A Latent Past

It's been nearly twelve hours now since I first saw the images on my 1941 Agfa film, I'll be honest I haven't slept much, so many things going on in my mind.
I have 5 images that I'm guessing date from the period 1938-1941, I've scanned them but haven't really worked on them.
here are those images straight from the scanner:

I call this image "Sons of the Desert"


This one: Gentlemen, There will be no war with Germany

Those are so far my favourite images, if you want to see more then I have a gallery here
One thing is for sure the original photographer was very good at catching the moment, I'd love to know who he was!
Edit:
I've e-mailed the guy who sold me the film to find out how he acquired it, to find out what City or town it was from. I'll then try to contact family history people in that City to find out who the people are.
Its a long shot I know but one I feel I have to take, who are these ghosts?
Further Edit:
According to the seller it was from Reading PA, so if you live in Reading Pennsylvania they might be your ancestors!

All images and text © Mark Antony Smith 2007

Agfa Update

Well, I opened up the tin in order to do a clip-test.

Inside was the film, a corrugated card insert and these instructions on a pamphlet:
Click on the image for a larger view, to make texts readable, here is the other side:

I hope some of the info above will be useful to someone:

I cut off a length of film about 6" and loaded it into my spiral no problem the film felt OK and travelled into the spiral very easily.
I then prepared the developer and fixer. I used Rodinal at 1:25, pre-wet for 1 min at 20 degrees C then developed for 5 mins with gentle agitaion for first 30 sec then every min thereafter.
It was then fixed for 3 mins in fresh Ilford Fix.
No stop bath was used just a small rinse in water.

After a small final rinse about 5 mins, I opened the tank...
At first I was disappointed as the film looked completely fogged, but as I held it to the light I saw to my surprise there are IMAGES.
Badly fogged either by age or light at sometime (who knows when in the last 60+ years) but there are images of people.
The film is drying as I'm typing this and I'll try to scan and post them later....
But for now here is a copy from DSLR and a Macro lens:

and closer crop:

Ghosts...
All images and text © Mark Antony Smith 2007

Agfa Ultra-Speed

If you read this blog regularly you'll know that recently I found a roll of Agfa-Speed Ultra on Ebay. The film is a little out of date.... well it actually expired in 1941 which makes it ancient history film-wise.
It was made by Agfa-Ansco in America, Binghamton N.Y to be exact, and according to my google seaches had a Weston speed of around 80.

Here are a few photos:

Above is the Warranty and Warning
Next a rear view of the tin showing the Agfa logo

Lastly a side view.

I shall atempt to use the film in my Leica with vintage Elmars both 50 & 90 mm, I doubt anthything will come out as the film will probably be fogged, but it will be fun (and it's a lovely old tin even if the film is Kaput).

If anyone has any more information about this film, such as a confirmation of film speed or even development time suggestions for Rodinal, it would be most welcome.

Low Tech Fun

This photo was taken about fifteen years ago, with a Cheap Russian 6x6 camera called a Lubitel 166B.  The Lubitel (Russian for amateur I'm told) has a cheap plastic build and a simple triplet lens that gives a wonderful soft look that is great for portraits.

The idea behind this shot was to give a feel of the 1950's- so film choice was important too, the emulsion used was the now unavailable Agfa Portrait 160. The film was one of my all time favourites with a really nice low contrast natural colour that made it my standard film for weddings and portraits.

Agfa Portrait also had another desirable (for me at least) character, in that if over-exposed by more than 3 stops the film would allow halation to occur softening the highlights and killing contrast (and fine detail).

The picture above was overexposed by guesstimate about 3 stops to give the aforementioned effects and I think it worked pretty well. Today you could use Kodak Portra NC a film that gives a similar natural colour palette.

Cameras like the Lubitel and Holga are considered by some to be toy cameras, but for me they are very important tools that not only are fun to use but can give very satisfying pictures quite unlike anything produced by 'high-tech' cameras.

All images and text © Mark Antony Smith

Attention Googlers!!

