Photo Warehouse/Ultrafine

[Paul Verizzo]

Wow, I feel sorta stupid. Never heard of this outfit until another thread mentioned it yesterday. Which means that once upon a time I lived halfway between PW and Freestyle. Paradise lost.

Anyway, I have two categories of questions/observations.

Looking at the PDF catalog, holy cow they sure have a lot of the old papers! Agfa MC, Kodak PC III and IV, Polymax, and Kodabromide! How is it a company can have so much of this so many years after cessation of production? Is it any good?

They have their own line of "Varigrade" papers which has an optional surface of Pearl. And we all know who makes Pearl and we all know that said maker hasn't private branded for several years. See above for obvious questions.

Moving over to film, they have a fair selection of roll films in the beloved recently departed APX series.

Then they have their own line of Ultrafine B&W, ISO 125, 400, and "UltraMax T-Grain 400." All sounds like Kodak, no? Of course, if it is old Ilford stock, it shouldn't be called "T-grain"; Ilford get upset at such a designation for the Delta films. What do you think this product line is? Any experience in the APUGers? If this is Kodak product, and not too old, this film line is a hell of a deal. Hell of a deal if Ilford, for that matter. (I remember when Freestyle had a LOT of reload choices from Ilford and Kodak.)

(And I would not take a chance that said UltraMax is the new TMY, regardless.)

They also offer all Pan Kodak films as reloads, very reasonable prices especially if you don't want to do bulk. But no Ilford, which loops us back to the paragraph above. .......

Experiences? Thoughts? Observations? Guesses?

 

[philsweeney]

I used to buy the ultrafine in 8 x 10 and 7 x 17. I wish I had known that was coming to an end I would have bought alot more. They never updated their web site and must still be advertising ultrafine.

 

[jim appleyard]

Paul, I do a bit of biz with them and they go hot & cold. Their VC/RC paper is whatever they can get to throw in their box; sometimes it's Kodak, sometimes there is no watermark on the back. Thickness of the paper will vary. No matter, I only use that paper for contact sheets and test prints. Good price.

Beware when buying bulk APX 400. They re-package the stuff in their own SQUARE plastic boxes, Agfa's are round. I ordered a few bulk rolls and a couple were taped OPEN. They did take them back, but didn't really want to. Sorry, I can't take a chance on possibley exposed film.

Bottom line, buyer beware.

 

[Dennis S]

Film

I have tried Ultramax T-Grain 400 & B & W 125 and it is a nice film to work with. Always have a bulk rll availible. The paper is nothing great.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

Kodak? Ilford?

I have tried Ultramax T-Grain 400 & B & W 125 and it is a nice film to work with. Always have a bulk rll availible. The paper is nothing great.

Do you want to make any conjecture? Is it edge marked? Which does it behave like?

 

[Dennis S]

ultrafine

There is no edge makings on any. BUT what I have read is the 125 is FOMAPAN ?? The T-Grain has good contrast when develoiped with their developer (A bastard child of D-76) Very fine grain and does not curl. (35mm that is) AND they will send it to Canada without having to take out a second morgage on my house.. This is my 3rd bulk roll and I will be doing more.

 

[kodachrome64]

I was looking at their Kodak pan reloads...specifically Plus-X. Nice prices.

 

[Dennis S]

The film is very reasonable but I had to go elsewere for my paper.

 

[removed account4]

i used to buy a lot of their papers when they were reselling ilford papers.
the fiber and rc papers were very good and developed well with ansco 130 and
dektol. i think i bought 2 500sht boxes of rc8x10 and 10 big boxes of fiber / ilford11x14
back in the day. they used to sell /cut box large format film - any size pretty much off of the
master roll - ilford fp something or other from what used to be suggested ...

at one point there had been a bit of talk about buying master rolls from a european supplier
and reselling as they used to do ...
i know if they did, i would buy a ton of it, cause the prices were always right, and customer service
was always good.

john

 

[Paul Verizzo]

Fomapan

There is no edge makings on any. BUT what I have read is the 125 is FOMAPAN ?? The T-Grain has good contrast when develoiped with their developer (A bastard child of D-76) Very fine grain and does not curl. (35mm that is) AND they will send it to Canada without having to take out a second morgage on my house.. This is my 3rd bulk roll and I will be doing more.

They don't make a 125, unless Ultrafine is fudging. Nor do they make a T-grain, which Uf is selling.

It pretty much has to be Plus-X or FP4.

Any takers?

 

[kodachrome64]

They don't make a 125, unless Ultrafine is fudging. Nor do they make a T-grain, which Uf is selling.

It pretty much has to be Plus-X or FP4.

Any takers?

Me, if it's Plus-X.

 

[Tim Gray]

One of the European manufacturers supposedly makes/made a t-grain film...

 

[Paul Verizzo]

Me, if it's Plus-X.

Yeah, ditto that.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

There was rumor...

One of the European manufacturers supposedly makes/made a t-grain film...

That the Fomapan 200 is a T-grain or Delta type or something. But it's not even fine grain if you use Plux-X as the reasonable milestone. Oddly, it's only .5 RMSG grainier than the 100 (13.5.)

 

[Dennis S]

UF

Well I bought a roll of UTRAFINE B & W 125 And rolls of ULTRAMAX ISO 400 T-Grain Film 35mm X 100' Cat #615-9400. I am sitting beside the empty square box as I type. Like I said there are no markings on the boarders of the film just numbers.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

Well I bought a roll of UTRAFINE B & W 125 And rolls of ULTRAMAX ISO 400 T-Grain Film 35mm X 100' Cat #615-9400. I am sitting beside the empty square box as I type. Like I said there are no markings on the boarders of the film just numbers.

As in 4 digit Kodak numbers???????

