Less grain in Efke 100?

athanasius80 · Dec 21, 2005

Hello Apug!
I just tried my first roll of Efke 100 in 120. The only thing I don't like about it is the graininess. I just finished enlarging 6x6 cm negatives and was disappointed to find grain that reminded me of 35mm Tri-X. I develop everything in Rodinal (all I have at the moment) and I'm wondering if my problem is the developer or shooting medium format when I might be happier with LF. Thanks for continuing to put up with my ignorance, and I'm looking forward to all responses!

pauldc · Dec 21, 2005

What were your times, dilution and EI?

I have developed 120 roll Efke 100 in 6*9 format in Rodinal 1+100 for 16 minutes and had no grain to note but the negatives were very thin and needed printing at grade 5.

I have just developed a roll of 35mm Efke 100 in Tetenal Neofin Blau and I found the negatives grainy and way too contrasty. I think my time was too long (19.5 minutes) but I was using the lower dilution (half a bottle of developer in 300ml of total liquid) and multiplied the recommended time by 1.3 as the instructions suggest.

best wishes

avandesande · Dec 21, 2005

efke 100 is one of the grainier 100 films. Moving to large format is a big step. Why not learn to get the most out of the equipment you now have? Try it in d76 and then see if you cant get better results with a modern film like acros. You will end doing all these things in large format anyway, unless you stick to contact prints.

titrisol · Dec 21, 2005

I like EFKE 100, Rodinal 1+100 for 20-25 minutes.
There is some grain but is not bad, even for 35mm.

However DDX has given me much better results regarding graininess while keeping shrapness and tonality

srs5694 · Dec 21, 2005

I've only shot one roll of Efke 100, and it was in 35mm. IIRC, I developed it in D-76 1:1, but I'm not positive of that -- I might have used XTOL 1:1. The negatives, though, were very grainy -- grainier than most ISO 400 films, in my judgment. I don't know if anything could be done to significantly reduce the grain, although switching from Rodinal to a fine-grain developer might give you some modest improvement.

Efke 25, OTOH, is a very fine-grained film. I haven't shot enough of either to know how they compare in other characteristics, but if you like the Efke 100 other than grain, you might give the 25 a try, or perhaps the 50 if losing two stops of speed is too high a price.

avandesande · Dec 21, 2005

I would agree with you but only partially. The grain is more apparent with efke 100, but the grains are smaller than a 400 speed film such as trix.

srs5694 said:
The negatives, though, were very grainy -- grainier than most ISO 400 films, in my judgment.

P C Headland · Dec 21, 2005

I've used Efke 100 and Rodinal for 6x6 and 6x9 and not noticed a problem with it being too grainy.

I use 1+100 dilution for around 17 minutes at 20 C, but don't agitate much (15s each minute for first three minutes, then one inversion every three minutes). Some people have also reported good results with stand development.

pauldc · Dec 21, 2005

There is a nice example of Efke 100 in Rodinal 1+50 just posted in the standard gallery. Might be worth a look - and no, it is not one of my pictures!

rusty71 · Dec 22, 2005

You didn't say what Rodinal Dilution used or development time....
Someone told me to shoot Efke 100 at ISO 160 and develop in Rodinal 1:25 for medium format. I thought that sounded crazy, but the tonal scale was amazing and the grain not bad at all. Develop for 8 minutes at normal temp.

battra92 · Dec 26, 2005

My experience with Efke films has been in the 127 size so it may be a little different. I develop it in HC-110 whice gives me fairly decent results.

Of course, the fact that I shoot it with an old Brownie might affect some of the results.

josephaustin · Dec 26, 2005

I dont see Rodinal as a grainy developer for MF, or LF films. I use Rodinal and FP4+ as my primary combo in MF and 35mm.The grain has never been bad or out of control at 1/50 12mins. It looks "sharp" but not grainy.

Mongo · Dec 26, 2005

I've gotten great results with Efke 100 (shot at 80) with Pyrocat-HD (2+2+100, 8 minutes) and with Perceptol (1+3, 20 minutes). All development done at 20C.

The stain from the Pyrocat tends to hide the appearance of the grain, whereas the Perceptol, used diluted, gives sharp grain but not grain that I find objectionable at all. For 35mm I really like the negatives I get with the Perceptol at 1+3. If you want to cut down the grain you could always use the Perceptol undiluted...but then the grain will get a bit mushy and the sharpness of the negative will suffer a bit. Depending on the look you want, that might be just fine.

These are the times that I found with testing. They work for me, in my darkroom with my habits, but they should provide a decent starting point for you.

Best of luck to you.
Dave

Thomas Bertilsson · Dec 27, 2005

My normal time has been 10m30s @ EI100 with Rodinal 1+50 and 20*C/68*F. I can't say that I've experienced very accentuated grain. Prints up to 8x10 come out nice and sharp. To me it's about as grainy as FP4.

- Thom

Less grain in Efke 100?

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