New at Photokina 2012: ADOX SILVERMAX 35mm film 135/36

[ADOX Fotoimpex]

Wish they hadn't told us about it until they had some for sale. The suspense is too much!

Bruce,

this is an annoncement one week prior to the release of the film at Photokina.
Ofcourse I could have released it the day Photokina starts, but the whole point is to attract people to our booth at the show so I figured one week ahead wouldn´t hurt ;-)
I am typing this while the machines are spooling in a night shift....

Mirko

 

[DREW WILEY]

Zsas - no, compression is related to how one develops the film to obtain lower overall contrast. But
doing so with most films will simply result in a loss to perceptible contrast in the shadows and midtones, unless one is resorting to something like platinum printing. If you give ordinary development
to a typical film like FP4, for example, for an extremely contrasty scene, it means little to have a certain amt of information at the extremes if it becomes almost impossible to print them by ordinary
means. Tabular versus traditional grain has nothing to do with this. TMYT400 is a tabular grain film
with a very long straight line way down into the low shadows, Delta 100 is not (being mainly a mid to
high value film with a long toe versus a straight line in the lower section). I'm not implying that one
of these films is "better" than another. It's nice to have a real selection. But extreme contrast scenes present a particular set of problems.

 

[Felinik]

I am typing this while the machines are spooling in a night shift....

Mirko

Bulk rolls?

Price?

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

Taken from our press release:

"SILVERMAX is coated onto clear triacetate and can be reversal processed"

So, yes, this is ofcourse one of the reasons for the extra silver and DMAX.
We tried to make a film for good negative and reversal processing.

Mirko

Ah, I stand corrected, and that makes indeed sense.

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

There's a distinction between a film being able to hold a long range of values due to compression ("minus" and/or compensating development with its inevitable compression of midtone microcontrast)
and a film which will actually carry a very wide range of values upon a relative straight part of the
curve.

I'm going to try to reformulate what you said in terms of characteristic curve.

Let's say we have film A, which is "a film being able to hold a long range of values due to compression."

Compressed development only means that the 14 zones of exposure translate into a density range that is printable on a given grade of paper following less development than normal.

If you develop film A normally, unless the 14th zone of exposure reaches the shoulder (in which case it will be unprintable because it will be undistinguishable from the nearby 13th zone of exposure), you will have 14 zones of exposure nicely lined up on the straight line of the characteristic curve, you will have excellent tone separation, but totally unprintable highlights. Which will require you to either a) burn down the highlights or b) print on a soft contrast paper (silver gelatin 00, platinum, etc).

There is no such thing as film B, which would be "a film which will actually carry a very wide range of values upon a relative straight part of the
curve" that is distinct from film A, because it's ALREADY film A.

If you have a film such as "film B" then you could very well end up with unprintable highlights. Unless it's inherently a low contrast film. In which case you only need to develop it normally for it to translate a 14 zone exposure range into a printable density range.

The only advantage of such a film compared to a typical film undergoing reduced development is if its curve happens to be more nicely SHAPED than the curve of a normal film developed less than normal.

I know that some compression/expansion regimens, even though they allow one to fit 14 zones of exposure range onto a grade 2 paper, might give unsatisfactory results because of the SHAPE of the resulting characteristic curve.

So, if this film is a "killer app" for something, it would be because it has an interesting characteristic curve SHAPE for a situation in which one needs to translate 14 stops of exposure range into a printable density range, without the need for burning in, and by avoiding some side-effects (distortion of the characteristic curve).

But until I see densitometric data from ADOX, I will just stay with the fact that this film might be great for B&W reversal; in the absence of a characteristic curve, we're left with vague concepts.

 

[ADOX Fotoimpex]

It sounds interesting in theory, but what's the point of having 14 zones if your paper can't print them all?

it´s a 35mm film. Usually in shooting 35mm you end up with a lot of different contrast situations on the same roll.
The more your film can capture in the first place, the more you can later decide what to bring to your paper (by burning and dodging).
Also "some" people scan today nd the chips can capture this range. The film is especially well suited for scanning due to it´s clear base.
And last but not least, as mentioned above, if developed to a transparency, in the projection you can see it all.

Mirko

 

[georg16nik]

Mirko, Thanks for the effort with this film and the updates!!!
The news about it came right on time!

There's a distinction between a film being able to hold a long range of values due to compression ("minus" and/or compensating development with its inevitable compression of midtone microcontrast)
and a film which will actually carry a very wide range of values upon a relative straight part of the
curve. To my knowledge, the only current ultrafine-grained film which will do this is the now defunct
Efke 25 (about 12 stops). ...

Drew, Agfa Copex Rapid made by Agfa-Gevaert can hold 14 stops (if You need), on top of that., Copex Rapid is finer grained and sharper than Efke 25 and is faster.

I expect Adox Silvermax to be like a faster brother to Copex Rapid and having its own character.

 

[Henning Serger]

Who was this film manufactured by? Was it made at Fotokemika before the accident?

Hello Patrick,

no, it has not been made by Fotokemika. This film is one result of the cooperation between Adox and InovisCoat.

The film is currently in the test phase here in my lab. First results look good. The spectral sensivity of this film is identical to the Agfa APX 100.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Bob Carnie]

Was not Scala film APX 100??

