Ultrafine Xtreme B&W Film questions

[*chris]

i haven't been able to get too much info on this film. all i know is that it comes in 100 and 400 speed and that some people use ilford dev times for it? i am looking into possibly purchasing a 100 ft roll. do you guys have any experience with this film? should i stay away from it? Thanks in advance. i was also considering arista edu ultra which to my understanding is fomapan but is a bit grainy.

this is the description for the film on their site: "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."

 

[Jan Pedersen]

Can't advice for or against buying film from PW but as i have experienced they are unwilling to tell who made the film. If i don't know what i am spending my money on i am not spending money!

 

[gb hill]

I'm thinking seriously about buying some. I joined the flickr group last night. Read the discussions. The film looks good. One guy I saw was developing in HC110 dil B & the results are quite good.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/ultrafinextreme/

 

[*chris]

Can't advice for or against buying film from PW but as i have experienced they are unwilling to tell who made the film. If i don't know what i am spending my money on i am not spending money!

you do have a point.

I'm thinking seriously about buying some. I joined the flickr group last light. Read the discussions. The film looks good. One guy I saw was developing in HC110 dil B & the results are quite good.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/ultrafinextreme/

http://dehk.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/ultrafine-xtreme-400-test-run/

i found this test from the user dehk, not sure what site he is on but the results seem more than satisfactory. this same person also said that the 400 is a bit better than the 100 speed because it has a proper anti-halation layer... but on the flickr group someone said the 400 is grainier than tri-x and that they like the 100.

i'm also curious as to how long a 100 ft of film will last when being bulk loaded since a normal 24 exp roll of film is about 4 feet so 25 rolls maybe?. if i do get the ultrafine i will get the lloyd bulk loader too and some canisters.

 

[alienmeatsack]

I know I'm a little late to the party here.

I have used their 100 and 400 speed films in 120 format quite a bit over the last few months and here is my opinion on it...

400 - Well worth the money. I get great results in Diafine and DD-X with it. It does tend to curl/bow in the middle but if you let it dry long enough some of that dries out.

100 - I personally cannot recommend this film. The grain is very intense, it clumps in every developer I try, including the labs I've sent it to, and the film curls pretty intensely.

I continue to buy the 400 as I've enjoyed the results but I will no longer purchase the 100. I have found that I get much better results from the Arista EDU and Premium films in 120 and 35mm formats and they also offer bulk rolls as well. Same price (sometimes cheaper then the UFX.).

FWIW.

 

[mwoenv]

After readings the inconclusive speculations as to who makes it, I tried two rolls each of the Xtreme 100-135, 400-135, and 400-120. I think they are all excellent and have bought a 100' roll of the 100-135 and 400-135 and 20 rolls of the 400-120. So far, I have shot 5 additional rolls of the 100 in 135 from the bulk roll and am still happy with it.

I develop with D76 stock, per their recommendations of 8 minutes for the 100-135 film, and 7 minutes for the 400-135 (and 7.75 minutes for 400-120: 10% more than for the 135 film). Since no agitation recommendations were provided, I used Ilford agitation: 4 in versions in the first 10 seconds, repeat every minute.

The 100-135 has a nice flat base resembling Ilford's base. The 400 appears to have a different, thinner base. I let films dry around 5 hours, and they were all nice and flat. I did not experience excessive grain with any of the films, making nice 8x10s from the 135 negatives and 11x14s from the 120 negatives.

You might order a couple of rolls and try them under your developing regime before deciding on a bulk roll.

I also tried Ultrafine Plus 100 in 120, developed with D76 stock, and it was very grainy and overall poor quality in my opinion.

 

[Pioneer]

I have not tried the ISO 100 film but I do occasionally shoot the Ultrafine Extreme 400 in 120 medium format and it is a decent film. I don't use it a lot because I buy Arista EDU 400 at a lower price, but when I do I shoot it at box speed and develop for about 12 minutes in Kodak D-76. I'll see if I can scan a few shots and post them.