New Efke 400

Brac · Jul 29, 2006

Curiously years ago there used to be an Adox KB25 of 500ASA speed (according to various Focal Press camera guides which I still have) but this seems to have disappeared by the wayside long ago. There was also a UKB17 Reversal film (80ASA)

Personally if I was after HP5+ I'd stick to the Ilford branded one because of its quality control. The Efke/Adox versions were finished & packed by Fotokemika in Croatia hence the different edge markings. Therefore with this you have not got Ilford quality control all through the process - enough said I think.

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Aug 6, 2006

I just developped my roll of KB 400 and it's looking nice in XTOL 1+1 for 7 mins. I haven't printed yet, but the one thing I noticed is that it has a serious tubular curl. If that is rebranded Ilford, they surely dropped the anti-curl layer...

chapmank · Aug 7, 2006

Practical issues with this film

I bought efke films in the UK - 100, 400. tonally they looked nice (in Rodinal). However, the film is dreadful for scanning - light, curly, ectremely difficult to get into neg holder with bending, and then it bends when it gets a bit warm.

I use Ilford fp4, hp5 and Fuji Neopan. All work well in the scanner and are great quality films.

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Aug 8, 2006

Ok, here it is from the horse's mouth:

Hi Michael

The Efke 400 film is not a re branded film. It is fresh brand new product manufactured in Croatia by Fotokemika.

Thank you.

Marv Keller
Customer Service/Sales Supervisor
Tele: 1.800.292.6137 ext. 203 or 108
Fax: 1.800.616.3686
E-mail: marv@freestylephoto.biz
www.freestylephoto.biz

Ole · Aug 8, 2006

mhv said:
Ok, here it is from the horse's mouth:

I might feeel more convinced if that horse spoke Croatian...

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Aug 8, 2006

Ole said:
I might feeel more convinced if that horse spoke Croatian...

Well, let's send an email to Fotokemika! I think some of our Croatian friends here have had some contact with the employees.

What does a croatian horse sounds like anyway??

Alicouscous · Aug 8, 2006

No, this film is not a new product, but only a rebranded english film .
In europe, we all know that ^^

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Aug 8, 2006

Alicouscous said:
No, this film is not a new product, but only a rebranded english film .
In europe, we all know that ^^

I'll just be naive for now and ask the naive question: why would the Freestyle rep lie?

I know Adox CHM 400 is rebranded Ilford, but in the present case, why would Freestyle have any interest in selling rebranded film as non-rebranded?

Alicouscous · Aug 8, 2006

Maybe they don't know exactly what they sell ??
Have a look here : http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_prod.php?cat_id=402&pid=1000001796
they speak from efke 25-50-100 asa The Efke 25, 50 and 100 films are made using the ADOX formulas that were first introduced back in the 1950s.
Not a word about the KB400 technology ;-)

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Aug 8, 2006

More news from Marv:

Hi Michel

At this time Efke only has the capabilities of manufacturing ISO 400 in 35mm. At your request we will be inquiring to Efke about the possibility of 120 and sheet film sizes. It will probably take a week or more to have a response.

Thank you.

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Aug 8, 2006

Alicouscous said:
Maybe they don't know exactly what they sell ??
Have a look here : http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_prod.php?cat_id=402&pid=1000001796
they speak from efke 25-50-100 asa The Efke 25, 50 and 100 films are made using the ADOX formulas that were first introduced back in the 1950s.
Not a word about the KB400 technology ;-)

Well, that's a sloppy web job, if you want my opinion, but only a circumstancial evidence in the present case, dear colleague!

Ian Grant · Aug 8, 2006

Alicouscous said:
Efke KB400 and Adox CHM400 are EXACTLY the same .

Not sure where you got that idea from.

It's been common knowledge for quite a while that EFKE were working on a new 400 ISO film.

And then EFKE don't sell rebranded films under the EFKE brand name. Also they dropped the Adox brand name quite a few years ago, they licensed the film technology & name from Dupont.

Ian

Thomas Bertilsson · Aug 9, 2006

Old Efke 400

Don't know if this is HP5 rebranded or not, but it's definitely Efke KB400. Shot at box speed, developed in Perceptol. Scanned neg.

- Thom

Ian Grant · Aug 9, 2006

huggyviking said:
Don't know if this is HP5 rebranded or not, but it's definitely Efke KB400.

Well you answered your own question by saying the film is definately EFKE KB400

EFKE make film they have never rebadged other manufacturers B&W film under their EFKE name. So how could it be HP5 ?

Ian

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Aug 9, 2006

Another possibility would be that Fotokemika put their hands on some Agfa 400 (APX or Agfapan) and are just rebranding it for the moment.

Ian Grant · Aug 9, 2006

Michel, for some time it has been known that EFKE Fotokemika have been working on their own 400 ISO emulsion because of demand for it.

