APX 25 -- What's it good for?

[JayGannon]

Oh I will, just I order my film and developer about once every 6 months as the shipping to where I live is very expensive so it will be a few weeks at least before I get my hands on some.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Jan,

Your points are fair, but I still maintain that (a) tonality is NEVER the same between two different films in the same format, let alone two different formats and (b) the best roll-film will still beat the best 35mm, regardless of what you regard as the best roll-film (in my case, as apparently in yours, Ilford Delta 100).

Cheers,

R.

 

[Brian Levy]

For me APX25 seemed to be the most reasonable replacement for Kodak Tech Pan when processing as a continious toane negative or transparency. I used TP as my standard b&w for years and then looked for a reasonable alternative that was readily available and settled on APX25. At the time many of the emulsions now available from Europe were not around and still they are not well distributed even here in Toronto.

As for the film speed, I've got no problem with it as I generally always carry a tripod of some sort whether my baby Minox (a really neat and usable unit) to a Majestic studio with Majestic head (weighs as much as a Yugo). Even hand holding a RFF presents from little to no problem for me as I am not a low light level shooter generally. I actually have more of a problem with high speed films requiring ND filters to work in many situations.

As for the MF vs. 35mm controversy, I think the only way to resolve it woud be to do the test with a Bronica ETRS or Rolleiflex with a Rolliekin as in each case the variable would be the film and neither the camera or lens. There may e other cameras with the ability but none come to mind as I type.

 

[Volver]

Hi everybody!

I just developed my first APX 25 film in Rodinal 1+50 and made some wet prints. The results are awsome! i'm now a fan of APX 25!

The problem is that only 4 rolls of apx25 and 6 rolls of old apx100 left. I like this emulsion in rodinal a lot for it's tonality.

What could be the substitute for apx25 and rodinal in "modern" emulsions. I really dont care about fine grain, the main interest is in similar tonal curve / rendition, as i'm not fan of TMX, Delta, t-max developer.
Has anyone developed Rollei RPX25 in rodinal? Or does Agfa copex rapid in SPUR developer give similar resuts?

 

[kossi008]

This film is probably not worth your trouble. Why don't you send it to me?

Good one - you beat me to it. 😀

 

[Nigel Meaby]

Good one - you beat me to it. 😀

By about 7 years 😀

 

[shortstop]

I still remember the photos taken with a leica IIa with elmar 50/3, 5 and efke25. the results were stunning. the Efke had much silver in the emulsion. this applies also for the apx25? is the amount of silver that counts to obtain the gradation of gray. someone made the comparison?

 

[Fotohuis]

I used APX-25 till 2001 when the film was discontinued. Then Efke 25 from Fotokemika. And now RPX-25.
So far the APX-25 was for me the best film, high resolution, iso 25-40 and perfect fitting in Rodinal 1+50.

In my Flickr stream you can see all film results, also the new Rollei RPX-25 developed in R09/Rodinal 1+50.

 

[shortstop]

I used APX-25 till 2001 when the film was discontinued. Then Efke 25 from Fotokemika. And now RPX-25. So far the APX-25 was for me the best film, high resolution, iso 25-40 and perfect fitting in Rodinal 1+50. In my Flickr stream you can see all film results, also the new Rollei RPX-25 developed in R09/Rodinal 1+50.

Sorry, I'm confused. I mean if the RPX (not the APX, no more in production) gives results similar to Efke25. The description in an italian webstore (www.puntofoto.it) says it has high silver content, but I wonder if the results are the same of Efke.

 

[Fotohuis]

APX-25 was from Agfa, discontinued in 2001. Efke 25 was from Fotokemika, discontinued in 2012. Efke had a high content of Silver and it was a single layer type film. Efke 25 and Adox 25 was exactly the same film, BTW Orthopan, like Fuji Acros 100.
RPX-25 is from Rollei. It is even not clear where this film comes from. Looking at the film it has Ilford/Harman confectioning backing paper and spooling. I know the RPX-100 and RPX-400 comes from Ilford/Harman. But this RPX-25 has different type emulsion and Clear layer, not Grey like all Ilford films. I know the Ortho 25 (Rollei) before 2012 came also from Fotokemika/Efke but now it comes from OrWo Filmotec and I think, when looking at the RPX-25 emulsion it is more or less a copy of NP15 OrWo film and not a modified Pan F+ type film. But only Rollei-Maco know of course where they let made the films and they are in silence about this slow speed film project.

Anyhow, RPX-25 is an excellent film but a tick less sharp then Efke 25. But in grain a bit better.

