apx400, any recent experience ?

[raytoei@gmail.com]

this is an interesting film. i keep reading that it is best to rate it around 200-320 iso. i also read it as a 500 - 1000 iso film in diafine. i also read that rodinal and apx400 makes a good pair. however, to complicate it even further, the apx formulation may have changed over the years.

i just bought a small brick at 1.59 a 35mm/24exposure roll from ultrafineonline.com

any recent experience to share ?

I am attaching a picture from my self-made sampler pack of emulsions that i bought from the store a few months back. i really like this picture, roll #235 Apx400 in Foma Excel (XTOL) for 5.5mins@29C, lens used was the Horizon 202.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

It's my favorite B&W film. The tonal range is very nice (to my taste) and it's quite easy to develop. It's also very pushable... 7 minutes in T-Max Dev at nominal speed, 12 @ ISO 800, and 15 if exposed at ISO 1600. Also easy to scan. I've used as much as I could of the APX 400 and have a small stash of the Arista off-brand type.

Enjoy it!

 

[robbeiflex]

I tried a Rollei Retro 400S (rebranded Agfa APX 400) in XTOL, but developed it by mistake at the 1+1 time instead of the stock time. 😱

Will get back to you when I develop one properly. 😱

 

[randomm]

I've got 10-15 rolls left, have not been able to nail down what developer / rating combo to use. The emulsion I've got definitely does not push well, I'm going to rate mine at 400 or less in the future...

Mine is the rebranded Rollei Retro stuff, mind.

 

[marduk]

I have some APX400 and must admit in Rodinal and D76 it looked too grainy and gritty for my liking. I gave it a second chance recently and dev'ed in Prescysol EF - the results are good, maybe some of the best in its league. Yep it makes sense to rate it at 200-320 iso.

robbeiflex, Rollei Retro 400S is an areal material from Agfa Gevaert in Belgium. Retro 400 is APX 400 from Agfa Photo last production run in 2005. So completely different film materials.

 

[btgc]

I regret I missed bulk rolls of APX400 before they went.
Developed it in LC29 as any other film I use.


Chaps by mm35exp36, on Flickr

 

[robbeiflex]

marduk, thanks for clarifying. Although I'm certain I left it in the dev too long, I was also surprised at just how thin the negatives were. They needed over three stops of correction in scanning to get anything useful out of them. I only have one roll left,but at least now I know to double check the specs before I expose and develop it. Thanks for saving me a couple of euros and more importantly the embarassment of making the same mistake twice!

 

[Tom A]

The APX 400 works very well in Rodinal - but as stated, it is not a fine-grain film. Tonal range is excellent and sharpness remarkable. For smaller prints (11x14 and smaller) it works well - larger than that it looks like sand-paper!
The APX 400S was used as an aerial film and also in TraffiPax cameras. Thin base and somewhat difficult to get good negs from it. I did shoot about 600ft of it in 2007. Works best with developers like D76/PCK - in Rodinal it is plain ugly. I rated it at 320 iso and though it had a tendency to fry highlights - worked well,
If you use Leica IXMOO cassettes - beware. The "tongue" that slides in through the slot in the cassette is tough to tear off - well, it is virtually impossible to tear it. You have to cut it with a small scalpel to be able to pull out the part stuck in the cassette. Speaking from experience here!!!!
Flickr has some samples under AGFA 400S and Agfa APX 400 S. Some are mine- but oathers have played with it too.
Silverimage in UK, in 2007, sold off a lot of it cheap (5-10 Pounds/100 ft rolls). I tried to order a substantial amount - but it was gone in a flash!

 

[ChrisLivsey]

Flickr has some samples under AGFA 400S and Agfa APX 400 S. Some are mine- but oathers have played with it too.
Silverimage in UK, in 2007, sold off a lot of it cheap (5-10 Pounds/100 ft rolls). I tried to order a substantial amount - but it was gone in a flash!

UK supplier Ag-Photographic have some Retro 400S , not bulk though sorry Tom, but a good price for bulk buying 😉

http://www.ag-photographic.co.uk/rollei-retro-400s-35mm-36-20-rolls-1212-p.asp

They also have stock of the "first coating" of the new Adox

http://www.ag-photographic.co.uk/adox-pan-400-first-coating-35mm-36-2015-p.asp


Couldn't resist the 20 roll price 😀

 

[ChrisLivsey]

The 400S data sheet is here for the technically minded but the development data is for machine processing.

http://www.maco-photo.de/files/images/Retro400S_Infrared_aviphot_pan400S_2006_01_09_en.pdf

 

[tonal1]

Works great with Rodinal. Er on the side of over development. This is the only film I ever felt the need to go 1:20 with Rodinal.

Also be aware that most of the info online about APX400 is for the old version. The last version (which is what's still being sold, right?) is vastly different. Avoid Rodinal 1:50 or higher dilutions like the plague. Less grainy than Try-x in Rodinal.... still grainy, but with less bite. I usually make 8x12's, fyi.

I had mixed results with Diafine... lower contrast than with other films.


>>Rodinal 1:25 for 10 minutes, and agitate like you mean it.

.

 

[Matus]

I have never shot the Agfa APX, but recently tried the ADOX Pan 400 ("First coating" version only which is supposed to be 1/3 stop slower than the final one that should come soon) which is supposed to be a direct (and very similar) replacement. I have shot 2 rolls (at 200 and 800 ISO) and will try to post some results soon (need better scans for that .. ).

I have contacted Adox and asked about the developing times and got and answer that one should use the same times as for Agfa APX 400. So I tried it with llfotec DD-X 1:4 for 10 minutes (EI 200) and 15 minutes (EI 800) - with 4 inversions every minute at ~ 20 degrees Celsius. And it worked. According to my results exposing the film at about EI 320 and developing for 400 should be fine.

 

[Mablo]

I never liked "the new" APX400 (Rollei Retro 400) in 135. Much too grainy for me, no matter what I tried.

 

[Freakscene]

It wasn't an ISO400 film - at least a stop slower. It worked very well in replenished Xtol. The bromic acid buildup in replenishment systems seemed to change its grain characteristics less than other films. It also worked well in Rodinal. Great tonality. It wasn't as sharp as other nominally 400 speed films, and had very poor latency - if you left the exposed film for more than a few weeks it turned to mush.

Marty

 

[kossi008]

I never liked "the new" APX400 (Rollei Retro 400) in 135. Much too grainy for me, no matter what I tried.

You described my experience exactly. The new Adox is supposed to be finer-grained, though, which seems to be true, judging from my very first roll.

Attached is my first sample, developed 12 min in Xtol 1+1 (the crop is 2000 ppi):