FotoImpex: anyone from Germany?

[giellaleafapmu]

Dear Folks,

since I shall be in Europe soon I have the plan of ordering some hard to find films from FotoImpex in Germany. I bought some stuff from them in the past and it was fine, however before placing the order I have a few questions.

(a) When I ordered from them they had a "usual" internet shop where you type your credit card number and so on. Now they ask for a bamk transfer and an email, does some of you have a recent experience with them? Are they still trustful? Do you know other good dealers of "strange films" in Europe?
(b) The main stuff I need is 5x7" film. I found they have Adox CHS 25, 50 and 100 and Classic Pan 200 both at a reasonable price. I do not know any of them, do you have experience with these films and which one would you suggest (most of the sheets will end in a pinhole camera and contact printed)?
(c) Since I put the order I think I will also buy Rollei Retro 100 and Rollei Pan 25 film, is there something else in their catalogue I am missing and you would really not live without (I use film almost exclusively for B/W prints)?

Tnkx!

GLF

 

[traveller]

I order from Fotoimpex a lot and you can trust them. However, the Internetshop is not existent and they want to set up a new one but it's already delayed.
The best way to order from them is per phone, they will tell you what is in stock. That is important because they want to deliver everything ordered in one delivery so it can happen that you have to wait until everything is in stock.

I don't know the quality of Adox films in this size but they are good in MF.

Why ask for Rollei when you can get the original? Agfa APX was in stock when I asked the last time and you can get APXpro film, ~ € 20,- per 10 pcs. 😀. They bought some of the last film and cut it themselves. If you like TriX ask if Profilm is in stock, ~€ 28,- / 10 pcs.
Classic Pan was made by Forte, could happen that it is out of stock, You could give the Adox CMS 20 a try.

Another option is the new shop from Maco, just opened and better prices if you want to buy Rollei.

Have fun

 

[Uwe_Nds]

Dear Folks,

since I shall be in Europe soon I have the plan of ordering some hard to find films from FotoImpex in Germany. I bought some stuff from them in the past and it was fine, however before placing the order I have a few questions.

(a) When I ordered from them they had a "usual" internet shop where you type your credit card number and so on. Now they ask for a bamk transfer and an email, does some of you have a recent experience with them? Are they still trustful? Do you know other good dealers of "strange films" in Europe?

From my experience, they are trustworthy. IIRC they stopped taking credit cards due to the relatively high charges.
Anyway, just pop round their shop in Berlin and collect the films there.
I do not know where you will be in Europe, but I heard that Efke has a factory letout in Zagreb. Maybe one of the Croatian members has the address, otherwise I may enquire.

(b) The main stuff I need is 5x7" film. I found they have Adox CHS 25, 50 and 100 and Classic Pan 200 both at a reasonable price. I do not know any of them, do you have experience with these films and which one would you suggest (most of the sheets will end in a pinhole camera and contact printed)?

Adox = Efke. I do not know the Classic Pan 200
For sheet film I would suggest the CHS 100 as grain will not be an issue. Otherwise you may also take the CHS 50 which is similar to the CHS 25.

(c) Since I put the order I think I will also buy Rollei Retro 100 and Rollei Pan 25 film, is there something else in their catalogue I am missing and you would really not live without (I use film almost exclusively for B/W prints)?

Tnkx!

GLF

You know that Rollei Retro 100 is the same as Agfa APX 100 @ about twice the price?
So if you think about buying it as 35mm film, I would go for the Agfa.
I do not know the Rollei Pan 25, but the Adox/ Efkes alone are worth giving Fotoimpex a visit!

Best regards and enjoy your stay in Europe!
Uwe

 

[rxmd]

Hi GLF,

(a) yes, they still can be trusted, I regularly order things there (well now that I live in Berlin, I just walk into their shop). The reason why they stopped accepting credit cards was that credit card companies started raising their fees. Try sending them a mail and discussing payment options.