The new 400 ISO emulsion has all the pre-hardening issues normal to the EFKE range. It is their film and not rebadged product from elsewhere.

Ian

braxus · Aug 14, 2006

I got my rolls of Efke 400 a few days ago. When I get the chance they will be shot along side of HP5+ which I also have some rolls of. They will be done in Xtol at a lab and we'll see what results there will be from this. I will be getting developing of Efke 400 done for about 8 1/2 minutes. While Im at the store (for lab sending) I'll also drop off a roll of Rollei Pan 25 (5 minutes in Xtol). It will be interesting to see what Efke 400 looks like on Ilford B&W paper since that is what the lab uses now. Does anyone have any scans from Efke 400? And I wonder why J&C Photo has not introduced the 400 version in Adox? Or is it because of the Adox rebranded film they have in 400? Any comments J&C? Also does Efke 400 need a prewash like their slower films do?

patrickjames · Aug 21, 2006

Speculation, speculation, speculation..... I have been using the NEW KB400 and I can assure you that it is definitely NOT HP5 nor is it APX400. How do I know this? Because I USE these films. KB400 is quite a beautiful emulsion and has become my favorite. The tonality of it is just superb. It is definitely high is silver content, and I can't wait for it to be released in 120 and 4x5. Now my only question is what do I do with the hundred or so rolls of APX400 I recently bought....

braxus · Aug 21, 2006

I partially shot my roll of Efke 400 already, and started a roll of HP5+ for comparison. Im hoping to finish up both of those rolls by mid week and send out by Thursday. A week later I'll see the results. Patrick- can you upload some scans? Also how grainy is this film compared to HP5 or Tri-X? Tri-X is my favorite 400 B&W film.

I also talked to J&C Photo to see if they will consider bringing in this film under the Adox name, and they said no because its not a new film and its made by someone else. So even J&C doesn't believe its new. So it seems Freestyle will now have the monopoly on the 400 film.

Brac · Aug 22, 2006

Regarding the surplus APX400, sell them on ebay (in small batches of 3 or 4 rolls) and get back more than you paid for them.

tchamber · Aug 22, 2006

braxus said:
I also talked to J&C Photo to see if they will consider bringing in this film under the Adox name, and they said no because its not a new film and its made by someone else.

Or, just to throw out another possibility, maybe J&C/Fotoimpex had a contract with Fotokemika to rebrand Efke under the Adox name, but the contract doesn't cover any films other than the ones they are already importing (25/50/100). That would be too bad, because J&C allows you to buy in small quantities, while Freestyle has a minimum order.

It will be interesting to see the comparisons of the actual films.

Alicouscous · Aug 22, 2006

An interesting info here : http://www.dr5.com/Filmreview.html

you can read that Efke 400 can not be processed in DR5 but HP5 can ....
If you look at the list from 400asa films that this process can't accept, you find APX400 and foma 400 ^^ Maybe the end from the suspense ?

braxus · Aug 22, 2006

Alicouscous said:
you find APX400 and foma 400 ^^ Maybe the end from the suspense ?

Making sure that anyone doesn't think Efke 400 is Foma 400 for example. All the films DR5 list seem to be the very old tech and old tech high silver content films. Efke 400 would obviously be in that group. Also another poster mentioned this film is not APX 400 either.

Here is a copy of an email I got from Freestyle:

"I received your email inquiry about Efke film. I will give you the same word that has long been floating around APUG and the other online forums: the Efke film that Freestyle sells is just that: Efke film. No rebadging, no ADOX label (even though ADOX is the same thing), no Fotoimpex, no nothing. Freestyle is now Efke's sole US distributor, so all official Efke product sold in this country will be under the Efke label, and distributed by us. Any other Efke film under a different name (like what is sold at J&C, for example), has historically been purchased from Efke's German outlet, Fotoimpex. We do not deal with Fotoimpex whatsoever; we get the film from one location only - directly from the source. Please feel free to let your photographic colleagues know that so that we can put any remaining false rumors about this film to rest. If you have any further questions or comments, please feel free to get hold of us again. Thank you very much for ordering from Freestyle.

Yours truly,
Michael Tullberg
Freestyle Photographic Supplies
TeleSales Department"

Alicouscous · Aug 23, 2006

The problem is that Fotokemika does'nt have the technology to produce such a film .
The film is multi-layer and Fotokemika only can produce single layer films . :rolleyes:

rusty71 · Aug 23, 2006

Alicouscous said:
The problem is that Fotokemika does'nt have the technology to produce such a film .
The film is multi-layer and Fotokemika only can produce single layer films . :rolleyes:

Please tell us how you came by that information. Do you have direct contact with EFKE? Is it possible they bought the formula for AGFAPAN 400 and have modified it for production at their factory?

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