Rollei Superpan 200 and Rodinal -- any experiences?

[kavandje]

Hi y'all!

Just got hold of some of the aforementioned film, but there doesn't seem to be any indication as to development times and such.

My current favourite developer is Rodinal (actually Adox APH09, a crypto-Rodinal which I've found to be perfectly acceptable thus far).

Has anyone tried this film with this developer, and if so, under what circumstances? Here and there I find allusions that this film will process well in Rodi... but nowhere seems to have baseline processing guidelines!

I know that some people recommend different developers, and that may be well and good, but Rodinal is cheap and lasts forever; this is relevant in a place like this!

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[cmo]

That is just repackaged Aviphot aerial film. Do not expect miracles, though marketing and some forum posts from bondservants of the manufacturer will tell you it is the holy grail. The results we have seen so far are nothing to write home about. If you think the slightly enhanced red sensitivity is important you will find that it is not an infrared film, the typical infrared look is very weak, even with strong filters.

But as you are mentioning economical aspects, you might find that your strategy is not perfect. You save a little on developer using Rodinal and spend a lot for this film as it is very expensive for what it is.

If you need a cheap film with medium sensitivity that gives good results try Agfa APX 100. It is still widely available and offered at very low prices. Depending on where you buy and how many you buy it might be less than half the price of the film you are asking about.

 

[Aurelien]

I know that this film is Aviphot from Gevaert. I was very sceptical. But I tried it. And developed it in Finol from Moersch.
And clearly, the results in 120 are great!

 

[ath]

Kavandje,
Maco recommends to start with the times of Rollei IR and in case of XTOL this was a very good starting point.

I have had very mixed results from Superpan in XTOL; the wood effect was clearly there. But in direct sunlight with an orange filter some frames came out overexposed. The extended red sensitivity in combination with direct sunlight and an orangefilter seem to be enough to irritate the meter (or is it the film?). Anyway, reliable metering in the sun is not easy.

The film has a pronounced shoulder (or s-shape curve). This means the contrast drops in the lights and proper metering is a must which unfortunately is far from easy (see above).
The base is polyester and clear. This gives significant light piping but is good if you want to have slides.

Grain in XTOL1+1 is comparable to Delta400.

In a nutshell: I have some left and will use them in case I need the (near) infrared effect. In all other cases using films like Delta 400 or TMY or Neopan 400 is far easier and more predictable.

 

[Henning Serger]

Hello Kavandje,

my experience with this film is:

+ great versatility: you can use this film as a normal negative film, due to the clear base as slide film (e.g. in Scala chemistry, or in Tetenal or Kodak reversal kits), and as an infrared film

+ very good sharpness

+ wide latitude (dependent on the developer you can use this film in the range of ISO 50/18° to ISO 800/30°)

+ excellent archival quality because of the PET base

+ the film is a very good replacement for Agfa Scala, I've made some very nice BW slides

- a bit grainier than comparable films

- because of the possible light piping effect of the clear PET base you should avoid loading in bright light; loading in normal or dim light is no problem at all, then there is no light piping effect

So far I have used Spur HRX-2, Rollei RLS and Rollei RHS as developers for this film. I prefer the Spur and RLS because of the finer grain.

I think in Rodinal you will probably get visible grain, especially in 35mm. Try it and look wether you like it or not. Grain is often a matter of taste.

The famous german fine art printer and chemistry manufacturer Wolfgang Moersch had tested this film as well. He was very satisfied and recommended this film.
Look here for his very detailed test report:

http://www.aphog.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=214&Itemid=148

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Klopstock]

"+ wide latitude (dependent on the developer you can use this film in the range of ISO 50/18° to ISO 800/30°)"

Now, is this again the same stupid Rollei R3 dupery?

 

[Aurelien]

Now, is this again the same stupid Rollei R3 dupery?

Rollei R3? I don't want to hear about ir anymore!

I tried it twice and twice, results are wrong! I don't want to shoot with it again!

 

[Klopstock]

Rollei R3? I don't want to hear about ir anymore!

I tried it twice and twice, results are wrong! I don't want to shoot with it again!

It's from the same company, and they are telling us the same story again.

 

[thefizz]

I used this film with an R72 filter and used the times for the Rollei IR400 film in their RHS developer and it worked fine. I'm really looking forward to using this film more.

 

[Henning Serger]

"+ wide latitude (dependent on the developer you can use this film in the range of ISO 50/18° to ISO 800/30°)"

Now, is this again the same stupid Rollei R3 dupery?

No, it is absolutely not. I have never used R3. I don't care much about manufacturers statements. I always make my own tests and from the results I draw my own conclusions. Or I look at results of good friends.

I've got very good results at ISO 50/18° and ISO 100/21° both with Spur HRX-2 (I am testing HRX-3 at the moment) and with Rollei RLS (= CG512). The film is quite tolerant concerning overexposure, if you use a fitting developer and the right processing time (classical pull development).

At ISO 200/24° I achieved good results with RHS. High sharpness, but coarser grain than with HRX-2 and RLS. Not a surprise at all.

Reversal development in Scala chemistry at ISO 125/22°: Excellent results. Probably I will use this film primarily as an Agfa Scala replacement. I love BW slides, they have a special, unique characteristic.

A friend of mine exposed Superpan 200 at ISO 400/27° and ISO 800/30° and developed in Tetenal Emofin and Spur SLD. The results looked good. Of course not as good as a real ISO 400/27° or 800/30° film (no experienced photographer would expect that), but quite good for push processing.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Erwin Plau]

It's funny how different results can be. I saw prints from that film, shown with big pride by an enthusiastic photographer, and they were hardly average for a 100 ASA film. A Delta 100 or similar film does a much better job, unless you really want b/w slides.

 

[Klopstock]

Is that actually an old film?

http://www.pobonline.com/Articles/Industry_News/0871be768d0f6010VgnVCM100000f932a8c0____

 

[AgX]

Klopstock,

The information spread by Maco let one assume that their Superpan 200 is identical to the current Aviphot Pan 200.

The Aviphot Pan 200S you are referreing to could have been identical to the APX 200S, a different film with lower resolution, totally different low wavelength sensitivity and a bit less sensitivity to the near infrared.

 

[titrisol]

Rodinal 1+50 for abut 12-13 minutes (agitating 1/minute) gives OK results
finer grained developers should work better but the tonality was fine.

 

[titrisol]

I developed a roll in AMALOCO 74 1+9 for 9 minutes last night (20C), exposed at box speed (i.e. 200) as normal BW film

Negatives seem fine, have to try on the enlarger tonight and see what happened.

 

[Aurelien]

I have one thing to add: Agfa Gevaert succeeded in the base: the PET base does not curl at all, that is the first such film I see like that. It's really great

 

[thefizz]

I'm loving this film. Developed some 120 last night that I took two weeks ago on a sunny winters morning with Heliopan 665nm & 715nm filters and the IR effect is really good.

 

[Alexander Ghaffari]

@thefizz:

How did you expose the Superpan 200 with the Heliopan 715 filter, and what developer/processing did you use? Thanks.