Svema Foto 65, Svema Foto 130, & Svema Foto 250 development times, please help

Hi guys,

I recently came into possession of some old Russian 35mm film. It is Svema film in three different speed ratings: Svema Foto 65, Svema Foto 130, & Svema Foto 250

Now I wonder how I am going to develop this stuff? Can anyone help out with development times (preferably for either ID-11/D-76, Rodinal, HC-110, or Ilford LC29)?

I found some information in this thread: (there was a url link here which no longer exists) Unfortunately, this leaves a lot of open questions.

If anyone has experience with this film I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks,
Greg

As a side note:
Svema was not Russian but Ucrainian.

AgX said:

As a side note:
Svema was not Russian but Ucrainian.

Click to expand...

Yes Ukraine, and finished for some time:
http://1444.ua.all-biz.info/

I'm afraid there's no easy answer to your question, for Svema or any other film. Even when a film manufacturer publishes a recommended developing time for your favorite developer, you might not get optimal results when you use that recommendation, because of many different factors, such as temperature variations (thermometers vary), agitation style, and personal preferences. I therefore recommend you shoot a test roll and develop part of it in your preferred developer for the recommended development time or your best-guess time. If you don't like the results, adjust and develop the rest of the roll (or part of the rest of the roll) for your new time. Repeat as necessary.

Amongst the Svema films, even times change from batch to batch, even within the same type.

The actual developing time (using one of the Soviet developers, an MQ type carbonate most likely) is printed on the box itself, next to the emulsion number and expiry dates. It reads something like 'vremya proyavitel." ("dev time") abbreviated in cyrillic as "Вр. Проявл." with an embossed number next to it. If the number says "7" or "7мин", it means that 7 minutes is the developing time for the film contained within the box. With the assumption that 20deg C is the process temperature.

I haven't developed Svema in years, but when I did, it was always with D76. Using the figure stamped on the box worked fine and gave good negatives. However, when those films were developed, they were still within date. Now most of them have expired, and using the right developing time might not guarantee good results since the film emulsion may have changed as it aged.

Try Caffenol-C for 20 minutes @ 20C.

Visit the caffenol group or the caffenol blog

I have used these films extensively about 25 years ago. As it's already mentioned here, the manufacturer recommended time (for Standard No.2 Developer, aka Agfa/ORWO 12) is stamped at the film box, and it normally varies from 5 (for Foto 65) to 9 (for Foto 250) min. You can try the same time for D-76 stock, agitating every minute. Test is recommended as the film is definitely fogged. Rodinal at 1+25 or 1+50 can also help. You can try exposing Foto 65 as 25/50, 130 as 50/100, and 250 as 100/200. Caffenol-C can be fine option too.