Orwo NP15 Film- Just shot a Roll

braxus · Jun 21, 2020

I bought a 10 pack of this film off Ebay many years ago and kept it in the freezer. I decided I was going to sell them recently, since I have a lot of B&W film already. But after some prodding, I was recommended to test a roll to help the sale. I took out a box from the 10 pack. I think these were from the mid 80s, but I couldn't find a expiry date on the package. Anyway just shot the roll today and plan on getting it developed soon. It will be done in Ilfotec DD. I shot at box speed ISO 25 since many rolls of this vintage and speed, seem to turn out fine when shooting as is. I know the speed of the film may have gone down, but I wanted to see how it holds up at box speed. The film was very purply pink in color, which for B&W seems rather odd. Its either blue or gray normally. The film also had quite the curl to it, and it got stuck in the camera on both wind and rewind. It was quite tight. Someone with a manual wind and rewind would fare better with these rolls. I have a camera like that, but I wanted to shoot it on my Nikon F100 with a wide angle zoom lens and 50mm. I'll post the results when I get it back from the lab. I plan on getting them to scan it for me while there. Stay tuned.

braxus · Jun 21, 2020

Roll is in the mail. I should have results by weeks end, if not Monday next week.

Donald Qualls · Jun 21, 2020

Please let us know if you break out in boils, your teeth and hair fall out, or other effects manifest from the curses the scanner operators at your lab will call down on your head after they try to handle that curly, curly film...

braxus · Jun 21, 2020

Im just hoping the weight they use during dip and dunk, plus the chemicals, will help straighten the film out a little. But yeah I can hear them cursing already.

JPD · Jun 22, 2020

That pinkish colour is normal for NP15. I shot some in the 1980's.

braxus · Jul 30, 2020

Well the results I got back for the 1 roll looks pretty darn good for a 30+ year old roll of film. The lab managed to deal with the curl, as it came back fine. I couldnt detect any fog on the roll. I shot it at box speed as well. Here are a couple shots.

8 rolls are for sale if anyone is interested.

pentaxpete · Jul 31, 2020

I have used it in 35mm and have one roll 120 left - I used to develop it in Beutler Formula but the 120 when used i will try Rodinal 1+50 -- YES -- the film base was 'Purple' on mine as well.

pentaxuser · Jul 31, 2020

Braxus, it might be my eyes or simply the scenes you have taken but none of the scans (of negs or prints?) seem as sharp in focus terms as I would have expected.The silvery-white foliage in the forest shot give it an almost IR which I would not have expected either

As I said it might be my deteriorating eyesight as pentaxpete has made no comment to the same effect

pentaxuser

foc · Jul 31, 2020

Donald Qualls said:
Please let us know if you break out in boils, your teeth and hair fall out, or other effects manifest from the curses the scanner operators at your lab will call down on your head after they try to handle that curly, curly film...

There is an easy way for the lab to correct the curl (the curl caused by a film being wound up for so long) in 35mm film. Simply roll it up the opposite way to the curl and put it into an empty 35mm film canister for a day or two.
Worked every time for me in my lab through the years.

Donald Qualls · Jul 31, 2020

foc said:
There is an easy way for the lab to correct the curl (the curl caused by a film being wound up for so long) in 35mm film. Simply roll it up the opposite way to the curl and put it into an empty 35mm film canister for a day or two.
Worked every time for me in my lab through the years.

I'll have to try that; I've got some old negatives that have been stored rolled up in 35mm film cans (828 cut down from 120). Not to mention a few rolls of 135 that have been in their cassettes for twenty years or so.

braxus · Jul 31, 2020

pentaxuser said:
Braxus, it might be my eyes or simply the scenes you have taken but none of the scans (of negs or prints?) seem as sharp in focus terms as I would have expected.

Well the one in the forest the light was low, so the shutter speed was really slow. It blurred as a result. Also the scans were low rez, so I wouldnt expect eye popping sharpness from them either. On the other ones, low depth of field resulted in loss of sharpness there. I dont know if there are better samples I could show, but it still shows the film as usable.

JPD · Jul 31, 2020

The resulting photos look good. It's said that low speed films fog more slowly over time than medium and fast speed films, and this is good evidence of that. In the 90's I got one year expired Plus-X in 120 from a friend, and those rolls had developed a slight but even fog. My guess is that they had been improperly stored (heat).

Are those yellow or red roses? They look lighter than what red roses would look on pan film.

braxus · Jul 31, 2020

I believe the roses were white if memory serves.

JPD · Jul 31, 2020

braxus said:
I believe the roses were white if memory serves.

That explains why they look that way! No detoriation of the sensitizing agents then.

foc · Aug 1, 2020

Donald Qualls said:
I'll have to try that; I've got some old negatives that have been stored rolled up in 35mm film cans (828 cut down from 120). Not to mention a few rolls of 135 that have been in their cassettes for twenty years or so.

I don't know if it will work films stored for a long period in a film canister. The films I uncurled were old curly films but they were fresh from the processor. I think that may have helped straighten them.

pentaxuser · Aug 1, 2020

BraxusThanks for the explanation on the scans. It always worries me when I see something in a scan that no-one else seems to pick up on. I am glad that in this case it wasn't my eyes

pentaxuser

Kodachromeguy · Jan 20, 2023

Reviving an old thread. Has anyone used NP-15 recently? How were the results? Eastern European sellers still offer stock.

relistan · Jan 21, 2023

Kodachromeguy said:
Reviving an old thread. Has anyone used NP-15 recently? How were the results? Eastern European sellers still offer stock.

I have not used it but it has a reputation for storing very well.

braxus · Jan 21, 2023

I still have some rolls of this stuff. It doesn't fog much over age of decades, so its usable. It does curl quite a bit though. I found a 35mm roll was really tight to wind with a power motor. It got stuck on me once. Haven't used the 120 stuff yet. Maybe a video there for me.

gone · Jan 21, 2023

The tonality on the scans is good but yes, definitely soft. I don't think that's a low rez issue but could be a scanner issue. Seems like a lot of stuff on the negs as well. This is always a potential problem when sending film out, it can often only be as good as the operator that day and/or whether all is well w/ their chemicals. Looking at some Lomography examples, it's not supposed to give soft pics, but is low contrast judging from what they show.

braxus · Jan 21, 2023

I still have 1 roll in 35mm left, and lots of 120. I'll throw in a 35mm roll at one point. I develop my own B&W now, so I can take care of that. And I scan my own film too.

Orwo NP15 Film- Just shot a Roll

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