 

[Henning Serger]

Drew, Agfa Copex Rapid made by Agfa-Gevaert can hold 14 stops (if You need), on top of that., Copex Rapid is finer grained and sharper than Efke 25 and is faster.

That's right, you get that if you develop Agfa Copex Rapid in its dedicated developer Spur Modular UR New. I can confirm this from my intensive tests and years of practical shooting with this film and other films in this range.
It and its 'brother' Adox CMS 20 II (Agfa-Gevaert HDP) is outstanding material in combination with their dedicated developers.

Getting the 14 stops range (or even more) is, as others here have already said, possible with several films. It is more the question of the right film - developer combination. Use a developer which delivers a straight linear curve, like DD-X for example, and you will get that range.

I expect Adox Silvermax to be like a faster brother to Copex Rapid and having its own character.

Well, not its brother, both films are quite different. Silvermax is similar to Agfa APX 100 (which is good news in my opinion; APX 100 being one of the finest emulsions with classic cubic crystal structure).

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Henning Serger]

Was not Scala film APX 100??

Bob, the Scala 200X emulsion is based on the APX 100 emulsion. The spectral sensivity is absolutely identical.
Besides the clear base of Scala 200X Agfa has also modified the emulsion a little bit for best performance in the Scala reversal process.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Bob Carnie]

I thought so .. I was told this by a friend in Agfa years ago, I also used Scala to make contact dupes when making enlarged negs for pt pd. Worked very well.
I have always liked this film.

Bob, the Scala 200X emulsion is based on the APX 100 emulsion. The spectral sensivity is absolutely identical.
Besides the clear base of Scala 200X Agfa has also modified the emulsion a little bit for best performance in the Scala reversal process.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Henning Serger]

Worked very well.
I have always liked this film.

Bob, then you will probably like Silvermax, too (by the way, Scala 200X is still available, e.g. at Fotoimpex).

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

it´s a 35mm film. Usually in shooting 35mm you end up with a lot of different contrast situations on the same roll.
The more your film can capture in the first place, the more you can later decide what to bring to your paper (by burning and dodging).
Also "some" people scan today nd the chips can capture this range. The film is especially well suited for scanning due to it´s clear base.
And last but not least, as mentioned above, if developed to a transparency, in the projection you can see it all.

Mirko

Maybe that's what you should explain this on your product page, instead of capitalizing on the "14 zones/silver rich" which taps into hobbyists' insecurities.

 

[Mahler_one]

Thanks Mirko.

Can you provide any guidance about when the new 400 ASA film might be available- especially in 8x10 sheets?

Elliot

 

[Ektagraphic]

Hello Patrick,

no, it has not been made by Fotokemika. This film is one result of the cooperation between Adox and InovisCoat.

The film is currently in the test phase here in my lab. First results look good. The spectral sensivity of this film is identical to the Agfa APX 100.

Best regards,
Henning

That's really interesting. Thanks. I am looking forward to all that ADOX seems to be doing in the days that others seem to be looking to walk away from analog! Thank you ADOX!

 

[subsole]

Thanks Mirko.

Can you provide any guidance about when the new 400 ASA film might be available- especially in 8x10 sheets?

Elliot

On the Adox Website:

+++ PAN 400 is ready for production but due to the sudden changes at Fotokemika who manufactured the CHS line of films for us we had to prioritize and decided to invest in the remanufacturing of a 100 ASA material at first+++

http://www.adox.de/english/ADOX Films/Premium/ADOX-PAN-400/PAN400.html

 

[Mahler_one]

Thanks. I hadn't visited the web site recently.

Elliot

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I sent Freestyle an email, asking about the new film, and here is what Marv replied:

"Thank you for your e-mail. Our executives will be looking at this product at Photokina and it will be approximately 90 days if they decide to go with the product."

So it's 'wait and see'.

 

[waynecrider]

Maybe that's what you should explain this on your product page, instead of capitalizing on the "14 zones/silver rich" which taps into hobbyists' insecurities.

The first thing I thought of was digital output. I don't wet print.

 

[Bateleur]

Congratulations Adox! I'm looking forward to using this new film, since having used APX100 recently for the first time I was delighted by the results.....

 

[Felinik]

Congratulations Adox! I'm looking forward to using this new film, since having used APX100 recently for the first time I was delighted by the results.....

Nice shot!

What is the recipe for the dev of that?



(I have about 8 more rolls of APX-100 in the fridge, and thinking about diggin up another bulk roll or three....)

 

[georg16nik]

Looks like the wheel is rolling, we've got a hint about the price per film and for 10 canisters...
http://www.fotoimpex.de/shop/filme-...lvermax-bw-film-with-high-silver-content.html

 

[georg16nik]

Dev times @ 20°C.
ADONAL/Rodinal 1+25: 8 Min.
ADONAL/Rodinal 1+50: 12 Min.
ATOMAL: 8-10 Min.
D 76/ID 11: 9 Min.
HC-110: 7 Min.
FX-39: 8 Min.
XTOL: 7 Min.

http://www.adox.de/ADOX_Filme/Premium Line Films/Silvermax/Silvermax.html

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Would you look at that!

Compare that spectral sensitivity to the APX 100 and Scala. It's EXACTLY the same.