(b) I have experience with Adox 25, 50 and 100. Adox 25 is a specialist film, very fine-grained, should be used at 20 ASA or so. Comes good in either low-sensitivity developers (like Neofine blue) or in Rodinal. Adox 50 is slightly less so, but still beautiful and has a more useful sensitivity of about 32 to 40 ASA. I wasn't too impressed with Adox 100, as it was grainy when enlarging from 6x9, but in a contact print with a developer like Rodinal I guess it could look nicely old-fashioned.

(c) I would recommend taking a good look at some of the papers and developers. Developer-wise I would recommend looking at some of the staining developers from Moersch; I tried Tanol and rather liked it. Mirko actually recommends it for large format from Adox films. For paper developers Fomatol PW is a nice powder-based warm tone developer that doesn't cost too much. As far as papers are concerned, some of the Foma papers are great; my all-time favourite is Fomatone MG, a warm-tone multigrade paper that lends itself extremely well to all sorts of toning and that gives good results for lith printing. Another favourite of mine is Poly Coldtone by Forte, but it's no longer made. Another nice paper is Print-out Paper (POP), a paper that contains so much silver and that is so slow that you don't need an enlarger (or a darkroom for that matter). Just tape your negative to it and leave the paper in the sun for a few minutes, the image will appear just fine; then fix with a hypo fixer (you can get hypo at Fotoimpex too) and possibly tone it a little bit. Gives a great old-fashioned look.

If you want to try something weird, buy a Foma reversal kit and process some of your negative films into B&W slides. Works best for B&W films with a rather clear base.

If you want to place an order with Fotoimpex, it would seem to be a good idea to send them an e-mail with your ordered items as early as possible; they are a small shop and don't necessarily have everything in stock, but given early notice they will make an effort to see that you get your stuff.

Philipp

 

[sinetsin]

Hi GLF!
i recieved some rolls of film from fotoimpex, last week!
I pay with paypal and i don't have any problem, all correct, i have to pay some taxes but nothing high...send a e-mail to info@fotoimpex.de

I purchase some Adox CMS 20 plus Adotech (i'm waiting a sunny day for use it..😉), some Fomapan 200, fuji acros & neopan 1600 (i don't find them in spain..)
waiting some results of acros & foma!

I recommand this website..it's a goldmine!!

 

[MichaelM7]

Dear Folks,

since I shall be in Europe soon I have the plan of ordering some hard to find films from FotoImpex in Germany. I bought some stuff from them in the past and it was fine, however before placing the order I have a few questions.

(a) When I ordered from them they had a "usual" internet shop where you type your credit card number and so on. Now they ask for a bamk transfer and an email, does some of you have a recent experience with them? Are they still trustful? Do you know other good dealers of "strange films" in Europe?

I have ordered from them several times and I think they provide fine service and they are very trustful. The owner of fotoimpex is also the moderator of http://www.fotolaborforum.eu/ and he is usualy online. If you do have questions, be sure to post them there. Also, FotoImpex does have a local shop in Berlin, in case you go there directly. They should have most of the things from their online shop on stock.
I also have got good experience with Nordfoto located in Hamburg, Germany ( http://www.nordfoto.de/ ) who provide your "usual" internet shop. However, they offer only less rare films and their site is in German only.

(b) The main stuff I need is 5x7" film. I found they have Adox CHS 25, 50 and 100 and Classic Pan 200 both at a reasonable price. I do not know any of them, do you have experience with these films and which one would you suggest (most of the sheets will end in a pinhole camera and contact printed)?

The Adox CHS films are marvelous. I know the 35mm version of the CHS 50 and use it quite often. They are single layer films hand made according to recipes from the 1950's . If you develop them in a sharpening classic developer as e.g. Rodinal, their tonality is outstanding. Be sure to not use an acid stop bath though as this might damage the soft layers! I have never seen a similar tonality in any other film. It is almost a pity if you do only make contact prints from it ;-)

(c) Since I put the order I think I will also buy Rollei Retro 100 and Rollei Pan 25 film, is there something else in their catalogue I am missing and you would really not live without (I use film almost exclusively for B/W prints)?