I have noticed in my site stats that quite a few people are looking for info after being sent here by Google.
These people tend to stay for a couple of seconds, as unknown to them this site has over 40 pages, and if its not the first or second item their time is up (and they're off).
I have two things to help:
Firstly, in the sidebar is a search box entitled 'Search this blog' Hopefully this will allow you to find what you came here for.
Secondly, a common reason for people hitting this site via google is when searching for a film development time, I have placed a link to help in the sidebar called 'Film Dev Times'.
This will send you though to the "Digital Truth" Massive Dev chart, where you just select your film and developer combination.
Hope this helps–
Regards
Mark Antony

Canon 35mm F1.8



About a year ago I was given a Leica M4-P, as it had no lens I had to make a decision on which lens would suit best.
I had been using a IIIc with 50mm F3.5 Elmar so obviously a similar lens seemed to be the ideal choice and I ended up with a 50mm F2.8 Elmar.
Fast forward a few months.
Although I enjoyed using my M4-P and it has become my 'take everywhere' camera and I enjoy using it immensely, I slowly began to find the 50mm (46°) angle of view a bit restrictive. I'm not sure why, possibly its because of the frame-lines that make you aware of the quite narrow angle, or possibly I found a lot of situations where the need to step back increasingly occurred.
So the hunt was on for a better 'standard' and like a lot of Leica M users, I decided on 35mm.
I honestly tried out quite a few, both Leica lenses F1.4 ASPH and F2 non ASPH, CV Skopar and two Canons- the 35mm F2 and the 35mm F1.8
Of course I rated the two Leica lenses and the 35 1.4 in particular is a very well corrected lens and amazingly sharp even at the edges wide open.
I did find that the Leica lenses were prone to flare in very bright light so a hood is almost essential for most conditions.
The CV Skopar is an excellent lens especially when you consider the price compared to the Leica lenses and is a very compact lens although a little slower at F2.5.But in my opinion it's size advantage is somewhat negated as it too seems to suffer from flare, so will need a hood.
The Canon 35mm F2 is also a great lens, probably marginally better than the Skopar (which is a copy of the Canon) and very similar in performance to the Pre-ASPH Summicrons of similar vintage.
I kick myself a little here, as I tested this lens, saw the results were good but when I returned to the shop it was gone!
Because these lenses are secondhand, I'd have to wait for another 35mm F2 or go for my next option.
The Canon 35mm F1.8, predated the F2 version is slightly larger and black and chrome finished rather than black and has an infinity lock.
Performance wise, it lacks wide open compared to the rest here being slightly soft and lower in contrast, but has a couple of advantages over the others.
Price! It is the cheapest lens of the bunch, the price I paid was less than the Skopar. It also seems to be less prone to flare, possibly due to the front element being recessed, acting as a sunshade.


(please excuse image quality)
My opinion of the Canon 35mm F1.8 is that it's a very good lens, cheap, of very good optical performance when stopped down a couple of stops, softish wide open (which can be good for 'retro look' shots).
So far I've found it's the lens that I keep on the camera most of the time and the extra speed over my standard Elmar means I use it for most low light work also.
Below is an example of its wide open performance, using Kodachrome 200 which is often very high in contrast is slightly softened.

1/15 sec at F1.8 Kodachrome 200

All in all a respectable performer especially when you take the cost in consideration, which for me is was less than half of the cost of a secondhand Summicron 35mmF2 of a similar vintage.

All Images and text © Mark Antony Smith

Fomapan 200 'Creative'


This film, acording to Foma is an advanced negative film using 'T' grain technology similar to that of Kodak T-Max and Ilford Delta emulsions. It is a full stop faster than the 'Classic' Fomapan tested here

The above image was taken in very bright sunlight at around mid-day metering for the shadow area and closing down 2 stops. The negative shows good shadow detail and highlight separation with fractionally more contrast than the Fomapan 100 Classic when processed at the recomended times. I think this film would be excellent in winter or in dull flat light. I found that Foma 200 was pretty much 'box speed' at the first testing, although recently I have been downrating it to EI 160 which in my seems to give slightly better images. I processed the film in Agfa Rodinal at 1:50 for 8 mins with 2 inversions per min.

