efke film, any users?

[Gary Briggs]

Hi, who likes this film in 35mm, or MF ?
What do you think it's best at?
How have you developed it?
Do you like the ISO 25, 50...

 

[randomm]

I shoot the 25 stuff. Very very nice. Old school tones.

 

[Matus]

I would just add a question - how do these slow Efke films compare to something like PanF+ ?

 

[begona]

It Croatian film made in Samobor , small town near capital city Zagreb. Fotokemika EFKE is only factory in world that producing 127 format film.

Low speed film is very nice as "randomm" says. 400 Asa film is good too but not that good as 400ASA film from other manufacturers.

Cheers

 

[whitecat]

Pretty decent film but harder to load on my reels. A little more curling after drying also.

 

[dcsang]

I enjoy the 25 and 100 ISO - haven't tried the 50 as of yet.
Use a "hardening" fixer (like Kodak's - as long as they don't stop making it after filing Chapter 11 ) and I would echo whitecat's statement - it curls like an SOB after drying so if you're going to scan/print, lay it under (after putting it in a sleeve of course) some heavy books/boards for a few days to flatten it out.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[kode]

I've shot a roll of Efke 25 in 120, and I have another roll waiting for when it's actual daylight outside. It's a nice film overall, and it almost makes it possible to shoot with my 80/1.9 wide open a sunny day. I've been thinking about perhaps giving it a shot in 135 as well.

 

[sockeyed]

I really like the look of the Efke 25, 50 and 100 films. They are not that fine-grained for their speed, but they have a wonderful tonality and silvery, old-school character. A bonus is that the cannisters can be re-used for bulk film rolling - the tops and bottoms are pressure-fitted and pop off.

 

[santino]

I've shot a roll of KB 25 in MF and the results were fine but the film was scratched vertically and horizontally (and that happened to me trice, maybe a bad batch?). Other than that it has a really nice tonality

 

[Nokton48]

I'm shooting the KB25 in two of my Minolta SRT bodies. Should be wonderful.

Efke PL100 is one of my favorite 4x5" sheet films and I have used it for twenty years.

 

[randomm]

I've only shot it (the 25 ASA stuff) in 135 format and the film base has been clear, leading to problems with loading in bright light (you'll get leaks on the first few frames), thus you should only load in subdued lighting. The upside is that you'll be looking at beautiful negatives given the base is crystal clear. Also, it dries completely flat, very easy to scan.

Here are couple of my shots:


merestä by randomm, on Flickr


A by randomm, on Flickr


jäänyt by randomm, on Flickr

The grain is very very small. I've got a photo of a perhaps 25% of a 135 negative blown up to an A4, can't see the grain.

 

[haempe]

I've only shot it (the 25 ASA stuff) in 135 format and the film base has been clear, leading to problems with loading in bright light (you'll get leaks on the first few frames), thus you should only load in subdued lighting.

Agree, this is the reason I buy Efke/Adox only in bulk and use it with IXMOO/FILCA. No problems more with leaks...

 

[George Bonanno]

I shoot Efke PL-100-M sheet film in 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 format processed in Crawley FX-6a monobath. Very nice tonality, lays flat, scans well and prints easily using a diffusion enlarger. Grain is not an issue for me.

 

[regularchickens]

I recently shot some KB50. It's gorgeous stuff, with lovely tones, but the curliness makes my Coolscan V not want to load it, and the clear base causes the scanner to misread frame boundaries often (both to my great frustration). I had the same problems with a roll of ADOX ORT 25 that I had sitting around and shot recently.

KB50 in Rodinal 1+50, 9 minutes, M4+Hex 50:

 

[sahe69]

Nice film, definitely worth trying out e.g. with rodinal. Anyhow the emulsion scratches pretty easily so use a hardening fixer with this film if possible.

 

[andredossantos]

I love the look of the 25 but it curls LIKE CRAZY and that annoys me enough that I rarely use it.

 

[robklurfield]

I like the 25.

 

[35mmdelux]

BREAKING NEWS: who makes Efke?

 

[charjohncarter]

I enjoy the 25 and 100 ISO - haven't tried the 50 as of yet.
Use a "hardening" fixer (like Kodak's - as long as they don't stop making it after filing Chapter 11 ) and I would echo whitecat's statement - it curls like an SOB after drying so if you're going to scan/print, lay it under (after putting it in a sleeve of course) some heavy books/boards for a few days to flatten it out.

Cheers,
Dave

I use the Efke IR820 and very little Efke 25, but the hardener is important. They make a good film. And we really need to support any film maker right now.

IR820:

Efke 25:

 

[35mmdelux]

You might want to read the entire thread, paying particular attention to post #4.

duly noted. Thank you!