Adox Film?

[Leigh Youdale]

I've been considering trying out the current range of Adox films in 35mm and 120. I searched this forum for previous threads but they mostly go back a year or two - or more.
Is (or has) anyone been using Adox recently, and if so what has your experience of it been like?

 

[sojournerphoto]

I've used the 100 and the 25. The first batch of 100 I got was nice, but the emulsion was spotty. Since then it's been fine. The 25 was great - very fine grain and good tonality in rodinal.

I'm currently using some fomapan, but may shoot a few rolls of 25 in the sunny weeks to come.

MIke

 

[Keith]

Leigh,

I bought some Adox CHS 100 Art a while ago in 35mm and 120. To me this film is all about mid tones ... it doesn't produce strong whites or much depth to the blacks IMO which disappointed me a little but I guess you have to try everything once. I've also noticed a fair amount of grain with Xtol or Rodinal when processing.

35mm developed in Xtol 1+1

120 also developed in Xtol 1+1

 

[ZeissFan]

I've shot the 50 and 100 films in the past year. Love both of them, although they tend to be dust magnets. Adox warns of handling the film gently, and I would agree with that recommendation. Also, use a hardening fixer.

Adox describes it as an "old school" film, and again I agree. Lovely, rich tones. A lower contrast film, so highlights usually hold up reasonably well. I have no problems recommending the film. But it's not for those who handle their film roughly in the darkroom.

A link to another forum with photos.

With CHS Art 50:

 

[ZeissFan]

By the way, I've been using Adox ATM-49 (the old Agfa Atomal formula) for a number of years. Very nice developer and works nicely with the Adox films.

I still use a lot of Rodinal, but I've come to really like ATM-49, which they are now selling once again as Atomal.

 

[robklurfield]

I just got my hands on some CMS 20 and ATM-49. Excited to give it a try.

 

[Leigh Youdale]

Leigh,

I bought some Adox CHS 100 Art a while ago in 35mm and 120. To me this film is all about mid tones ... it doesn't produce strong whites or much depth to the blacks IMO which disappointed me a little but I guess you have to try everything once. I've also noticed a fair amount of grain with Xtol or Rodinal when processing.

Thanks guys.
Keith, I liked your shots - very moody! I've so far only finished one 35mm Fomapan (ISO100) and wasn't overly impressed. I guess I'm comparing with APX100 which is (was) my favourite. I've got an ISO 400 in the camera at the moment. We'll see what that's like.
In the Rolleiflex I've got a Foma 100 to compare to an FP4+ and a Delta 400 that I just processed. The Delta came out very nicely.
I want to try Adox as well but I only want a couple of rolls and it doesn't seem to be around here much. Les Porter is apparently going to try to secure the Oz agency for Adox.

 

[ohoyer]

I recently used an Adox CHS 100, came out nicely in Rodinal. Those films are like the older emulsions used 50 Years ago, with lower sensitivy in the red. Gives an own charme and look to the pictures, worth a try.

Adox ist comparable to the Efke Portfolio, in fact, they are manufactured by Efke to specifications of Adox.

 

[Keith]

I think the bottom line for me Leigh is that there are other films I would buy before shelling out for more Adox ... but it's not that I didn't like it. It just wasn't a stand out for me ... maybe I expected too much from it!

 

[Uwe_Nds]

I quite like the CHS 50.

Cheers,
Uwe

 

[c.poulton]

CHS 50 is one of my favourite films. Old school low contrast - just the look I like. Not everyone's cup of tea perhaps but worth trying out one or two rolls to see if you like it?

 

[BTMarcais]

I've been shooting the 25 in my minox recently. There is some grain noticeable, but what do you expect from an 8x11mm negative? 🙂 Developing in Xtol, it certainly seems sharp enough. I've been printing 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches in the darkroom with it. (No scans though, sorry).

-Brian

 

[Russ]

In old school emulsions, have you tried the excellent Fuji Neopan SS?

