Orwo introduces a new film WOLFEN NP100

[AgX]

mysterious GP3 400 Bulk roll with N74 markings.

No surprise as such, as Filmotec has a liason with Shanghai Jiancheng Technology, and GP3.

Surprising is that you found N74, as N54 makes more sense.

 

[cmacd123]

No surprise as such, as Filmotec has a liason with Shanghai Jiancheng Technology, and GP3.

Surprising is that you found N74, as N54 makes more sense.

saw GP3 400 advertised.. got a roll of film in a cardboard can. spooled it down and when developed had N74 Keycode markings. (and B&H perfs.) was wound on a 2 inch core.

the GP3 400 36 exposure rolls I got were in re-used cassettes. and I have not gotten around to developing them.

 

[AgX]

I see. I somehow (in the context of this thread) read your comment "as 400' bulk roll".
Yes, as GP 3 - Iso 400 it makes sense again.

Or rather more sense...
as for Filmotec it would have been no problem to omit or change a signing.

 

[cmacd123]

yes, 400 ASA not 400ft (120Meters)

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

I requested Orwo to share the datasheet for their new film. They've kindly made it available. Hopefully the more knowledgeable folks here can give their perspective on the new film.

 

[Lachlan Young]

@Raghu Kuvempunagar Lower Dmin, longer straight line compared to UN54. Starts to shoulder off earlier than Leverkusen APX 100/ Adox Silvermax 100 - though D-96 is used by Orwo for their published curves, vs D-76/ D-76 alike - and thus it's a fair conjecture that it's a film design choice (necessity?) rather than specific developer (development inhibition via solvency or via use of phenidones) effect. RMS Granularity is worse than what APX 100 used to claim (again, might be developer and/ or emulsion). Layer construction is Agfa-style with anti-halation layer directly under emulsion layer. It might be essentially the UN54 emulsions with a better anti-halation approach & some sensitising dye changes (NP 100 has longer spectral sensitivity for a start - and both UN54 & NP 100 are quite different from Leverkusen APX 100's spectral sensitivity).

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

@Raghu Kuvempunagar Lower Dmin, longer straight line compared to UN54. Starts to shoulder off earlier than Leverkusen APX 100/ Adox Silvermax 100 - though D-96 is used by Orwo for their published curves, vs D-76/ D-76 alike - and thus it's a fair conjecture that it's a film design choice (necessity?) rather than specific developer (development inhibition via solvency or via use of phenidones) effect. RMS Granularity is worse than what APX 100 used to claim (again, might be developer and/ or emulsion). Layer construction is Agfa-style with anti-halation layer directly under emulsion layer. It might be essentially the UN54 emulsions with a better anti-halation approach & some sensitising dye changes (NP 100 has longer spectral sensitivity for a start - and both UN54 & NP 100 are quite different from Leverkusen APX 100's spectral sensitivity).

Thanks @Lachlan Young. I think your hunch on the new film being a derivative/improvement of Orwo UN54 could be true. The datasheet even has the term Orwo UN54 in it.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Some additional information on the film from Orwo website:

"WOLFEN NP100 differs from WOLFEN UN54 in that it has an additional dyed antihalation layer. This layer is positioned between the base material and the emulsion layer and has the task of preventing the formation of a reflection halo. This improves image sharpness."

 

[cmacd123]

the antihalation layer is not said to decolourize in processing, so this may have the dark grey apperence of N75.

 

[mohmad khatab]

From what I’ve heard from several members here, this kind of machinery costs really good money… hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I find it curious that a company invests serious money on machinery, only to produce some 36,000 rolls of film.

Judging by the information I have, the revenue of the film sales won’t even pay for the machine alone!

What do you know about the real cost of the product?
Why do you think that that company has purchased that device (machine).?
You can say that these machines and devices are inheritance,
There is a company that obtained an inheritance from the parent company.
Of course: this description is not accurate, but it is somewhat closer to the truth.
- This is a new company, which has assembled the remaining pieces of the old Agfa factories, so that all of those companies are owned by one company.
- The factories purchased are factories that were not as expensive as some expect.
The machines and devices are old, but they are machines that can work for the next 100 years because they are great German machines.

 

[mohmad khatab]

I wonder what the deal is with the limited edition of 36000 rolls. Is this film going to disappear again, or is it some sort of prototype release. A beta test.

