Real world tips on shooting Rollei Ortho 25?

[thegman]

Along with my usual Velvia and XP2, I have bought one roll of Ortho 25, just to try out for fun.

I'd like to shoot it in my Zeiss Ikon (35mm) with a 15mm lens. Should I simply rate it at ISO 25 and shoot away, or should I rate it lower than that?

I'm thinking many, if not all my shots will be in low light, and require a tripod, any thoughts on time to add to exposures to account for reciprocity failure?

I've read the factsheet, but I'm looking for real world tips from those who have shot it, or similar films.

Cheers!

Garry

 

[Rolleijoe]

I use this film, at the given rating in my Rolleis with Zeiss lenses, and the look is amazing. I was in San Antonio shooting some of the missions, on a quite overcast day (was in-between thundershowers so that should tell you how overcast it was) absolutely handheld and achieved (literally) award-winning shots with it.

My suggestion would be to buy more rolls, because once you see the results for yourself, you'll wish that were so and had shot everything with it. Unless these are images you can shoot again later.

 

[thegman]

Thanks for this, it's very encouraging. The area which I'll be photographing is near my home, I can get there in 20 mins, no problem.

Any links to your shots? Should I simply set my ISO dial to 25 and shoot it like it were any other film, or do I need to think about red filters, anything like that?

 

[RobertV]

This Ortho film is preforming 330ln/mm so a lot of things are depending on your lens.
The film can be exposed as E.I. 25 and developed in a low contrast developer. RLC or Rodinal 1+50 (100) are both good suggestions. RLC keeps the logD curve less steep.

Here an example (Leica glass):

 

[thegman]

I see, I was planning on using my Voigtlander/Cosina 15mm lens for some very wide angle cityscapes. I doubt that's going to get anywhere near the potential of the film, but I think I want that wide angle look. I've got a 50mm Summicron and 35mm Nokton too which I may fire off a few shots. I don't develop myself, so I'll have find a good developer who knows his stuff.

 

[RobertV]

The C.V. SWH 15mm (MKI or MKII) is a very good lens but is just not playing in Zeiss or Leica preformance. I have the MK II with M-mount and filter mount.

About special films: Best preformance to develop yourself which is not difficult at all:
RLC (Rollei Low Contrast) 1+4 8:30 min for this film, E.I. 25.
Use destilled water for this low contrast document developer due to the fact it's very sensible for iron in the tap water (black dots).

For the rest like any regular development. If you want you can work with low intensity red light for this Ortho film.

 

[thegman]

Hmm, home development is not really for me, I'll probably find a boutique lab who can do it... I don't have the space or desire to do it to be honest, and I'd be buying all the chemicals and stuff to maybe just develop one film. That assumes I don't mess it up and lose all my shots, after all, I've never done it before. If you can recommend someone, that wold be great.

 

[RobertV]

It depends where you are situated.
Anyhow use a low contrast developer for this excellent film.

 

[thegman]

I'm in the UK, but I don't mind sending it off somewhere, even to a different country.

 

[RobertV]

Studio 13 in Stuttgart (Germany) is known about their developments of special films like Ortho, Scala, IR film and so on.
Further Dr.5 in this Forum seems to be a specialist but then you have to send your film to the USA.

 

[thegman]

Thanks, I'll check out Studio 13...

 

[AgX]

..., or do I need to think about red filters, anything like that?

A orthochromatic film is in-sensitive to red (practically speaking), so using a red filter would not be a good idea at all.

 

[bob100684]

bracket!

 

[Rolleijoe]

Thanks for this, it's very encouraging. The area which I'll be photographing is near my home, I can get there in 20 mins, no problem.

Any links to your shots? Should I simply set my ISO dial to 25 and shoot it like it were any other film, or do I need to think about red filters, anything like that?

Hey there, sorry for the delay, was w/out internet access for the past week. Will set something up for you, so you can take a look at the shots I made with this film. I processed in Rodinal 1:50, and was quite pleased with the results.

Will send the link to your e-mail addy so you can view them all at full size.