By all means, try the Adox CHS Films! You will not regret it. I have not tested the Adox CHM (multilayer) films, however. But rumors are they are also good.

 

[giellaleafapmu]

First of all thank to you all...it is incredible how fast (and how competently) people reply to posts here...

(b) I have experience with Adox 25, 50 and 100. Adox 25 is a specialist film, very fine-grained, should be used at 20 ASA or so. Comes good in either low-sensitivity developers (like Neofine blue) or in Rodinal. Adox 50 is slightly less so, but still beautiful and has a more useful sensitivity of about 32 to 40 ASA. I wasn't too impressed with Adox 100, as it was grainy when enlarging from 6x9, but in a contact print with a developer like Rodinal I guess it could look nicely old-fashioned.

I usually use Rodinal or, more often, HC-110 I guess with a few trial I could get something out
of them. It sounds like a Adox 50 5x7" and a few rolls of 25 in 135 could be a good choice trying to get my hands on as many original APX films as I can...transport by plane back to where I live. Pinhole photography always looks old fashion...

(c) I would recommend taking a good look at some of the papers and developers. Developer-wise I would recommend looking at some of the staining developers from Moersch; I tried Tanol and rather liked it. Mirko actually recommends it for large format from Adox films. For paper developers Fomatol PW is a nice powder-based warm tone developer that doesn't cost too much. As far as papers are concerned, some of the Foma papers are great; my all-time favourite is Fomatone MG, a warm-tone multigrade paper that lends itself extremely well to all sorts of toning and that gives good results for lith printing. Another favourite of mine is Poly Coldtone by Forte, but it's no longer made. Another nice paper is Print-out Paper (POP), a paper that contains so much silver and that is so slow that you don't need an enlarger (or a darkroom for that matter). Just tape your negative to it and leave the paper in the sun for a few minutes, the image will appear just fine; then fix with a hypo fixer (you can get hypo at Fotoimpex too) and possibly tone it a little bit. Gives a great old-fashioned look.

Tanol... What would that be? I usually like more to try a lot of time combinations rather than changing developer but who knows... Why would that be particularly good for sheet films? All the papers you suggested are warm-tone, not quite my peace of cake do you have any reccomandation for the exact opposite type of stuff? My obsession is with the...how coudl I say that, rendering of midtones... I don't like extreme contrasts nor grain and I like when I can achieve as many gradation of grey as I can...

POP sounds more interesting and funny, the same kind of fun of traditional printing, I might try that in combination with the 5x7" pinhole pictures...

Once again thanks,

GLF

 

[traveller]

Tanol... What would the be? I usually like more to try a lot of time combinations rather than changing developer but who knows... Why would that be particularly good for sheet films? All the papers you suggested are warm-tone, not quite my peace of cake do you have any reccomandation for the exact opposite type of stuff? My obsession is with the...how coudl I say that, rendering of midtones... I don't like extreme contrasts nor grain and I like when I can achieve as many gradation of grey as I can...

POP sounds more interesting and funny, the same kind of fun of traditional printing, I might try that in combination with the 5x7" pinhole pictures...

Once again thanks,

GLF

Tanol & Finol are staining-developers based on Pyrocatechol. A very good tonality and acutance is the result. I use them a lot and I really like them. Best compared with pyrogallol-developers. Give them a try, you will not regret it. Datasheets are availlable at the HP from Wolfgang Moersch, if you have questions send him a mail, he is very friendly and competent. His paper developers are great too, the Separol series is enviromental friendly (also availlable from Fotoimpex).

Adox has very good neutral papers, a little bit slow but a good paper when you want to do some dogging and burning. The Foma papers are to be recommended too but as always this is a matter of taste.

