? re. delta 100 vs. agfa apx 100

[back alley]

has anyone done a side by side comparison of these films?

or used them enough to have a comment on how they compare to each other.

this is prompted by the shot that ray g put up earlier in a thread about the dynamic range of film and digital.

joe

 

[kaiyen]

Joe,
These are two VERY different types of film...

APX 100 is still fairly silver rich, with good but definitely conventional grain patterns. You can get excellent sharpness via acutance developers, but nothing like a e-grain or t-grain film. Grain is always going to be higher. Of course, the toe and shoulder are conventional, too, and not as linear, resulting in what many consider to be a much more classic look and feel.

Delta 100 is an e-grain film, with very flat, uniform silver grains. The grain is incredibly fine, and you can use a strong acutance developer to get terrific sharpness yet without the cost in grain. You also get a very smooth curve - toe and shoulder are short, so you get a less traditional look. YOu also have less exposure latitude, since density increase is linear to exposure all the way up (again, because of lack of big shoulder).

They both have excellent dynamic range. Delta has less latitude for error.

I have my own comments about dynamic range from Ray's thread, none of which are confrontational and all of which are qualifying.

allan

 

[Xmas]

Joe

The data sheets should be available for both. I think Delta is very red sensitive, but if you use time and temp you need a tripod to separate the films, other than for the grain, unless you are doing posters.

Allens views are really good.

Noel

 

[back alley]

looking at ray's photo made me wonder about switching films but i think i'll stick with my original plan and use the delta films exclusively.
one camera with 100 and the other with 400.
nice and simple and i like the results.

joe

 

[bmicklea]

looking at ray's photo made me wonder about switching films but i think i'll stick with my original plan and use the delta films exclusively.
one camera with 100 and the other with 400.
nice and simple and i like the results.

joe

Funny, I had the same thought and ended up in the same place. I've had great results enlarging both D100 and D400. I actually like the slightly grainy look of D400 in a big enlargement. Not quite Tri-X, but it looks more "conventional" when blown up big than T-Max does IMHO.

 

[back alley]

'great minds'...😉

 

[Ororaro]

Agfapan has beautiful grain and reminds me of Tri-X. Beautiful film. Cheap too. All my Paris and Belgrade shots are with Agfa apx-100. It is the easiest and most straightforward film to develop. I've just never had problems with this film, ever.

Delta is excellent, too. But finer frain.

Still, my all time favorite is Plus-x for its character.

 

[ray_g]

Joe, I am sure that a wide dynamic range is not unique to any one film. I have just been using apx-100 for the past few years, so that's what I posted. In fact, my current bulk roll is running out, and I think I will try some others before opening up another 100' of Agfa.

Funny, I have a few rolls of Delta 100 to play around with in Rodinal. 😉

 

[back alley]

agreed.
and i like the look of delta quite a bit.
you're shot just turned my head for a bit🙂

joe

 

[ray_g]

That's a great compliment.

BTW, do you rate the D100 at iso 100?

Maybe allan would know - How about in Rodinal (not to reopen a can of worms), what is it's true speed and how would you rate it?

 

[back alley]

i rate 100 as 100 and 400 as 400, the 3200 i rated at 1000 when i used it before. i think ilford got the speeds right on the first two.
i usually use ilfosol s or ddx but this time around i will be adding rodinal and hc110 to the line up to see what i get.

 

[kaiyen]

Joe, Ray,
Well, I haven't developed Delta 100 in Rodinal yet, though it's one combination on my list. I feel a renewed sense of shooting and experimentation coming on. It's been a while.

Having said that, I get a good 100 out of Delta 100 in D76 1+1, which usually costs me 1/3 of a stop at least. So I wouldn't expect anything less than 64, true speed, in Rodinal.

I'll do some tests with a spot meter for the heck of it, perhaps this weekend.

allan

 

[back alley]

allan is on the case.
very cool and thanks.

joe

 

[kaiyen]

Yup. I might shoot a few rolls of D100 with my testing method and get speeds in Rodinal and Microphen. Same with Pan F, though only with Microphen. I have times for that with Rodinal.

I also have 2 boxes of FX-50 I want to try...

allan

 

[rich815]

I really like both, and find them quite different. In a pinch I'd describe APX100 as a bit more "gritty" though it has a gorgeous tonality that is very unique, almost more "glittery" than Delta 100. I absolutely love Delta 100 in D-76 1:1 especially for outdoor portraits. Delta 100 has a more smooth tonality that still has some "bite" to it (compared to Tmax 100, which I'm still trying to like).

The comment about Delta 100 in Rodinal had me wondering as I think I've tried just about everything. I searched my database and had just one roll developed that way, but it's MF and mostly with a flash. I attached one here done with flash, another without but with some sepia and other PS treatment.

 

[rich815]

A couple of APX100 examples (or ones I think really show it's character). In Rodinal 1:50.

 

[Honus]

Delta 100 and Rodinal is one of my favorite combinations. It's become my standard bearer at 100iso.

These are all rated at 100iso and developed with Rodinal 1+50 @ 20deg.C for 14 min.

 

[back alley]

rich & robert, very, very nice.
it seems it would be hard to go wrong with either of these films.

delta is plentiful locally and the agfa can be had but in smaller numbers.
the agfa can be had on the net and at a pretty good price - better than i can get delta locally.

 

[rich815]

Robert, nice shots. Is that the stairway behind Cordonices Park in Berkeley?

 

[bmicklea]

Sorry all, but I've got a newbie question.

I'm just about to start developing my own film and at first it'll be D100 and D400 (got bulk rolls of both). I love the results with Rodinal but I have already got DDX and was planning on picking up some Perceptol, the idea being to use D400 with DDX and D100 with Perceptol. But I love the look you've gotten with Rodinal Robert - could I completely skip Perceptol and just use DDX and Rodinal or are they somehow similar?