Replacement for Efke film

[Peter Schrager]

All Foma used to curl really badly, but a few years ago they worked on it and for at least 5 years now the curl has gone, no worse now than Ilford or Kodak

Ilford or kodak or fuji do not curl..the foma roll film is on the thinnest base I have ever used
Totally useless to me which is a shame since I'm sure the tonality is great

 

[R.Gould]

Ilford amd Kodak curl used to curl for me, I haven't used them for several years, these days I use Foma either 200 or 400, and no curl for me these days, the worst curl and thinnest base I have ever used was Rollei Retro, completely useless, tried 5 rolls and could not get one decent negative, Curl was once a problem with Fomapan, it took an age to flatten, but these days no worse than Kodak or Ilford, never used Fuji film, if it is a problem for you simply put it into file sheets and under weight for a day or so and it will be flat as a pancake, goes for 35mm and 120, worked every time with any film for me

 

[Peter Schrager]

Ilford amd Kodak curl used to curl for me, I haven't used them for several years, these days I use Foma either 200 or 400, and no curl for me these days, the worst curl and thinnest base I have ever used was Rollei Retro, completely useless, tried 5 rolls and could not get one decent negative, Curl was once a problem with Fomapan, it took an age to flatten, but these days no worse than Kodak or Ilford, never used Fuji film, if it is a problem for you simply put it into file sheets and under weight for a day or so and it will be flat as a pancake, goes for 35mm and 120, worked every time with any film for me

Already did press them (for a week!) and zero luck...I did the same drying method I've used for 40 years
Went to proof yesterday and cut film just rolled off the table!!. .

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

You lucky dog. What are you planning on doing with it? Anything special?

Not sure yet, but probably save it for something that has a lot of shiny metal...

 

[Agulliver]

I've only shot and processed one 120 roll of Fomapan 400...but it did not curl.

Now...Fortepan...that film curled like a mother....

I don't find modern Foma curls more than Ilford, which I have considerable experience with. Of course film curl can be affected by many factors including chemicals used, how well one washes the fixed film, if wetting agent is used, whether it is dried with extra heat or just ambient temperature.

 

[R.Gould]

Already did press them (for a week!) and zero luck...I did the same drying method I've used for 40 years
Went to proof yesterday and cut film just rolled off the table!!. .

gThe only thing I can think of, and I have been using Fomapan film for around the last 15 years as my main film, is that somehow you have got hold of some of the older Fomapan film, I have not seen curl in either 200 or 400 Fomapan for at least 7 years, maybe more, even before they changed the film base from the blue to the present base, if it is any help then all I do is develop,plain water stop,fix wash, wetting agent, shake then hang up to dry with a bulldog clip to weight it on the bottom, from a line in the darkroom, it curls very slightly at the bottom, but very slight, a day under weight and it is flat as a pancake, With the older fomapan I would have agreed with you, it was terrible, had a job to get it into a file sheet, but these days no problem, I filed some today,120, no problem, took me 2 minutes, beyond that I have no idea what your problem is, but Foma makes lovely film, like something from the fifties, the 400 reminds of the very first Tri X film,

 

[Peter Schrager]

gThe only thing I can think of, and I have been using Fomapan film for around the last 15 years as my main film, is that somehow you have got hold of some of the older Fomapan film, I have not seen curl in either 200 or 400 Fomapan for at least 7 years, maybe more, even before they changed the film base from the blue to the present base, if it is any help then all I do is develop,plain water stop,fix wash, wetting agent, shake then hang up to dry with a bulldog clip to weight it on the bottom, from a line in the darkroom, it curls very slightly at the bottom, but very slight, a day under weight and it is flat as a pancake, With the older fomapan I would have agreed with you, it was terrible, had a job to get it into a file sheet, but these days no problem, I filed some today,120, no problem, took me 2 minutes, beyond that I have no idea what your problem is, but Foma makes lovely film, like something from the fifties, the 400 reminds of the very first Tri X film,

You know what..I'm taking this film into freestyle this week. ..this wasn't even the rebranded stuff. ..I'm going to make them replace the film with another to see if I'm not crazy! !...