 

[HHPhoto]

I still remember the photos taken with a leica IIa with elmar 50/3, 5 and efke25. the results were stunning. the Efke had much silver in the emulsion. this applies also for the apx25? is the amount of silver that counts to obtain the gradation of gray. someone made the comparison?

Hi, yes I've made these comparisons several times:
There is no rule that "the higher the silver content, the better the tonality".
Often I've got the best tonality with films with low silver content.
It is a myth that more silver in the film means generally higher quality.
There have been some articles with the same conclusion as mine published by Ron Mowrey, former Kodak film engineer.
He busted this "silver rich myth" very clearly.

Well, you need a certain Dmax in a developed BW film.
If you get this Dmax with a low amount of silver....bingo, all is well.
But low quality manufacturers like Fotokemika don't had the technology to get the needed Dmax in their films with a low amount of silver.
They needed more silver because of their low, outdated emulsion technology.
And then this "more silver is better" marketing brainwashing campaign was started.

A film is good when it uses the silver in a very efficient way.
Saying a film with higher silver content is generally better is like saying a car with higher fuel consumption is always better.

Cheers, Jan

 

[HHPhoto]

Sorry, I'm confused. I mean if the RPX (not the APX, no more in production) gives results similar to Efke25.

I've compared both side by side:
RPX 25 is the much better film, because
- much finer grain
- much better edge sharpness
- much higher resolution: I've got 35% higher resolution values with RPX compared to Efke 25
- better tonality: the Efke 25 was well known for its problematic characteristic curve ("hanging" curve) with lots of developers. With the new RPX 25 you get a normal, linear characteristic curve resulting in very good tonality.

Grain of RPX is comparable to TMX, Pan F+, Acros 100 (same fineness).
Resolution of RPX is a little bit higher than PanF+ and Acros, but worse compared to TMX and Delta 100.
And Agfa Copex Rapid, Adox CMS 20 II are a league of its own concerning resolution and sharpness (and grain in the case of Adox CMS 20).

RPX 25 was designed by Harman technology / Ilford Photo.
The film is also produced by Harman for Maco Photo Products.
It is a "cousin" of Pan F+, both are similar, but not identical.

RPX 25 is very good as a BW reversal film (transparency / slide film).
Photo Studio 13, Klaus Wehner and Agenzia Luce are offering reversal development for this film. Highly recommended!

Cheers, Jan

 

[DominikDUK]

Jan I have to agree and disagree with you on the technical side the new RPX is a better film on the tonality side on the other hand I prefer the EFKE Film. That being said they are both great films.

For those that want to know what can be done with APX 25 look not further than the later work of Brett Weston. APX 25 was loved by Portrait photographers in Austria and Germany some prefered its ortho sibling including me. But for Landscape and Cityscapes APX 25 was hard to beat.
As a final note most pre-war Streetphotography was done with iso 25 to 32 films and they made some great pictures with those films.

 

[sevo]

Actually, Adox (later Efke) contained less silver. Relative to its contemporaries (in the late fifties) it had a higher silver content by volume, but a thinner emulsion made up for that. That did improve acutance (if processed for that - Beutler being the matching developer).

I have strong doubts whether any of the modern (post sixties) major western low speed films were significantly different in strength and silver content, as just about every slow (50 or slower) film available from Kodak, Agfa, Ilford and Fuji by the seventies showed a significant acutance increase when treated with Beutler (or high dilution Rodinal) - while all books from the fifties/sixties explicitly state that thick emulsion film does not benefit.

 

[Fotohuis]

Efke films changed in layer to Polyester but the emulsion formulae only slightly changed. The Efke films were still single layer films with a high sharpness however the resolution was less. Due to the fact Efke 25-50 were Orthopan the sharpness was very good. Fuji Acros 100 is also an Orthopan film but not a single layer type emulsion. Classical cubical type films have more Silver content then any modern type emulsion. That is a fact due the production type of film but that doesn't say anything about quality.

 

[Jan Pedersen]

Fotohuis, I think you have the APX25 discontinuation wrong, the last run was made January 2006
I have at least 20 rolls from 1/2006 and more from late 2005 I have never seen anything dated after 1/2006
Best film ever.

That is of course pure rubbish (Again) I am looking at expiration dates instead of manufacturing dates apologies.

 

[Fotohuis]

I did in 2001 the negotiations between Agfa and Foma to continue this film under Foma production but the Germans did not want to make the whole thing too complicated.
Agfa Photo went in bankruptcy end 2005 but the APX-25 production stopped in 2001 but their last films had an expiration date till 2006 which is pretty normal for a slow speed film.

 

[shortstop]

Thanks for the answers. My slow film is PanF at the moment. I'll try RPX 25.

 

[raid]

This is an excellent thread on B&F film.