Ortho Litho manufacturers

[alanrockwood]

Ortho litho film is still available. For example, Freestyle Photo sells Arista Ortho Litho Film 3.0. Does anyone here know who still manufacturers ortho litho film?

 

[Donald Qualls]

Adox offers an ortho litho film in sheet format under their own name; I'd call them the most likely suspect to be supplying Freestyle. Ilford offers an ortho camera film in ortho, but that's not quite the same (and Rollei has their Retro 80s as well, which Ilford will claim isn't a rebrand because they don't offer any of their Ilford branded products for rebranding) -- but I think Adox makes some of Agfa's films, too.

 

[AgX]

(and Rollei has their Retro 80s as well, which Ilford will claim isn't a rebrand because they don't offer any of their Ilford branded products for rebranding) -- but I think Adox makes some of Agfa's films, too.

-) Rollei Retro 80s is not a lith film
-) Rollei Retro 80s is made Agfa and converted and marketed by Maco
-) ALL Agfa branded films are made by Agfa. Do not mix up the brands Agfa and AgfaPhoto.

 

[Donald Qualls]

I did note that ortho camera films are a different animal. I wasn't aware that Agfa was still making their own films.

 

[AgX]

Agfa meanwhile cancelled all their colour materials but still make various monochrome materials for various markets, partially as tollproduction in segments which marketing rights they sold and which thus not show up in their portfolio.

 

[Lachlan Young]

@Donald Qualls Agfa Mortsel (ie the Gevaert part of Agfa-Gevaert, as opposed to Agfa Leverkusen which shut and partially resurrected as Inoviscoat on a different site) makes quite a range of films for the graphics & aerial photography world - Retro 80s is Agfa Aviphot Pan 80 (the aerial film speed is 80, not the sea level speed) made and coated in Mortsel, as are a range of litho films, one of which Freestyle seems to be getting converted into their Arista Lith product. Ilford Ortho+ is a normal contrast (in ID-11/ D-76) ortho film, which can be boosted in contrast by processing in PQ Universal, Phenisol etc (or Kodak etc equivalents) - it is very similar to FP4+ without red sensitivity & is very controllable.

 

[AgX]

@Donald Qualls Agfa Mortsel (ie the Gevaert part of Agfa-Gevaert, as opposed to Agfa Leverkusen which shut and partially resurrected as Inoviscoat on a different site) makes quite a range of films for the graphics & aerial photography world - Retro 80s is Agfa Aviphot Pan 80 (the aerial film speed is 80, not the sea level speed) made and coated in Mortsel, as are a range of litho films, one of which Freestyle seems to be getting converted into their Arista Lith product. Ilford Ortho+ is a normal contrast (in ID-11/ D-76) ortho film, which can be boosted in contrast by processing in PQ Universal, Phenisol etc (or Kodak etc equivalents) - it is very similar to FP4+ without red sensitivity & is very controllable.

-) Agfa Leverksen did not resurrect as Inoviscoat, as Inoviscoat was founded by R&E people from Leverkusen who left the firm before Agfa sold off their "consumer department" (consisting of the Leverkusen plant and other plants in Germany. And comparing that plant even just to the german plants of Agfa is ridiculous.
-) Agfa many years before changed to belgium company, after Bayer finally sold off all their shares in the company
-) Agfa manufacture still much more photographic products than you indicate

 

[Lachlan Young]

Inoviscoat was founded by R&E people from Leverkusen who left the firm before Agfa sold off their "consumer department"

I didn't know that was the case - I thought that had happened after the collapse. And of course Agfa was a fairly vast W.German/ European industrial structure - I think there was at least another full scale photographic (as opposed to graphic arts offset plates etc) materials coating plant in Germany latterly, and possibly France as well. And that's before you count all the other German photo materials companies Agfa swallowed up in the 1950's - and then there was the whole (Munich based?) camera & other photo equipment manufacturing arm (I've always wanted to get my hands on a Varioscop 60 & see what it's like to use). The Belgian company still has large interests in X-ray & microfilm too - they also still seem to coat paper.

 

[mohmad khatab]

-) Agfa Leverksen did not resurrect as Inoviscoat, as Inoviscoat was founded by R&E people from Leverkusen who left the firm before Agfa sold off their "consumer department" (consisting of the Leverkusen plant and other plants in Germany. And comparing that plant even just to the german plants of Agfa is ridiculous.
-) Agfa many years before changed to belgium company, after Bayer finally sold off all their shares in the company
-) Agfa manufacture still much more photographic products than you indicate

Are there any (glimmers of hope) even if they are minimal in order to bring AGFA analog products back to life, (whether under the old name or under another brand or in any possible way)?

 

[Nodda Duma]

I make Orthochromatic dry plates. Granted they are not film.

 

[AgX]

The Agfa camera plant was one of he largest in Germany with 3000 employees (not counted the employees in Portugal). And there were more photomechanical plants of Agfa.
(Pentacon had over 9000 employees)

 

[fdonadio]

-) Agfa Leverksen did not resurrect as Inoviscoat, as Inoviscoat was founded by R&E people from Leverkusen who left the firm before Agfa sold off their "consumer department" (consisting of the Leverkusen plant and other plants in Germany. And comparing that plant even just to the german plants of Agfa is ridiculous.
-) Agfa many years before changed to belgium company, after Bayer finally sold off all their shares in the company
-) Agfa manufacture still much more photographic products than you indicate

Is there any book or reference that tell this whole story? I find it difficult to know for sure what happened to even the big name film manufacturers! It

If not, I guess it’s about time someone writes a book about this.

 

[Peter Schrager]

Bergger copy film? Not sure if its ortho or not but its great material..

 

[AgX]

Is there any book or reference that tell this whole story? I find it difficult to know for sure what happened to even the big name film manufacturers! It

Years ago I wrote a short biography for Apuggers, which repeatedly I hint at:
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/agfa-is-not-dead-is-agfa-dead.29539/

(A part got lost during uploading, but still it should be understandable.)

By the way, those german employees who lost their special entitlements finally got their right at highest
vocational court. Agfa was found still responsible for them and had to pay a lot.

 

[revdoc]

To get back to the original question: I can't see how there's any money to be made from coating lith film these days; its main use in printing for publication was obsolete 20 years ago. As an indicator, try to find a supplier of halftone screens; I found exactly one, and they were hard to find: Caprock in NJ. Lith film has few uses without halftone screens.

I'm not saying nobody makes lith film any more, but I wouldn't be surprised if nobody does, and we're using up old stock.

 

[AgX]

With the changes in print shop technology and the vanishing of small offset print shops the need for un- or orthochromatic-sensitized lith film, intended as optically exposed intermediary between lay-out and printing plate, has become nearly obsolete. But there still are intermediary high contrast films intended for being exposed in digital imagesetters, typically red-sensitive. But there still are orthochromatic versions. And those can be used the classic way still.

 

[foc]

Years ago I wrote a short biography for Apuggers, which repeatedly I hint at:
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/agfa-is-not-dead-is-agfa-dead.29539/

(A part got lost during uploading, but still it should be understandable.)

By the way, those german employees who lost their special entitlements finally got their right at highest
vocational court. Agfa was found still responsible for them and had to pay a lot.

Off topic, I know, but thanks for the link and very well researched history of Agfa.

 

[fdonadio]

Years ago I wrote a short biography for Apuggers, which repeatedly I hint at

Thanks, I’m gonna take a good look at it as soon as I can.