"Rollei" and other small(?) volume films

There's a Brit photographer I keep up with who seems to be enamored of Rollei films. As for myself, I've mostly settled on Delta 400 as my default with breaks for TMAX and Bergger as "nice" alternative.

Yet the desire to try something else for effect is there from time to time. For cases where red spectrum sensitivity of Rollei badged films might offers something, the mind ponders. And then I look at the price ($2 to $3 more per roll in 120) and hear about some of the problems (light sensitivity on the roll and scratches), and I drop the idea. I've never tried a roll. Fact is, I'm reluctant to mess with most other films - though FP4 and I have had our flings.

So I'm curious whether anyone messes with "Rollei" or Cinestill's rebranded BwXX or PAN-X or CMS-20? Reading that some seem to respond "best" to specific developers, a fair "try" looks to run more than you think.

In my opinion, film is cheap, so I try a little of everything. That’s mostly because I hadn’t shot film for 2 decades, and my starting point was to try a little of everything at the buffet to see what I liked. I’ve got some good results from Rollie RPX25 and Agfa APX100 (both made by the same manufacturer) but not consistently. I’ve found more consistent results from Kodak, Ilford, and (surprisingly) Foma. So for B&W that’s where most of my money goes (PanF+, FP4+, TMax100, and Fomapan 100 mostly.) But I still buy a roll or two of things I haven’t tried when it suits my fancy.

For color it’s Kodak and Fuji.

I mostly shot the same films for years and years before deciding to try something new, and for me, it has been the Rollei films (400s and 80s and Superpan, which is basically 400s, and Infrared, which is like Superpan/400s only more expensive). I like that I can shoot infrared and normal images on the same roll, the only difficulty is in taming the contrast on high-contrast days. I'm still learning the films but I like what I've been getting. I've also got a few rolls of Cinestill in my fridge, I just need to find the time to go and shoot them.

I bought a couple of bricks of Rollei Retro 400S in 120 around 18 months ago for £70....that's £3.50 per film. Bargain. I have now shot all 20 films and one had some spots/holes in the emulsion on the first frame. I've had no other problems in my 20 rolls. I've also shot three 135 cassettes of the stuff, including a handful of shots with an IR720 filter. As mentioned above, it's great to be able to shoot regular and IR photos on the same roll - which is what I was doing.

Personally, I like it...especially in 120. It does give quite contrasty negatives but I know that in advance and shoot accordingly. It's also possible to print (or scan) so as to reduce the contrast. And it's not as if the shades aren't there. It's another "weapon" in my "arsenal", so to speak...another choice. Quality wise I've only had the one slight issue. The film behaves very well when loading in the camera, on the spiral reel, and after developing it's very flat and clear.

Are Ilford HP5+ or Delta 400....or T-MAX 400 and Tri-X.... better products? In most circumstances, yes...but they're also more expensive and 400S does have a different look and that ability to shoot IR.

In this discussion we should not overlook that Agfa no longer manufactures Aviphot Pan 400. Thus Maco for their Rollei brand only can convert stock they still have.

I thought Rollei Retro 400S was Agfa Aviphot 200.....which they appear to still be manufacturing


https://www.agfa.com/specialty-products/solutions/aerial-photography/aviphot/

I had quite an unpleasant experience with 80s in 120 format with the backing paper leaving clear marks of paper fibers on the negatives. However, this was an old roll of film and may be storage related, but I have heard of similar experiences from others.

On the other hand, I've been using quite a bit of RPX400 in 35mm lately and I quite like it. Straightforward film that achieves close to box speed with manageable grain and good tonality. I'm going to stick with it for a while.