Replacement for APX-100

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imush

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My supply of Agfa APX-100 is running out, the film production discontinued and the supply ended in B&H this spring. What next? I am looking for 100 and/or slower film which would have a similar appearance in Rodinal.

I am thinking Efke, but Ilford FP4+, Neopan SS, Foma are all available. I am sure there is no single best answer, but what is the general tendency among former Agfa users?
 
I believe Rollei bought out the last master rolls from Agfa and repackaged them as their own. You can find them on Freestyle.com under the Rollei Retro name. You can also find some bulk rolls of Agfa films from ebay, the sellers name I believe is Ultrafineonline.

Also, I have not tried the films yet but they say the Foma line of films offer the similar grainy characteristics of Agfa APX.

Im sure other with more experience finding an APX replacement will weight in.
 
I bought some bulk rolls form ultrafineonline, they have great prices. You better check there website, the price is different than from ebay.
 
i live in s.korea and the local shops here have loads and loads of apx-100. they are charging 3,000 korea won/roll, which is about 2.90 USD. if you want me to pick up and ship you a bunch just send me a pm. you pay shipping costs. its no problem for me since im in the camera shops at least once a week 🙂

steve.
 
Is this Arista II indeed the same film? I'll try it then.
Eventually, I'll be back to the same problem though, since nobody is going to produce any more of this film.
 
Florian1234 said:
Could you shed some light on it, please?
Click to expand...

Agfa-Gevaert split off the film-based photographic division and sold it to a a management buyout group around 2004 / 2005. They didn't have the capital did meet the restructuring costs. So they were closed down and the pieces bought out by a private equity firm. The men in business suits were more concerned about the real-estate and maintaining control of the brand rather than toughing it out in a declining market and keeping the ball rolling.
 
I do not (yet) want to bother with bulk loading, so I'll buy Arista II. With a view towards agfaless future, I am going to try start using Efke and/or Foma as well.
 
There still seems to be good stocks of APX100 around in the UK, but if it's getting thin where you are then the Rollei Retro 100 is just rebadged APX from the last of AGFA's mother rolls. The rumour mill has it that APX won't be lost forever, with either ADOX or MACO set on putting it back into production for sale next year.

The best replacement I've found is Fomapan 200, rated at 125asa and developed either in Rodinal or FX-39. Gorgeous tones and granularity. Examples here...
 
It's interesting the number of opinions of what films look similar. I'm going to presume that the primary characteristics that you're seeking are the toe and shoulder, since contrast is controlled entirely by exposure and development. Therefore, a lot of what people recommend will be dependent on your developer. So if you pass that along...

Perhaps you mean the grain structure, too.

I've only dev'ed it in Rodinal 1+50 and 1+100. I've found it to have a pretty long toe, without a noticeable charactistic in the shoulder. But that's only about 8-10 rolls of 120 so hard to say about that. The toe did seem quite long, though - so either I could have started exposing at like 50, or just think of it as having "rich" blacks 🙂.

At any rate, if you go for the stuff from Freestyle, Arista II Pro (?) is Agfa. Literally. Arista.edu Ultra is Foma. They were running out of the Arista II Pro, too, a while ago so it might be gone by now.

Personally, I find Efke 100 very different in the toe especially in Rodinal and ID-11 1+1. I have been meaning to try it in Perceptol 1+3 but have not done so yet.

Foma 200 is a fantastic film, but I think it has a very different look re: grain. Not like a tmax or delta film, as it's "T-200" moniker is misleading, but it doesn't look as clumpy as APX100. But it's got a good look when shot around 125-160 and dev'ed in Rodinal.
 
I never used bulk rolls, just do not shoot enough for bulk loading to make a lot of economic sense. But the APX100 situation makes me consider it now.
 
Efke 100 and Agfapan APX 100 are quite different emulsions, IMO. Efke is perhaps a bit coarser in grain, is much more sensitive to overexposure (highlights blow easily), and 'glows', possibly because of the lack an anti-halation layer. Both have great mid-tones. Fomapan 100 I like very much, and many people, as mentioned, suggest it's quite similar to APX 100.

This image shows the luminous quality Efke 100 has:
171104142_0fee05430f_b.jpg
 
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