And the 100% crop
Looking at the crops I would say that the grain of this film is very fine certainly similar to FP4 which is around a stop slower, accutance is also pretty good if this is a T grain type film

The light and shade in the following shot show how well the film handles a scene with wide range, there is detail present in both the shadow and highlight on the print

The following shot of a door was taken in shadow, and on my monitor looks to have a lovely rich tone

I like the 'Creative 200' its a full stop faster than the Fomapan Classic and is a higher contrast emulsion with similar grain, possibly slightly more compressed tonanally than the Classic.
One thing I'd like to add, I'm not sure about the manufacterers claims that this is a T grain film, it behaves more like conventional emulsions (which is good) but doesn't quite have the smooth fine grain structure of say T-Max 100.
Makes me wonder is this film a T emulsion mixed with cubic grains? or is the grain less tabular than the Kodak?
Edit 2012:
Foma had problems with this emulsion with some users experiencing pin hole emulsion defects. Their response was to stop production and my sources tell me the emulsion and the machinery has been changed in an effort to cure the problem.

Recently the film was re-introduced, and seems to be on a different base, and the actual sensitivity seems slightly lower. The film was out of production for several years, any film in stock currently will certainly be from the new improved emulsion.
On a separate note the make up of the film is certainly a combination of traditional cubic grains (slow record layer) with an over layer of tabular type grains (faster record) which seem to be similar to the Ilford and Fuji Epitaxial type.

All text and images © Mark Antony Smith 2007 & 2012

Ebay acquisition



A rainy cold day, not much to do except look into a few forums, and check out if any interesting finds are listed on Ebay.
Whilst searching for Agfa film I came across the above item for $4.99, and thought 'why not' and was the highest bidder (well the only bidder).
My buy is an Ansco/Agfa Ultra-speed film from 1941.
I'll be interested to see what condition the film is in, I'll bet it is not going to be usable as it went out of date 66 years ago and probably has the 'vinegar syndrome' that afflicts so many films of its age.
If there is any result I'll be sure to post here, if not I'll have a nice tin to keep odds and ends in.

©Mark Antony Smith 2007

Mr Lincoln Has Retired



This typed notice has been on the door of a closed chemists shop in my city for over ten years. The shop is kept in good repair, and has recently been repainted– but remains empty.

All Images and text ©Mark Antony Smith 2007

Agfapan 400


Another film from the now defunct Agfa. The Agfapan range of films were hugely underated in my opinion, and APX400 probably suffered in that respect more than the rest of the range, living in the shadow of both Tri-X and HP5.

'Wensum Emporium' APX 400 at 1:50 18 mins in Rodinal (Duotone Record Rapid effect)
Personally I feel that's a shame, as it has the wonderful tonal range of the rest of the Agfapan films, with a lovely grain structure and accutance which compares favourably with Tri-x, and to me is preferable to HP5.

Below is a 100% crop of to show the grain pattern:


After Processing the film has a grey base colour, this is normal not due to base fog or poorly stored film, and although it prints/scans well, it may look strange if your normal film is something like Neopan.

It really is a shame about the demise of Agfa. I nearly didn't bother testing their films, but they are just SO good! If I hadn't given them at least a mention it would have been unfair as they are still available though many retailers.
When the current batch are gone one of the truly great photographic emulsions will be history.
So one to try out of curiosity but not a long term prospect.

All images and text © Mark Smith 2007

Warmtone


This photo is a picture of Thrigby Church taken from a high walkway (in a Tiger pen) I liked the cross in the wall, and I've aslso tried to mimic Agfa Record Rapid Paper (monitor willing).
To achieve the effect I made my own record rapid Duotone in Photoshop.

All Images and text ©Mark Antony Smith 2007

Fuji Provia 400X


I first tried a 400 ASA slide film from Fuji about 17 years ago, in those days you were grateful of the speed and accepted the grain which was quite a bit 'grittier' than their 100ASA offering RDP but still good for a 400.
Recently Fuji released Provia 400X which is claimed to be the finest grained slide-film in its class with grain similar to that of emulsions a stop or more slower.
Here is the Advertising blurb:
"Fujichrome Provia 400X features Epitaxial Sigma Crystal Technology for ultra-fine grain along with new generation couplers and new colour correction technology for excellent performance and image stability".

