400 ft. of Plus-X 5231 on ebay

gb hill

gb hill

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Saw this on ebay. Anybody know anything about this film. Seems like a good deal for 400ft. of film. I don't think I'm up to the task of trying to spool it off into a bulk film loader in the dark. The seller states the film is rated at 80asa but you can shoot it at 125. Any thoughts!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Kodak-Plus-X-5231-Black-White-400-ft-122-m-35mm-Film_W0QQitemZ300282803890QQcmdZViewItemQQptZFlim?hash=item300282803890&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50
 
Considering you can buy three 100ft rolls of Arista Premium (assumed Tri-X) from Freestyle for what he wants for this 400ft roll of not so versatile Plus X film I think it's a little expensive. He also states that it's a film with a heavy emusion coating which means it's less than ideal for scanning ... alternately the Arista will be far better in this department.

I personally wouldn't go this way! :)
 
It's motion picture film. No frame numbers. It's usually developed to a lower contrast than common Plus-X in D-96, which is about identical to D-76. If you increase the development time a bit to get more contrast you can pick up some speed.

Whoops, he says the same thing about film speed and development as I just did...LOL

What the hell, try offering $50 and see what happens.
 
I think Keith brings up some good points. I want to be able to scan my B&W film. I have 8 rolls of that Arista premium & its 400 asa also I think I want a B&W film that will let me play outside in the dark under the lights.

I don't know Al $50 may be asking too much;)
 
TomA, Leo & I have been using 5231 Movie film extensively. The film costs $129 plus Fedex charges, if you buy it directly from Kodak Cinema & Television division in NYC. Scans just fine Guys, look at the XX Flikr site for examples. Georgeous film with truly amazing middle tone seperation, superior IMO to modern Plus-X. Has a 60s Retro look to it.

Lots to read about 5231 +X here:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52426
 
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Nokton48 said:
TomA, Leo & I have been using 5231 Movie film extensively. The film costs $129 plus Fedex charges, if you buy it directly from Kodak Cinema & Television division in NYC. Scans just fine Guys, look at the XX Flikr site for examples. Georgeous film with truly amazing middle tone seperation, superior IMO to modern Plus-X. Has a 60s Retro look to it.

Lots to read about 5231 +X here:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52426
Click to expand...

I don't think this is the same film. Your film is Double X 5222, this is Plus X 5231. The seller states it's 80 asa but can be shot at 125. Also says it's not a very good film to scan, which to me is a bit of a turn off. But I am going to start wet printing & perhaps it would be good for that. Then I could always scan the print.
How easy is it to load in a bulk film loader? Does this film come spooled on a reel or what?
 
His price is a bit high as we have no idea how it was stored. I would offer $250 for all four cans!
As for shooting and scanning - it works like a charm. Gorgeous mid-tones and it scans very well. Just go to Flickr and use the "EK 5231" tag and there are plenty of samples.
Of course, looking outside today, 80 asa seems a tad slow - but one day it will be spring and summer!
 
gb hill said:
I don't think this is the same film. Your film is Double X 5222, this is Plus X 5231. The seller states it's 80 asa but can be shot at 125. Also says it's not a very good film to scan, which to me is a bit of a turn off. But I am going to start wet printing & perhaps it would be good for that. Then I could always scan the print.
How easy is it to load in a bulk film loader? Does this film come spooled on a reel or what?
Click to expand...

It's a long thread, but if you read through it, it also talks about 5231 +X. Easiest way to use this film, GB, is not to use a bulk loader at all. Just take an empty film cartridge, open the big can in the dark, pull an arm's length strip off of the core, cut and tape it to the spool (I keep scissors in my back pocket), and roll 'er up. About as easy as you can get. I usually roll up ten at a time, before I start getting antsy.

Here, TomA shows how you to do it:
http://ca.youtube.com/profile?user=TnTandMrB
 
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Nokton48 said:
It's a long thread, but if you read through it, it also talks about 5231 +X. Easiest way to use this film, GB, is not to use a bulk loader at all. Just take an empty film cartridge, open the big can in the dark, pull an arm's length strip off of the core, cut and tape it to the spool (I keep scissors in my back pocket), and roll 'er up. About as easy as you can get. I usually roll up ten at a time, before I start getting antsy.

Here, TomA shows how you to do it:
http://ca.youtube.com/profile?user=TnTandMrB
Click to expand...

Thanks for clearing that up. Tom's tutorial looks simple enough. I'll read through the thread & check out flickr. I'll keep an eye on this an perhaps make an offer.
cheers.
 
Eastman 5231 is -even better- than modern Plus-X IMO. No comparison. It is a bit slower (it's the original 80 speed emulsion!), but it scans and wet-prints like a dream. Incredibly georgeous midtones. Eastman 5222 Double-X (XX) is it's faster brother; both are wonderful films to use.

Tom is right. Offer $250 for all four cans, somebody overseas should jump on this, he will ship all four -heavy- cans overseas, for what appears, to be a very reasonable price.
 
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I shot a 400 ft can of this stuff rated it at 80 asa, during the summer. Developed it in various soups and found that I got the best result from using Beutler at 1:1:10 solution for 6 min with my usual 2 turns/60 sec.
 
I have a can of Plus x in the freezer (400') waiting for spring light. I am trying to use up my rolled 100 ASA film during the last three weeks with snow on the ground.

Now that we are back to warm rain and darker days I will go back to xx Film or FTX-400.

If I didn't have a supply I would give him an offer. It is good film.

Leo
 
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This is with EK 5231 rated @ 80 asa. Developed in Beutler, 1:1:10 for 6 min. Camera was a Nikon S4 with the elusive Nikkor 25mm f4.0 in Rf mount. It was bright sunshine so I suspect that it was around 1/125 and f11-16.
 
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I bought 3 cans off this guy (I think it was him) a few months ago If I remember right I paid $240 for the 3 including postage which was a good deal at the time because the £ was worth a lot more than it is now, also you never see bulk film like that in the uk. I dev it in xtol and treat it just like plus X 125, works fine for me.
 
Well outdated Plus X 5231 400' cans.

Well outdated Plus X 5231 400' cans.

I've been offered some 5231 in 400' cans but it's well out of date and has been stored at ambient temp. - maybe 10 years or so outdated.

Has anyone used and processed such old film ?

What problems (if any) are to be expected ?

tia
 
A bit of fog is possible, and a slight loss in filmspeed.
Probably still just fine. I've got Plus-X in my deep freeze
that's more than ten years out. Extra development time
might also help, you'd have to test. It all depends on how
it's been stored.
 
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