I got lucky - Efke 100 @ E.I.400

Hi all,

I never knew that the Efke KB/R 100 film was so versatile and forgiving. Recently I travelled from the US to Sweden to see my family, and especially the new family member - my nephew..

I desparately wanted to photograph him, and had been using Ilford HP-5 all day in my MF setup. Now that we were indoors, I judged by the light in there that 1/125 @ f/4 or f/5.6-8 by a window would be sufficient. So I was firing away, thinking I had HP-5 in the camera. When I change rolls I realize I had an Efke KB100 in there and figured I was screwed...

One cannot give up however, so I went back through my notes and guesstimated by using data from normally developed rolls, that Rodinal 1+50 @ 68*F for 20min ought to do the trick. To keep contrast down some, I agitated only for 5sec every minute instead of my normal 10sec.
To my vast surprise the negs turned out absolutely beautiful with a full range of tones and good contrast overall. Best push processing I've ever achieved.

Just thought I'd share my joy and info, as somebody perhaps could find it useful in case they had a brain fart like mine...

Happy shooting!

- Thomas
Saint Paul, Minnesota

Please post some images when you have a chance. I knew Efke 100 was a very forgiving film, but I had no idea it would do this well. Sounds like someone may finally be giving Francesco a run for his money on development and expansion of Efke 100. tim

I would be happy to post some images. I don't have a finished darkroom, though. Perhaps I can have a couple of prints done to be posted. We'll see. I'm very keen on getting some printed, as the results are beyond my expectations.

- Thomas
Saint Paul, Minnesota