Investors did not buy factories, inject investments and obtain loans, in order to produce only 360,000 rolls.
Definitely that quantity is the minimum quantity through which the break-even point can be reached.
Of course, it is definitely a quantity in order to feel the pulse of the markets.

 

[cmacd123]

FWIW, the ORWO.shop folks seem to confirm on facebook that they have added an anti-holo layer to UN54 formual to get the new film

"
What's the difference between WOLFEN NP100 and WOLFEN UN54?

We have been asked this question a lot since we launched our new film last week...
WOLFEN NP100 differs from WOLFEN UN54 in that it has an additional dyed antihalation layer. This layer is positioned between the base material and the emulsion layer and has the task of preventing the formation of a reflection halo. This improves image sharpness."

 

[Lachlan Young]

Thanks @Lachlan Young. I think your hunch on the new film being a derivative/improvement of Orwo UN54 could be true. The datasheet even has the term Orwo UN54 in it.

I'd also add that the effect of the reduced halation/ internal flare & rather different spectral sensitising (notably lower around 500nm & much longer into red, peaking at 650nm) will make it look significantly different - even if it's largely the same emulsions as UN54

 

[Ernst-Jan]

- This is a new company, which has assembled the remaining pieces of the old Agfa factories, so that all of those companies are owned by one company.

But the confectioning line that was by that time the most modern one in it's class, was bought by Ilford, so a confectioning line is not one of those left overs.

 

[mohmad khatab]

But the confectioning line that was by that time the most modern one in it's class, was bought by Ilford, so a confectioning line is not one of those left overs.

Yes, I totally agree with you..

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

I'd also add that the effect of the reduced halation/ internal flare & rather different spectral sensitising (notably lower around 500nm & much longer into red, peaking at 650nm) will make it look significantly different - even if it's largely the same emulsions as UN54

Indeed. And that's probably the reason why it's being marketed as a new film.

 

[AgX]

And what about Shanghai GP3 100 ?

Filmotec presented it last year together with various conversions of their UN54 in their product portfolio.


I already hinted here at such Filmotec/Shanghai Jiancheng Technology connection, but no one bothered to reply.

 

[Europan]

NP 100 has higher red sensitivity than UN 54.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

A (new to me) short documentary video on Orwo from 2018: https://www.mdr.de/video/mdr-videos/d/video-188934.html

 

[flavio81]

I already hinted here at such Filmotec/Shanghai Jiancheng Technology connection, but no one bothered to reply.

I'm taking note, this is interesting...

I thought Shanghai GP3 was coated in Chine, is this still not the case, then?

 

[AgX]

There is room for speculation...

 

[Arcadia4]

Current 35mm Shanghai films were identified as orwo films un54 n75 converted in China following change of ownership. However they could only package 35mm into plastic cassettes. (Only lucky had metal cassette machinery in china) . There's a reasonable chance they also package the lomo films coated by inoviscoat e.g metropolis.

 

[Arcadia4]

To add it was stated at the time by the new owner that coating quality in shanghai wasn't good enough for 35mm. It's been less clear if any coating for 120 and LF still takes place but seems to be a conversion only operation

 

[markjwyatt]

The new Orwo site has both Orwo NP100 and Orwo UN54 listed for pre-order. This confirms that the two films are not the same.

All Films

Welcome to the brand-new ORWO Film official online shop! A quick and easy way to order our brand new photo films and classic motion picture stocks online. We deliver worldwide!

www.orwo.shop

"WOLFEN NP100 differs from WOLFEN UN54 in that it has an additional dyed antihalation layer. This layer is positioned between the base material and the emulsion layer and has the task of preventing the formation of a reflection halo. This improves image sharpness."

This may be the only difference, and it could be significant. Of the NP100, they also say (prior to the above quote) "This is one of the first brand new and professionally finished photo films launched by the company in decades, proudly still produced in Bitterfeld-Wolfen on the original site where film manufacture has been a tradition since 1910. "

 

[markjwyatt]

A (new to me) short documentary video on Orwo from 2018: https://www.mdr.de/video/mdr-videos/d/video-188934.html

Interesting. My German is not good enough to understand much, but it was worth watching. I watched it a second time with German subtitles added, and it helped get a little more out of it.