 

[giellaleafapmu]

Best compared with pyrogallol-developers.

Is it also as toxic? And does it produce the same pinkish negatives? If it is not so toxic as pyrogallol but gives similar results I will definitively try that!

GLF

 

[traveller]

Is it also as toxic? And does it produce the same pinkish negatives? If it is not so toxic as pyrogallol but gives similar results I will definitively try that!

GLF

These developers are a lot less toxic but it is the same as with every developer, you should not bath in them or drink them. No sweat, I have a combined kitchen/darkroom and wouldn't use pyrogallol because of that.

The stain is depending on the film, it comes from yellow/green to brown. I don't know if you speak some german but here you can see some pictures from the stained negatives and the resulting prints.

 

[-vin-]

you can find adox/efke film at fotomatica.it, and rollei film (as well as other stuff, like the lucky film) at puntofoto.it

 

[giellaleafapmu]

These developers are a lot less toxic but it is the same as with every developer, you should not bath in them or drink them. No sweat, I have a combined kitchen/darkroom and wouldn't use pyrogallol because of that.

The stain is depending on the film, it comes from yellow/green to brown. I don't know if you speak some german but here you can see some pictures from the stained negatives and the resulting prints.

I don't speak any German but usually I can make sense of technical articles, I shall have a look.
From what you say it seems I will like this developer, I love pyrogallol but I do not like to use that stuff in my home (I have a proper darkroom but still).

GLF

 

[giellaleafapmu]

you can find adox/efke film at fotomatica.it, and rollei film (as well as other stuff, like the lucky film) at puntofoto.it

What is the advantage? I tried to enter their sites and they both asked me to install a program I do not want to install and for that sent me to a site which gave me a version of the program which runs on a plattform I do not use. Like going to a shop which asks you to dress differently, use a specific brand of camera and speak with a certain accent..that is more than enough for me not to buy from them anything.

Anyway, thank you for your hint.

GLF

 

[rxmd]

All the papers you suggested are warm-tone, not quite my peace of cake do you have any reccomandation for the exact opposite type of stuff?

Well, Forte Poly Coldtone is not a warm tone paper as the name suggests 🙂 (Don't confuse it with Poly Warmtone. Both are discontinued, though.)

Fomatone is technically a warm-tone paper, but there it all comes with the toning. Fomatone toned in selenium toner gives beautiful cold, purplish blacks. Great. Otherwise they have a paper called Adox Vario Classic which gives neutral to cold blacks and which also is quite cheap. It's my standard paper.

With the Adox papers (not so much with the Fomas) you have to be a bit careful regarding darkroom safelights, as they are more sensitive to yellowish light. So you actually need a real red darkroom safelight.

POP sounds more interesting and funny, the same kind of fun of traditional printing, I might try that in combination with the 5x7" pinhole pictures...

POP is a lot of fun. (Incidentally, it helps if you have negatives with a high maximum density, so a staining developer like Tanol has another advantage here.)

Philipp

 

[jobo]

(b) The main stuff I need is 5x7" film. I found they have Adox CHS 25, 50 and 100 and Classic Pan 200 both at a reasonable price. I do not know any of them, do you have experience with these films and which one would you suggest (most of the sheets will end in a pinhole camera and contact printed)?

I haven't tried long exposure times myself, but it does sound like the ADOX CHS films would be great for pinhole stuff:

Diese Technologie verleiht ihm zudem einen fast nicht vorhandenen Schwarzschild-Faktor (bei 100 Sekunden Faktor 1,5x) was die effektive Empfindlichkeit bei der Verwendung langer Belichtungszeiten vervielfacht und dieses Material ideal für Langzeit-Belichtungen (z.B. in der Architektur-Fotografie) macht.

(i.e, reciprocity failure at 100 seconds is merely 50%)

Does anybody have more experience with this?

I'm using ADOX 50 in 135 for daytime work, rated at 80 and souped in Rodinal. Very nice, creamy negs.