I tried to access their development chart, figured that might give a clue whether FP or PX. The page doesn't work. I've emailed them about that.

 

[Jerry Thirsty]

Several years ago I bought a few boxes of the 4x5 sheet Ultrafine 125. The word going around was that it was FP4+. Presumably the only other possibility would have been Plus-X Pan; I'm not sure when that was discontinued. The notch code is not the same as FP4+, but I suppose if Ultrafine was doing the cutting themselves they wouldn't use that notch code anyway. I used the FP4+ developing times off the Massive Dev Chart and they worked fine.

A few months ago I ordered three of the bulk rolls of APX 100; it was shipped in black plastic (round) cans, not the square ones Jim Appleyard had problems with. The exp. date on them is 11/2010, but I've put them on ice so hopefully they'll last a while.

 

[Dennis S]

ultrafine

I sent you an email of dev. chart and what info I have. ultrafineonline.com. As for the 125 Yes I went by the FP 4+ times also. Looked good enough for printing 11 X 14 out of 35mm film. Very fine grain detected. "but that is called grain. It's suppose to be there"

 

[jim appleyard]

Several years ago I bought a few boxes of the 4x5 sheet Ultrafine 125. The word going around was that it was FP4+. Presumably the only other possibility would have been Plus-X Pan; I'm not sure when that was discontinued. The notch code is not the same as FP4+, but I suppose if Ultrafine was doing the cutting themselves they wouldn't use that notch code anyway. I used the FP4+ developing times off the Massive Dev Chart and they worked fine.

A few months ago I ordered three of the bulk rolls of APX 100; it was shipped in black plastic (round) cans, not the square ones Jim Appleyard had problems with. The exp. date on them is 11/2010, but I've put them on ice so hopefully they'll last a while.

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear; APX 100 comes in round, black plastic *AGFA* containers. APX 400 comes in square, black plastic containers that are not from Agfa; the film is taken out of the old round ones from Agfa and put in the square ones with a Photo Warehouse label slapped on it. Why, I do not know, but I had 4 of them open and sealed that way by the label.

 

[fschifano]

Here's the deal as I know it from Ultrafine. I've made several purchases from them over the past year. Some Ultrafine 125 and 400, both 100 ft. long rolls, and a 250 sheet box of 8x10 Varigrade IV paper. The films came in their own black plastic boxes around a taped shut lightproof bag. The tape on the boxes was loose, but the film was fine. I don't know who makes the film, but the numbers are inch counters, leading me to think that these are repackaged short ends of cine film. I've also purchased short ends of Kodak cine stocks (Eastman 5222)from The Film Emporium when they have had it. Ultrafine's films don't have the same rebate markings, so I doubt that it's re-badged Kodak film. I expose them at box speed and develop them in D-76 using the recommended times from Ilford for FP4+ and HP5+. Results are good, no complaints there. The 35 mm stocks are not FOMA, either. I use Foma rebadged as Arisa.EDU Ultra 100, 200, and 400 from Freestyle. Utrafine's films do not resemble Foma 100 and 400 at all. Base density is lower and the base tint has a different color to it. I have it on good authority that the Ultrafine 120 films are in fact rebadged Foma films. I'm told that it is unusually blue and that it curls. Sounds like Foma 120 stocks to me. I've used the rebadged Foma 120 too, so I'm familiar with the look. The box of paper I got is definitely Kodak - has "Kodak Professional" printed on the back just like Polymax and Polycontrast did. I'm not sure which this is, but it's pretty good. Again, no complaints.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

I just noticed on a re-reading of the Ultrafine films that they are frame numbered.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

Lots of experienced opinion that it is Ilford....

over at http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=10986

Keep in mind that those posts are four years old; a lot has changed in that time.

Based on how much new old stock they have in papers, they could still be well stocked with Ilford product.

Another theory put forth is that they, or at least the 125, are Ilford movie films. I doubt it due to EI differences, etc.

Also, evidence coming from Wisner; cut film "Made in England."

I guess that would make the UF "T-grain" Delta 400 if they are badged across the line.

Bummer. I was hoping for Plus-X. Not that FP4 is shabby, just a hope.

 

[Whiteymorange]

I've used Ultrafine film for quite awhile in 35 and in 120. I used to like what they sold as Ultrafine 100 in 120, which gave me images that made me thing it was rebranded APX, but they said no, they never sold that. The 400 used to be HP5, back in the day, so the 100 could well have been FP4. I haven't shot enough FP4 for a serious comparison. They would be working off old stock, however, since Ilford hasn't sold for rebranding in a few years at least, right? The 35 mm is sold as 125 asa, while the 120 film was labeled 100 asa. Hard to think that it would be the same stock.

I've never had reason to complain about quality or service, though right now I have a small problem with some Fuji 100B I just got and, since it's a weekend, I'm still waiting on a reply to my questions.

 

[Dennis S]

film

The film I developed the Ultrafine 125 and the Ultramax 400 T-Grain were clear and flat, no curl at all. For developers I have used D-76 1-1, Ultradine Dev 1-1, Rodinal 1-50 , Ilford DD-X and Arista Liquid 1-18 No Blue , No curl. The paper (8 X 10) used was a very light paper not Ilford at all. I also bought some 11 X 14 that seemed identical in all respects.

 

[Dennis S]

ultrafine

I've just developed a roll of Delta 400 and it has the usual curl and blue on it thats typical of Ilford film. The Ultrafine T-Grain is nothing like this film. The UF T-Grain is extremely flat and clear. No edge marking codes or anything. I haven't used any film that is like UF film. The thickness of the base seems alot thicker than Ilford. I usually shoot T-Grain 400 @ 325 and 200 with good results. It is fast becoming one of my favorites.. My luck is they will change it to something else.