 

[Down Under]

Efke film was wonderful stuff even with the insanity-inducing curl (ref Peter #6). I have about 20 EI100 and a few Ei 25 rolls (all 120) left, and am hoarding it for future architectural shoots where I will need good resolving power for large images.For big enlargements, it's super good.

I tried Acros 100, Tmax 100 and 400, and finally settled on Rollei 100. Foma to me is an amateur film and users buy it because it's super cheap, but for my needs it was too unreliable in its overall QC. Acros never gave me the tones I wanted in my images. Rollei needs to be tested and processed carefully. For me Rodinal is a no-no as I dislike mushy grain if enlarged beyond 10x-12x. Good old D76 is my preferred developer. Many other developers also produce the results. But not Rodinal.

I now shoot Rollei 100 and 400 outdoors (on sunny or cloudy days) with a light yellow filter and the results suit me just fine, so I will unhesitatingly recommend the Rolleis for all general photography.

As a second choice, I use Tmax. Third choice, Acros (on sunny days).

 

[R.Gould]

Efke film was wonderful stuff even with the insanity-inducing curl (ref Peter #6). I have about 20 EI100 and a few Ei 25 rolls (all 120) left, and am hoarding it for future architectural shoots where I will need good resolving power for large images.For big enlargements, it's super good.

I tried Acros 100, Tmax 100 and 400, and finally settled on Rollei 100. Foma to me is an amateur film and users buy it because it's super cheap, but for my needs it was too unreliable in its overall QC. Acros never gave me the tones I wanted in my images. Rollei needs to be tested and processed carefully. For me Rodinal is a no-no as I dislike mushy grain if enlarged beyond 10x-12x. Good old D76 is my preferred developer. Many other developers also produce the results. But not Rodinal.

I now shoot Rollei 100 and 400 outdoors (on sunny or cloudy days) with a light yellow filter and the results suit me just fine, so I will unhesitatingly recommend the Rolleis for all general photography.

As a second choice, I use Tmax. Third choice, Acros (on sunny days).

Up to two years ago I was a pro, and I used Foma film for everything, for the last two years, since I retired, I still use Foma, and over here, since the Pound crashed, foma is certainly not cheap, in fact the roll film is more expensive than Ilford, and I will go on using it, I have never had a problem with it as reliable as Ilford and Kodak, lovely tonality, no QC problems. I have used Efke, branded as Jessops film, and indeed it was a nice film, for some things, but for a lot of the work I do it was just to slow, I need a 400 film, much of my stuff in the summer months, is in very dim conditions, sometimes 1/2 second hand held, and that is with 400, so I need that extra 2 stops, as far as Rollei goes, I tried some Retro 400, cheaper than Fomapan here, it was, for me the worst film I ever used, 10 rolls and no matter what I did I could not get a negative that it was possible to print, for me never again, like everything else, I guess our choice of film is horses for courses, and we should be glad to have the choice, one mans meat is another mans poison

 

[Alan Johnson]

Here's an ad for the original Adox film from c1954, the Efke was I believe very similar to this.

 

[Ian Grant]

Here's an early EFKE data-sheet for the films which were bay then made under license from Dupont who had ben the last owners of Adox. Note the tungsten (incandescent light) DIN used in each films name.

And a 1960 advert. One problem in the UK was the Importer was constantly changing. I think Luminos closed and the company relocated in the US.

I think Fotokemika bought the Adox coating machinery etc in 1973/4 and began making the films a Croatia in 1974/ I still have the Amateur Photogapher article where they reviewed and tested the new EFKE films as well as my first negatives made in early 1975 with Kb14 and the quality was outstanding.

Luckily I still have some Pl25 (the old Pl14) left in Quarter plate, 5x4 and 10x8

Ian


FR5 was a

 

[miha]

I think Fotokemika bought the Adox coating machinery etc in 1973/4 and began making the films a Croatia in 1974/ I still have the Amateur Photogapher article where they reviewed and tested the new EFKE films as well as my first negatives made in early 1975 with Kb14 and the quality was outstanding.

Luckily I still have some Pl25 (the old Pl14) left in Quarter plate, 5x4 and 10x8

Ian


FR5 was a

Way earlier Ian. I have a book on photographic technique published in Yugoslavia in 1960 already advertising EFKE (then spelled as EFKA in domestic market) films and papers.