 

[Leigh Youdale]

Thanks everyone for your input. I think I'm getting the drift but not quite in the way I expected. I'd heard a lot of comment about these European 'traditional' films but what I'm picking up through your replies is that they tend to be lower contrast and have an old fashioned 'look' that several of you like.
I like sharp and contrasty. I even sold my Summitar 2/50 a while back because the CV lenses I have I like better and yet some people rave over the Summitar.
So I'm thinking I'll use APX100 when I can find it and whatever is closest to it when I can't. That probably means FP4+ and Delta 100 or even Pan F+.
Fuji is a good film but not always available here and now only the Acros 100 - not the SS. It's certainly contrasty - too much so if you overdevelop!

 

[Keith]

Thanks everyone for your input. I think I'm getting the drift but not quite in the way I expected. I'd heard a lot of comment about these European 'traditional' films but what I'm picking up through your replies is that they tend to be lower contrast and have an old fashioned 'look' that several of you like.
I like sharp and contrasty. I even sold my Summitar 2/50 a while back because the CV lenses I have I like better and yet some people rave over the Summitar.
So I'm thinking I'll use APX100 when I can find it and whatever is closest to it when I can't. That probably means FP4+ and Delta 100 or even Pan F+.
Fuji is a good film but not always available here and now only the Acros 100 - not the SS. It's certainly contrasty - too much so if you overdevelop!

I'd like to persist more with Adox but I find messing around with different films as frustrating as having too many cameras to choose from.

What sold me on Adox in the first place was tha work of NB23 when he was here ... Nick Bojic! He posted some shots in the gallery taken with Adox that blew my socks off ... the silver of the mid tones was to die for but I'm not sure how he was processing it! I've never quite managed to get that look that attracted me to it ... there seems to be a chalkiness that I can't quite get past that bothers me a little.

I still love the look of those strong silver mid tones though and the images in this thread certainly show that!

 

[ohoyer]

Thanks everyone for your input. I think I'm getting the drift but not quite in the way I expected. I'd heard a lot of comment about these European 'traditional' films but what I'm picking up through your replies is that they tend to be lower contrast and have an old fashioned 'look' that several of you like.
I like sharp and contrasty. I even sold my Summitar 2/50 a while back because the CV lenses I have I like better and yet some people rave over the Summitar.
So I'm thinking I'll use APX100 when I can find it and whatever is closest to it when I can't. That probably means FP4+ and Delta 100 or even Pan F+.
Fuji is a good film but not always available here and now only the Acros 100 - not the SS. It's certainly contrasty - too much so if you overdevelop!

When you look for old Agfa APX 100 you could look for the "Rollei Retro 100" label- same stuff inside, from batches before Agfa went out of business in Germany. Where do you buy from/region you buy? In Germany its macodirekt.de (the distributor and brandholder).

For the APX 400, the last batches have been sold out these days, German company Fotoimpex worked on providing a successor like the agfa emulsion, which should be available soon, probably marketed with Lupus together under AgfaPhoto Brand label.

 

[Leigh Youdale]

Thanks. I can still get (but don't want) APX400. There's a company here that lists Rollei Retro 100 on their website so I've sent an email enquiring if they actually have stock.
Failing that there are a couple of outlets in the UK I could use.

 

[Nando]

I tried 4 rolls of Adox CMS 20. It is extremely high resolving - I've never seen anything like this but I do have very limited experience with high resolving film. I've been a Tri-X guy for the longest time.

24f2.8 Elmarit-M


35f2.8 Summaron-M


35f2 Summicron-M ASPH, high-contrast light at noon


The following is a rough resolution test. Taken with a 90f2.8 Elmarit-M (latest version), hand-held at 1/125. Aperture was f5.6.
The whole frame:

A 100% of the 4000dpi scan from my Nikon Coolscan V ED. These are the crates at the very bottom of the smoke stack. Can you read the numbers? 0 37 12 50 perhaps?

I'll be trying the Adox CHS 50 film next. I like CMS 20 but using the recommended Adotech developer makes it a bit expensive. The CMS film seems a bit fragile and needs to be treated gently. I ended up with quite a few scratches on the first two rolls I developed. Also, the Adotech developer left an orange film on my plastic reels that was a bit difficult to clean off.

 

[sepiareverb]

The Adox C films of a few years back were indeed iffy- I shot a fair bit of it and had some noticeable coating mistakes on films here and there. This has not been at all of a problem lately- I have a lot of students using the current ones.

 

[hans voralberg]

That is some crazy resolution, took me a while to figure out where that crop came from. Gotta try some!