APX 25 in either HC-110 or WD2D+

[David R Munson]

A friend of mine was awesome enough to send me a few rolls of APX 25 the other day for no apparent reason, and I went out and shot them with enthusiasm at EI 12. I went to develop the first of them tonight, though, and realized I have no idea what the hell I'm doing in terms of developing time. Sifting through notes and an hour googling has me as confused as ever. I need some suggestions! I have HC-110 and WD2D+ on hand. If I can get a time that will get me a usable negative, that's close enough, as I doubt I'll ever have enough of this film on hand to dial a time in with. Thanks!

 

[drewbarb]

Agfa recommended HC-110 (Dil.B) for 6 minutes in their development chart for APX 25 (which can be found here: http://web.tiscali.it/visualphoto/films/agfa-apx25.html ) Since you shot at EI 12, I'd try Dil. H for 12 minutes- but I've not used this film in years. Sorry, I can't help you with a time for WD2D+.

Whatever you settle on, I'd recommend you process a clip test of a few frames first. Especially since you have so little of this film, why run a whole roll cold and risk wasting the film- and possible good shots- with poor processing? Shoot a few frames at the same EI on another roll, then clip that off in the dark and run your test. (BTW- This is the one thing swing-open-back cameras are better for, IMO; they are easy to open up in the dark and clip out shot film. You get a clip test, no cut frame, and a partial roll for later.)

 

[David R Munson]

OK, so sometimes I really suck at waiting for answers like this, especially when I know there's an image I want somewhere on a roll of film. I crunched some numbers and ended up running the film for 10 minutes in dilution H. Whether it was experience or luck, the negs turned out GREAT and I'll be doing the same for the remaining rolls of film. At this point my biggest worry is really loving the results, since the film is long discontinued!

 

[venchka]

Hmmmmmmmm...Agfa APX 25. I have 7 rolls in my freezer waiting for the proper project. Call me old fashioned. "Your Old Fashioned, Wayne." I am planning to use Rodinal. Seems only fitting. I too worry about loving the results and then spending way too much time and energy searching for a substitute.

I suppose I should just use it up. Enjoy it. Maybe get a keeper or two. File the negatives along with my Kodachrome II slides. Then move on.

 

[drewbarb]

David- that sounds great. I'm glad you got results you are happy with on the first try. Ignore my advice on clip testing- unless you run across another stock you can't get much of.

For what it's worth, you can still get APX 100 here and there if you look (see the "Deals on Film" thread). But I've been unable to get my hands on any APX 25. Don't fret too much over it- shoot it and enjoy it.

 

[rich815]

Hi David, got your email about my APX25 shot with HC-110 and sorry I have not gotten back. Usually I have my times and temps in my image titles on Flickr but for some reason did not do it with that one. Personally I've been more pleased with APX25 in Rodinal.

Overall, since I scan my negs, I tend towards being very careful not to overdevelop and cause too dense of a neg. That just gives all sorts of tonality, grain and other issues for scanning in my experience. Therefore as a general rule I usually pull my development times back at least 5-10% from digitaltruth.com times, sometimes more if it was a very contrasty scene (and in extreme contrast and bright conditions I'll shoot at one stop back, i.e. APX 25 at 12, Tmax 100 at 50, etc., and then pull development times back by 20%). So perhaps that might help you....

 

[rich815]

OK, so sometimes I really suck at waiting for answers like this, especially when I know there's an image I want somewhere on a roll of film. I crunched some numbers and ended up running the film for 10 minutes in dilution H. Whether it was experience or luck, the negs turned out GREAT and I'll be doing the same for the remaining rolls of film. At this point my biggest worry is really loving the results, since the film is long discontinued!

Posted my answer before seeing your post. That is about right on where I would have recommended based on my explanation. Seeing the times suggested at Digital Truth of 6 min for dil. B that would be 12 min in dil. H, so I would have dialed it back to about 10 minutes. Which sounds like worked well for you. Good!