 

[flavio81]

I find no curl problem with Fomapan 100/400 on 135 format.

Foma pan 100 is a sleeper film...Ian is correct
You must tame it to work properly
Has a great old time feel to it

For what it's worth, Fomapan 100's real speed is about ISO 64-80 (source: their own datasheets), so when used at 100 the development times given seem to be "pushing" the film a little bit.

Better to use it at ISO 64-80 with corresponding reduction in development time. (I need to experiment more here to substantiate more this claim, but in general, used at 100, contrast is high)

 

[Ian Grant]

Way earlier Ian. I have a book on photographic technique published in Yugoslavia in 1960 already advertising EFKE (then spelled as EFKA in domestic market) films and papers.

Fotokemika was founded in 1947 and already made films and paper before they acquired the Adox/Dupont coating machinery and licensed the rights to make the Adox emulsions.

Adox was only bought by Dupont in 1963 from the Schleussner family. Fotokemika must have been using older machinery and emulsion formulae before that, a lot of smaller film/paper manufacturers disappeared between the start of WWII and 1947 so there would have been coating lines available after the war.

Ian

 

[miha]

Adox was only bought by Dupont in 1963 from the Schleussner family. Fotokemika must have been using older machinery and emulsion formulae before that, a lot of smaller film/paper manufacturers disappeared between the start of WWII and 1947 so there would have been coating lines available after the war.

Ian

You're most likely correct.

 

[Harry Stevens]

So thats about 45p in 1964 and still only a £1.00 from Jessops in the early 90s...Not bad hey

 

[Ian Grant]

So thats about 45p in 1964 and still only a £1.00 from Jessops in the early 90s...Not bad hey

The price drops between 1954 when 35mm was 8s 9d and 1960 5s 8d.probably due to exchange rates.

Ian

 

[Agulliver]

When I got back into B&W in 2013/14 (hiatus 2007-2013), I made a point of trying various films that I wasn't familiar with including Fomapan 100, 200, 400...Adox Silvermax. I was already familiar with all the Kodak and Ilford line apart from the "new Tri-X" which I also gave a go.

I ended up deciding Fomapan 100 is my go-to film for shooting at ISO100. I find that I shoot at box speed and shave a small amount off the development time but a lot of peopl prefer to shoot at 80ISO to tame it. Whatever works for you, I quite enjoy high contrast images and can always shoot HP5+ when I want a little less contrast.

In all the Foma and Acupan 135 films that I've developed down the years I have never had one curl at all. But I've only tied one 120 so far, and it did not curl either.

 

[romosoho]

I just discovered a ton of Efke in my freezer..I haven't been shooting much film for a while now, especially since the kids came along. So I just found 50, 100, IR820, and several 5x7 sheet packs. Not bad...need to get out there and burn some of these rolls (any tips on shooting IR820 welcome, btw).

 

[Alan Johnson]

>Flickr.com>groups>Fotokemika/Efke>discussion>Technical Data:
https://www.flickr.com/groups/efke/discuss/72157625920613374/
For spectral sensitivity only the 100 speed Efke is similar to Fomapan 100.
The Efke 25 and 50 are orthopanchromatic (reduced red sensitivity).
These two also show increased sharpness with minimal agitation , I have not tested the Fomapan 100 or Adox CHS 100 II for this.

 

[Hubigpielover]

Freestyle has Foma on sale and I bought some. Will keep y'all posted on how I like it. Cannot wait to get my own darkroom setup so I can shoot and develop.

 

[haziz]

Ilford FP4+.

 

[Hubigpielover]

On

Ilford FP4+.

On my list but Foma was on sale and I am still one of the poors plus trying to get darkroom stuff. Hopefully soon I will be able to buy all the photos.

 

[Agulliver]

Shot and developed my last Efke KB25 135 film

Still have some KB100 in 120.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

There are several ISO 100 films available. However if the OP is looking for something like the old EFKE KB 14 film the choices are very slim. The most readily available is Ilford Pan F Plus which is however a bit quirky. The contrast is hard to control. Best to rate it at an EI of 25 to 32 and under develop it. D-23 1+1 works well with this film.