Rollei PAN 25/Adox PAN 25 and Rollei ORTHO 25/Adox PAN 25

Henning Serger said:

Briefly for your information: Most of all these facts, especially who is making which films for Maco/Rollei was already published in 2006 in the german photo magazine "Schwarzweiss", issues 54 and 55.

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Dear all,

Thank you very much for your comments!

Just a few thoughts :

First of all : we should be very grateful to both Maco/Rollei and to Fotoimpex/Adox for bringing us B&W films in a variety no longer offered by the larger companies (Kodak, Ilford, Fuji).

MACO/Rollei has always been very clear about the source of their films : For the Maco brand it was EFKE, except for CUBE 400C (Filmotec/OrWo) and UP400p (Ilford HP5). For the Rollei brand it is Filmotec/OrWo (Ortho 25, PAN 25, IR³), Agfaphoto/Leverkusen (Retro 100/400) and Agfa-Gevaert/Belgium (IR400, ATP, RSD, Superpan 200).

Fotoimpex/Adox has also been very clear about the source of their films so far : 25/50/100 CHS is being made by EFKE. CHM 125 and 400 are Ilford FP4/HP5 respectively. Adox anounced recently they will start production in a new plant of their own of ADX 25/100/400 based on Agfa APX 25/100/400-formulas. However, I have never seen a reference in their catalogue to the source of CHM20 (It is generally known to be Agfa Copex Rapid AHU) and to the source of Adox PAN 25 ("more modern dan CHS 25" states their catalogue) and Adox ORT 25. I had heard rumours they were the same as Rollei PAN 25/ORTHO 25 respectively (but much cheaper . As rumours are worth nothing and as I could not find a serious answer to my questions on any forum, I started this thread on 23 Jan 2008 on APUG, . The translation of Maco's Harthmuth Schroeder's post on APHOG is dated 24 Jan 2008. Anyway, I have not found any comments so far by ADOX/Fotoimpex... It is not really important anyway, I will just try their PAN & ORT 25, but I am always a bit curious when I find a new film...

I am also curious what the new Bergger films will be: just rebranded Ilfords or a new (or old) film made by Ilford for Bergger. Wait and see...

Rebranding/relabeling does not make sense imho, except when it is cheaper than the original. Then again it is not always sure that it is exactly the same (older formula of the same product, e.g. FP4/HP5 without the "plus"; or the same product with higher or lower quality control, e.g. EFKE used to produce for MACO using higher quality controlls). What we know now is that Adox PAN25/ORT25 is the same or at least similar to Rollei PAN 25/ORTHO 25...

Furthermore "made by" can mean a lot of things : the base (PET, Triacetate,...) can be made by company A, the emulsion and coating by company B, cutting & packaging by company C....

Jacques

The Adox Pan 25/ Rollei Pan 25 thing may be a rumour- but the facts state they are made in the same factory being an Orwo based film from Germany (Filmotec). So to me that is good enough to believe they are the same film. Another poster who has used both has also stated they are the same.

Just to resurrect this thread a little -- so any "Agfaphoto" APX 100 I'm seeing for sale now was manufactured several years ago? I was in a French camera store today where they had bricks of ten 36-exp Agfaphoto (not just "Agfa") APX 100 (and APX 400) for sale, with an expiration date out in 2010. I eagerly asked if they had more, and the guy gave me a look and said that it's back in production and is not a difficult-to-source product. Which, if true, is news to me UNLESS this is the new ADOX/APX film -- but then it wouldn't be marked Agfaphoto, would it, and it wouldn't expire next year. Any thoughts?

Lots of people in the business think that because they can sell a product, it is in production. When Agfaphoto was bankrupted in 2005, they keep the machinery on, and they produced lots and lots of films. These films were frozen. A company called lupus imaging bought the right to distribute the films. That's why now, the film are again in shops. But These are old stocks. Machinery from Agfa Leverkusen has been sold out, part by part. Some was bought by Ilford, other by Adox.

Last coating done by AgfaPhoto was in October 2005.

Adox Pan 25 and Rollei Pan 25 are not alike.

Adox comes from here http://www.adox.de/

Rollei comes from here http://www.rollei.com/

I've shot a lot of both and the Adox can have specks and pinholes where the Rollei comes out clean every time.

Adox and Efke 25 both $3.99
Ilford Pan F+ $3.79
Rollei Pan 25 $6.49
Fuji Acros 100 $2.89

Steak, chicken, seafood, turkey? Where are they from? Where were they packed? Who knows without extensive research, but there could be a switch somewhere that we won't find. And I thought Madoff was complicated.

I think I'll order some Ilford Pan F+ and Fuji Acros 100 for my next outing. This Adox, Efke, Rollei business is giving me a headache. What if Rollei was really Adox and the problems I had with Adox were just a fluke? I would have spent countless dollars on a film I thought was superior. All I can say is that Adox and Rollei look different, the film stock, and they react differently to exposure and development.