! ... off to waste hours reading APUG on x-ray film!!

Andrew O'Neill · Sep 13, 2012

.. off to waste hours reading APUG on x-ray film!!

I use 8x10 xray quite a bit. I've been quite happy with it for my carbon transfer work. It scratches easily (especially those that have emulsion on both sides), so special care must be given. There is a great thread over at the LF forum.

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?48099-X-ray-Film-example-and-comparison&highlight=xray

Andrew O'Neill

NedL · Sep 13, 2012

Andrew, excellent. Thanks for the link.

I also went and looked at the Adox website and they do now make CMS 20 in 4x5. That would really be a good choice for what I'm doing. I don't know where to order it in the US, but maybe Freestyle will start to carry it now that the CHS Art film is no longer available.

http://www.adox.de/english/ADOX Films/Premium/ADOX_Films/ADOX_CMS_Films.html

Thanks for the great ideas. I'm new to APUG and I have to say I'm very very impressed.

braxus · Sep 15, 2012

PKM-25 said:
Freestyle just got thier final order of both paper and film in, order up, it's going to go fast...

True they have. Last time I checked yesterday, they had 90 rolls of Efke 25 left from the new order. But that said the lady did tell me they may be acquiring one last order of Efke in November of the remaining stocks they have. So there is still a chance to get more if needed. I placed my small orders for Efke 25 in 120 and 35mm.

renes · Sep 26, 2012

braxus said:
True they have. Last time I checked yesterday, they had 90 rolls of Efke 25 left from the new order. But that said the lady did tell me they may be acquiring one last order of Efke in November of the remaining stocks they have. So there is still a chance to get more if needed. I placed my small orders for Efke 25 in 120 and 35mm.

I was also told that last stock of CHS 25 will be in November, I ordered 50 rolls (120), hope they will come and join to 130 CHS 25 rolls that are in my freezer Love this film.

Roger Cole · Sep 26, 2012

I got in my five rolls of 35mm 820Aura and 5 rolls of 120 IR (non-Aura) yesterday and today. Is there really much difference between the two? I don't see that much difference in the images I can find online. I may put in one more order for IR film, since there isn't anything else really like it - the Rollei IR is rather different, and maybe closer to Ilford SFX.

PKM-25 · Sep 27, 2012

Roger, from what I gather there is not that much difference between regular 820 and aura unless you get into contrasty lighting with things like trees against skies when the halation kicks in a bit. I also heard that the Aura is a bit more demanding of subdued light when loading. Needless to say, I am we'll stocked at 50 rolls of each in 120 and 500 sheets of non-Aura in 4x5. I ran a roll of 120 last week and it is really a gorgeous film, the closest to HIE we will ever have I think.

That being said I *love* Rollei IR 400 just as much for it's stark look and tight grain, been shooting a lot of it this week for Fall colors. I hope that film sticks around awhile.

Roger Cole · Sep 27, 2012

Thanks. Think I'll lay in some more IR820 in 120 and 4x5. I don't shoot much 35mm black and white any more except for very low light.

Roger Cole · Sep 27, 2012

One potential problem - the 120 I got from Freestyle has an expiration of 3/2013. That's a little short for stocking up. I don't recall the date on the 35mm Aura I got from B&H but I think it was a little longer, like fall next year. OTOH I have some Rollei IR in 35mm that I got last year and finally starting to shoot (frozen since) and it's dated 2015.

PKM-25 · Sep 27, 2012

Roger Cole said:
One potential problem - the 120 I got from Freestyle has an expiration of 3/2013. That's a little short for stocking up. I don't recall the date on the 35mm Aura I got from B&H but I think it was a little longer, like fall next year. OTOH I have some Rollei IR in 35mm that I got last year and finally starting to shoot (frozen since) and it's dated 2015.

Don't sweat it, I shot a roll of expiration 2009 last week and it looked perfect, no base fog, no demons.

To put it in perspective, a few years ago, I bought 50 rolls of David Romano's 2424 70mm Aerographic re-spooled into 120. I am thinking it expired in 2003, the year before he ran out and stopped doing it. Like all my 400 speed and other infrared films, it was consistently frozen at -10F or better. I still have 45 rolls of it left, shot a roll over the Summer and it is still perfect. I am thinking that based on my own personal experience, living closer to the sun than most at 8,000 feet, these films are good for at least 10 years if always kept frozen.

Stock up, this is the last of it!

Roger Cole · Sep 27, 2012

Cool [pun intended.] I know medium speed films will keep at least 10 years frozen and even 400 speed films often will, but I also know the IR sensitizing dyes are less stable. I read somewhere about some expired Rollei still being a pretty good 400 film for normal light but having almost no IR sensitivity left.

I'll order some more and slap it in the freezer. I have a small dorm fridge - well, largish for a dorm fridge but still - with a tiny freezer unit in the basement with the darkroom but the freezer is jam packed already. Most unexpired film I think I will shoot before or soon beyond expiration just stays in the fridge section. I paid a coworker $50 for it so it was worth that. But the IR went in the food freezer. My wife is tolerant as she loves art. In fact she was telling me when she had drinks with her girlfriends last night they asked about me and she bragged but the only negative thing she had to say was "he doesn't use his darkroom enough. He loves it and needs to work in it more." So she'll be fine with a bit more film in the freezer. I'm going to have to just get a small chest freezer from Home Depot or somewhere.

Roger Cole · Oct 5, 2012

Could be, but from we've heard the Fotokemika machines are held together with spit and baling wire and need constant repair, plus their older coating technology is said to use more silver for the same area of film and paper, and with the cost of silver being what it is now their materials would have to cost a lot more than the competition.

AgX · Oct 6, 2012

Eugen Mezei said:
Fotokemika stands even better... ....Besides they are one of the last (after Forte is gone) big capacity coaters.

You are throwing things in reverse.

It would be more true though, if looking at barytated paper as some high-capacity coaters left this field.

Yashinoff · Oct 6, 2012

So who's going to pick up the 127 spooling equipment?

AgX · Oct 6, 2012

Most probably a company that already dealt with Efke-made type 127 films.

Fotokemika ...

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