2c, /Jobo

 

[-vin-]

What is the advantage? I tried to enter their sites and they both asked me to install a program I do not want to install and for that sent me to a site which gave me a version of the program which runs on a plattform I do not use. Like going to a shop which asks you to dress differently, use a specific brand of camera and speak with a certain accent..that is more than enough for me not to buy from them anything.

Anyway, thank you for your hint.

GLF

sorry, it never asked me to install any program...😕

here is a list of prices for efke film:

EFKE R 25 Rullo 120 Scad. 05-2008 $US 3,49
EFKE KB 25 135/36 Scad. 06-2008 $US 4,36
EFKE KB 25 Bobina 135x30,5 m Scad. 03-2009 $US 43,50
EFKE R 50 Rullo 120 Scad. 01-2009 $US 3,49
EFKE KB 50 135/36 Scad. 09-2008 $US 3,63
EFKE KB 50 Bobina 135x30.5 m Scad. 07-2008 $US 43,50
EFKE R 100 Rullo 120 Scad. 06-2008 $US 3,49
EFKE R 100 Rullo 127 Scad. 06-2010 $US 4,97
EFKE KB 100 135/36 Scad. 07-2008 $US 3,63
EFKE KB 100 Bobina 135x30.5 m Scad. 07-2008 $US 43,50 d
EKFE KB 400 135/36 Scad. 07-2008 $US 4,97
EFKE IR 820 135/36 $US 10,61
NOVITA'
Pellicola infrarosso, con sensibilità estesa a 820 nm
EFKE IR 820 120 $US 10,61
NOVITA'
Pellicola infrarosso, con sensibilità estesa a 820 nm
EFKE ORTH 25 Bobina 135x30.5 m Scad. 1-2008 $US 52,23
EFKE PL 25 M Pell. piana 10x12 50 fogli Scad. 07-2008 $US 50,75
EFKE PL 25 M Pell. piana 10x12 25 fogli scad. 07-2008 $US 25,51
EFKE PL 25 M Pell. piana 20x25 50 fogli Scad. 1-2008 $US 159,50
EFKE PL 100 M Pell. piana 6x9 50 fogli Scad. 07-2008 $US 26,18
EFKE PL 100 M Pell. piana 9x12 50 fogli Scad. 1-2008 $US 43,50
EFKE PL 100 M Pell. piana 10x12 50 fogli Scad. 06-2008 $US 50,75
EFKE PL 100 M Pell. piana 13x18 50 fogli Scad. 01-2009 $US 81,23
EFKE PL 100 M Pell. piana 20x25 50 fogli Scad. 10-2007 $US 159,50



I don't know if the prices are good...

 

[-vin-]

If you like TriX ask if Profilm is in stock, ~€ 28,- / 10 pcs.

Hi, John.
I don't understand where in the catalogue is this film: i found the APS profilm, but not this one. Is is really the same as the TriX?!?! Nice!😎

 

[MichaelM7]

Hi Vin,

have a look at their catalogue, p. 14 (English version). Its on the same page as all other Kodak BW films. I bought the profilm version and it is really the same as TriX (looked at the negative imprint). They are selling re-spooled films from bulk rolls as profilm.
Best regards,

MichaelM7

 

[-vin-]

Thank you, Michael!
Never noticed it...

But I use bulk film: do they sell it also as bulk, or have to buy the kodak 30m rolls?

 

[giellaleafapmu]

sorry, it never asked me to install any program...😕

No I am sorry for my dry reply, I am just a bit sensitive to this. The program was just Java which is not a big problem (I do not have it on the Sun workstation I was using yesterday but I could easily install it if I wanted to), just I do not like web pages designs which ask you to do something when they could simply write a list...as you did!

here is a list of prices for efke film:

Am I wrong or no 5x7" sheet film? Or is some of their products a metric conversion of that format? I will have a look at their catalogue from a machine with Java later and see...

Thank you again!

GLF