who makes Jessops film?

[AlanC]

Does anyone know who makes Jessops 35mm 100 speed black & white film?

Alan Clark

 

[Philippe Grunchec]

Foma?

 

[Ian Grant]

It used to be EFKE but I think they changed supplier.

Ian

 

[pentaxuser]

Alan. If no one here on APUG can supply the answer, then Jessops could presumably supply the answer? Here's a longer shot. Amateur Photographer or possibly Photographic Monthly as it was under Will Cheung? ran an article comparing Jessops Pan with Ilford and maybe one other maker. This has to be more than 5 years ago and I can't be anymore specific but presumably someone at either mag has access to the archives and could locate it. Hopefully somewhere surrounding that article there might be notes pertaining to its origins?

pentaxuser

 

[AlanC]

Thanks. I've asked at Jessops and got nowhere: not surprising.
Alan

 

[Paul.]

At one time it was Agfa now afraid I dont know, it is certainly a thinner more curly base than Ilford.

Regards Paul.

 

[Dave Miller]

Thanks. I've asked at Jessops and got nowhere: not surprising.
Alan

I don't suppose the shop staff know.

 

[Mark Antony]

In the 90's it was EFKE you could tell by the names KB100 R100 etc
The last batch I saw was APX 100 dated expiry 2010 their Colour stuff was Agfa for a while too.
haven't bought any or seen any for about a year...
Mark

 

[Aurum]

Last time I was the small Jessops a couple of hundred yards away from work they didn't have any own label, just the regular branded stuff (Kodak / Ilford / Fuji).

Ilford for the standard "Conventional" B&W and XP2 / CW400N for the C41 Chromagenics.

Kodak and Fuji for the Colour stuff

 

[Ian Grant]

Jessops sold all the EFKE/Adox films at double the manufacturers speed, so the 50 ISO film was the old KB14 wich was later called KB25. Technically it's now ISO 25/14º the 25 being the ASA/BS 25 and the 14º DIN

I've not seen any Jessops own brand B&W film for some time, if I do buy B&W film there I generally clear my local store of there whole supply of 120 B&W film, all 5 or 6 rolls

Ian

 

[Gary Holliday]

I doubt they still sell their own brand B&W film since,
"There's no demand for it." ...nothing listed on the website. As mentioned above, the last film Jessops sold was repackaged efke....and it was cheap as chips with staff discount!

 

[Aurum]

The one near where I work does stock Ilford 120 roll film, not much, but enough if I need a roll quickly.

They have me pegged as the odd bloke who buys film, so they keep some HP5, FP4 and Delta 400 under the counter.

Its funny as hell to go in there on lunchbreak to get proper film. The looks from some of the people in the queue wanting prints off SD cards warrants a photo series all of its own

 

[AlanC]

Thanks everyone.
I asked because I just found a couple of rolls that I bought in York a year or two ago. I wasn't surprised that the staff didn't know who made them when I asked. I once asked for some Tri X. This was a few years ago, before the digital era when Jessops must have been selling a lot of film.
"Just sold the last roll Sir", said the salesman. "But I've got plenty of Fuji Superia which is just as good"...

Following Ian's comments, If I do use it,I will rate it at half its box speed.

Alan Clark

 

[JPD]

Thanks. I've asked at Jessops and got nowhere: not surprising.
Alan

Even if they knew, they wouldn't tell you. The owner of the brand name is usually not allowed to tell anyone who the maker is.

 

[Ian Grant]

Yes but Jessops B&W film used to say made in Croatia, so that gave nothing away at all . . . . . . . . .

Ian

 

[Mark Antony]

The last lot was APX, it does help to know for different developer combinations/times.
here is APX and Jessops together:

Mark

 

[Aurum]

If its C41, the exact brand isn't going to matter to the casual shooter, but for B&W which is quite often home developed, it helps to know the brand so you can soup it appropriately.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Have you ever heard of cultural differences? Ray is just straight forward, perhaps rude by your standards and normal by others.
I thought that he rightfully questioned how the photograph posted shows that it's the same film?
Judging by the negatives (as posted) they are actually completely different, the only thing that's similar is the edge marking. That tells me nothing either.

For us to understand what your posted photograph actually displays, perhaps you should explain what makes them similar?

Thanks,
- Thomas

 

[AlanC]

I'll think twice before I ask any more questions...

Alan

 

[Sean]

I thought that he rightfully questioned how the photograph posted shows that it's the same film?

Just to clarify that was not the only post, the other posts weighed the decision to strike them all as it was clear they were derailing the discussion..

 

[Mark Antony]

Thomas the edge markings are the same because they were made by the same machine.
A programmable Agfa machine and one of a kind built by Agfa now owned by Ilford I believe.
I posted that shot to show as the edge markings were the done on the same machine it would be reasonable to assume they emanate from the same factory.
As for the 'question' I didn't post them to solicit a critique of the development, and his manner certainly wasn't normal for civil discussion.

Do you think they are not the same? because I have a little of this film left and I use it to test new cameras and developers, It would be good to know wouldn't it?
The digital Truth says they are the same, Agfa before they went bust told me they were the same.
So unless you can convince me...
Alan please continue to post questions, thats what makes this forum a resource.
Regards
Mark

 

[Ian Grant]

It can be extremely important knowing who makes an own brand film. In the case of Jessops they were once a major seller of analog film & papers and had stores in most UK High Streets.

So knowing that their own brand B&W film was Adox/EFKE meant we had a very reliable source for the 35mm & 120 Adox emulsions. When they changed it was because Agfa were aggressively trying to stench the drop in production levels.

If a re-badged B&W film is of unknown provenance it becomes less attractive to serious photographers, so it was useful knowing Fotoimpex's Classic Pan films were from Forte, and there's plenty of other examples. Also Fotoimpex make it quite clear which films they sell under the Adox brand name, which they own now. EFKE's rights to use the Adox name, under the Dupont license, lapsed and fthe films were sold as EFKE.

Ian

 

[AlanC]

Mark,
Yes I will continue to post questions. This is a great forum and I've learned a lot from it.

If you find Jessops 100 pan useful, pm me your address and I will give you the three rolls I have here.

Alan Clark

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Thanks Mark for providing the explanation. So, it is the type font on the edge marking that gives away the factory origin? To me they were just two completely different names, and each frame had a number, so it looked dissimilar to me.

To Ian's point, I used Freestyle's Arista EDU Ultra because I knew it was Foma film, which is excellent. And, it's about half the price of the Foma branded film. Now that's a good deal. So it important to know where re-branded film comes from. I think Ray had a good point too, that if the film does the job - why worry? I guess that's true until they change suppliers and you don't get what you normally get.
I stopped using Foma films for reasons beyond this discussion. I focus on using Ilford, Fuji, and Kodak. You always know where it comes from, and what to expect. It's more expensive, but it's reliable like nothing else.

- Thomas

 

[Mark Antony]

Thank you alan APX was (and still is) my Favourite film.
Ian
Jessops changed their colour to Agfa (from 3M) at the same time.
I owned a lab when Jessops changed and at the time we had to balance all channels manually with 'bulls eyes'.
Knowing that Jessops was Agfa and Boots 3M saved us time as we could just copy channels info over.
Mark