New Rollei / Maco B&W film !?

Can't be a bad thing. I note that Maco has had a dual coat/dual ISO film out for some time, with the anti-halation cover. You have to soak the film in water before adding developer. Looks like they've taken it a step further, which is nice. However, I'm guessing that due to sensitivity, you can't use this film in a 'red-window' classic rollfilm camera - it would streak, as they say.

With Ilford all but down for the count, and I heard that Forte never showed up to their booth at Photokina and now no one can get their products, we need all the producers we can get!

Hope it works out for Rollei, good on them!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
A great news for B&W film users! Let us all pray that Rollei R3 will be successful and live up to its promise of ensuring a constant supply of B&W film to photographers.
 
hoppinghippos said:
I just wonder what price it would debut at? since its under rollei and all, it may be targeted at a niche market with niche prices?

I would guess you're right, but since Maco has been around for awhile, I would venture a guess that there will be an alternative supply under Maco's brand name for less. Hope so, anyway.

I just ordered a mess o' Arista.edu B&W film from Freestyle - felt the need for something different, even though I've always been happy with Ilford Delta 100 and Kodak Tri-X. We'll see.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
It's nice - also that Rollei gave its name since nowadays it counts soooo much - a Maco would hardly make it to the world market, while a Rollei... At least for the beginning, until it gets some respect (if), it matters.

Hope it's really works nice at THAT wide sensitivity lattitude.
 
This stuff sounds awesome. I cannot wait to try it out. I wonder what the difference in grain will be between the ISO 25 development and the ISO 6400 development. I hope it has a nice grain structure. I am also excited that it can be developed as a transparency...
 
Oh, and they do have a pricelist up under the chemical section. It looks like the price will be 5.20 Euros for a 36 exp 35mm roll. So, 7 bucks a roll, could be worse...that is still cheaper than TechPan, HIE or any of the E6 professional slide films.
 
Guys, calm down, I've read quite a lot of comments from users on various German photo forums, and they are less than enthusiastical...
This film is nothing but slightly modified Maco Cube 400, sold at a premium price of around 6 Euros (compared to around 3.50 Euros for Ilford HP5+ or FP4+, and around 2.50 to 3 Euros for Agfa APX); the name is merely a marketing ploy to get more customers for the Cube 400, which did not do too well, sales-wise.
Those speed rating are also a bit enthusiastical, and are supposed to be only doable with 2 different developers from Maco; users report that the real speed is in the 200 ASA range, less (50-100) with fine grain developers, a bit more (400 to 640) with speed-enhancing developers.

Roman
 
In the manual it says it works well with D76 exposed at EI 200 or 400, stupid me I bought a few rolls and tried just that... Got horrible results, ugly large grain.
Easily one of the worst films I`ve ever tried....
Now I have two 120 rolls left and I will buy the Rollei developer to give it a second chance....
 
Hey Roman, Amund that's good to know ! I doubt I would have abandoned Neopan 400 anyway but it's always nice to see some interest in the B&W market 😎
 
I don't want to knock anyone distributing a new b&w film, but I too would take some of the claims with a few grains of silver-halide salts.

The 25-to-6400 claim is intriguing, but probably sounds like more than it is. After all, you can expose (for example) T-Max P3200 film at 25 if you reduce the developing time enough (I've actually used it at 100 to bridge ultra-contrasty lighting situations) and it will go up to 6400 as well. It'll be interesting to see what the useful range might be.

Another interesting note from the BJP page:

"Its extreme sensitivity to daylight means that exposed film needs to be kept in specially designed black cartridges, as traditional 35mm cassettes, for example, will show 'grey lateral stripes', while 'roll film will be exposed through the film leader'."

Yeah, well, that sounds to me less like 'extreme sensitivity to light' than the effect of "light piping" through the transparent polyester base. (They say farther up in the release that the antihalation backing is coated just under the emulsion, while the film base itself is clear.) Those of us who remember shooting Kodak 2475 Recording Film recall this phenomenon all too well!
 
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