looking at ultrafine film

[raytoei@gmail.com]

Hi,

with LegacyPro 400 not being sold in Freestyle, I started looking at alternatives at Ultrafine Online. I came across the the following films which I thought were interesting:

Ultrafine 400 (consensus is that this is fomapan)
Ultrafine 100
Ultrafine Plus 400 (same dev as HP5+, see this link )
Ultrafine Plus 100
Private Label 400 XP-2 ( 24 exposue only )
Chromogenic 400 B & W C-41 (cheapest)
Agfa APX 400 Private Label
Agfa APX 100 Private Label
Maco MW 100 B&W Gekko
UltraMax T-Grain 400 Speed Vari-Film (most expensive, sounds like a push processing film)

I ordered 2 of each.

anyone with experience with the above 135 film ? I have tried the Ultrafine Plus 400 in 120 format and XP-2 private label with good success.

raytoei

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

and i forgot to add, I found this on their PDF catalog:

"Ultrafine Xtreme (NEW)
Black & White Film
Photo Warehouse presents the ultimate B & W Film experience
as we continue to bring you new and exciting products in the
traditional photo world. A superior fine grain film with wide
latitude and extreme quality."

but did not see it on the website itself.

raytoei

 

[jamesdfloyd]

Raytoei,

I just looked at Ultrafine's website - going to grab a couple of the rolls of the XP-2 generic to try as well. How do you think it compares to XP-2 or Kodak CN400?

J.D.

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

I only had 1 failure with the XP-2 from approximately 80 rolls purchased over the past 6 months. The XP-2 private label are not DX-encoded and are 24 exposures only.

I had it professionally developed initially but later switched to Rodinal Stand development and I found I had better images by developing it myself.

 

[lorenzo1910]

...uhm...really? A C41 film comes out better in Rodinal?

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

lorenzo, i found that many of the shops do not have fresh c41 chemicals. a common problem would be brown staining of the photos.

 

[nimcod]

now do you mean stains on the negatives...or just that the prints come out "sepia" / "brown" / "warm" as that is just that the lab doesn't print them on the correct "c41 mono" channel nothing to do with the negatives themselves

 

[ItsReallyDarren]

I've bought a few 100'ft rolls of Ultrafine 100 and 400. The film base is very thin, the only other film I've used with such a thin base is Lucky film. I've also called Ultrafine warehouse and asked where the film was manufactured, "The Orient" was their final answer.

The film is interesting, like it or not its very grainy. What stood out most was the lack of an anti-halation layer. Either it was very weak or non existent. The shots from that film had a very noticeable glow with highlights.

Both were shot on Ultrafine 100

 

[bwidjaja]

raytoei, can you share your development technique with the XP-2 generic? Do you find the result too contrasty?

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

hi,

i develop xp2 by Rodinal stand development for 30-60mins in the tropic temperature. The instructions are mainly form john carter from this board:

Rodinal 1+100 dilution
60 seconds initial gentle agitation.
59 mins of no agitation.

as for the tropics, i roughly half it to 30mins and it works fine. 60 mins too.

xp2 is very fine. almost no grain. (see attached)

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

actually, the best roll so far is

APX 100 in Rodinal.

Both on the M3 and Summarit 50/f1.5

 

[rxmd]

I've bought a few 100'ft rolls of Ultrafine 100 and 400. [...] The film is interesting, like it or not its very grainy. What stood out most was the lack of an anti-halation layer. Either it was very weak or non existent. The shots from that film had a very noticeable glow with highlights.

Looks like Lucky - also with the panchromatic sensitization that results in flat rendering of the grayscales, especially visible in the grass on the first shot.

On the bright side, it means free Leica glow for everyone.

 

[Joe Vitessa]

Has anyone determined what the new Ultrafine Xtreme film is? I called to ask where it was manufactured and they refused to answer.

Joe

 

[Mablo]

Hard to say what exactly it is before doing some tests. My first impression is this is Chinese Lucky film. It's actually relatively good B&W film and I'm happy Chinese sellers are actively trying to find new channels.

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

ultrafine xtreme = hp5 timing.

 

[pschauss]

Ultrafine xtreme also does well in Diafine. I have tried it with HC-110 dilution H (11:00 ) as well. In either case contrast is a bit low.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

Has anyone tried Ultrafine Private Label APX100 35mm film?
Does it have a thick or thin base?
How badly does it curl?
Does it scratch easily?

TIA,
Chris

 

[newtorf]

Great! Time to sell my 35 lux pre-asph and use this film. 🙂

Looks like Lucky - also with the panchromatic sensitization that results in flat rendering of the grayscales, especially visible in the grass on the first shot.

On the bright side, it means free Leica glow for everyone.

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

here are some additional pictures on
Ultrafine Extreme 400 in 120 format.

both taken with ETRsi at f4, iso 200.

Stand developed in Prescysol EF with mid-point agitation.

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

Chris,

I dunno, Felt like a normal APX film to me, ie. can't push past a stop. But very nice tones.