Well I'm not exactly sure what "Epitaxial Sigma Crystal Technology" really means in respect to grain in the final image other than it's Fuji speak for their version of T grain and controlled crystal growth. Nonetheless ultra fine grain in a 400ISO and I'm all ears (and eyes) ; so what does the film look like?
Below is a shot taken in bright outdoor light:



As you can see contrast is good, colours are clean and well saturated. On close inspection grain seems to be very fine indeed much as promised.





Looking at the 100% crop I was surprised how good this film actually is, very sharp and fine grained certainly as good as some slower slide films.
It impresses me that a major company like Fuji is committed enough to put out a film like this, especially as they produce digital cameras and sensors. I can't help wondering if we will see many more improvements to film technology as sales slow because of the continuing shift to digital, hopefully we'll see one or two more improvements in what must be films twilight years.

All images and text ©Mark Smith 2007

X Process (or X-Pro)
Cross Processing is when you put a film though a chemistry that it was not designed for i.e E-6 reversal film though a C-41 Negative developer.

It is a very easy way to get "wacky" colours and extreme contrast and suits a wide range of subjects.

I have found that the best way to do this is to buy cheap out of date slide film, as colour fidelity isn't an issue here and then find a willing minilab for process only.

Be sure to inform the Lab that you want it to go though the wrong process as a helpful lab assistant may just send it off for E-6 process!

When you get your negatives back they will look like this:

Little or no shadow detail and a purple/blue colour with clear rebates.

After printing or scanning the positive image will probably look very strange, high contrast and normally quite yellow or green (the unpredictability is part of the fun):

Depending on your subject you might like to leave it just like that, but in the above picture I felt that green skin tone was not that flattering.

So for the final rendition after scanning I sent the image to Photoshop to 'tweak' it in curves in order to give slightly better skin tones and increase the contrast. There is really no correct rendition of a cross processed image, but that's one of the things that makes it fun, you could even do a series all with different hue adjustments.

Experiment!

All Images and text ©Mark Antony Smith 2007

Milky Way

'Milky Way' Leica M4-P 1sec at F2 on Tri-x, light from passing cars

I feel there has been quite a lot of technical type entries of late, so for a change here's a shot taken in low light.

Agfapan 100

Athough Agfafilm are no longer trading (Chemical and minilab are) there is still a fair few rolls of this and their other films still available.
The batch I have is dated use by 2011 and is probably the last batch made before the Leverkusen factory shut down.
Agfa APX is a 'conventional' grain structure film with a very long tonal range and fine grain and is I believe one of the best (if you can find it) for portraits or any long tonal range subject.

Unfortuanately this film is becoming harder to find especially in 120, so if you want to try it now is probably your last chance.
It has been one of my standard films for many years and once it has gone it will be sadly missed.
The best thing about this film is its ablity to hold on to highlights and the same time retain good shadow detail, combined with Rodinal at higher dilutions it gives tonal values that are beautiful.


I love this film for its ability to keep shadows and highlights and maintain what seems to be a huge range of tones inbetween.
This helps to give an illusion of an almost three dimensional image, and in my opinion APX is one of the most 'underrated' emulsions of all time.

All images and text ©Mark Antony Smith 2007

Adox CHS 100 ART



The Adox brand has had a very complex history. Originally a German company formed in 1860 by Dr Carl Schleussner to manufacter photographic plates both for cameras and X-Ray (Dr Schleussener was a pioneer in X-Ray photography).
Fast forward to 1952, when they introduced a range of 35mm films, renound for their thin emulsion and outstanding sharpness, which became very popular with photographers.

Ten years later Adox became the property of American company DuPont, who then licenced the film technology to Yugoslavian company Fotokemika, who kept on poducing the original emulsions under a new name EFKE.

Now into this century, and the films are still produced in Zagreb (Croatia) to the original 1952 specs, but the film has now returned back to the Adox branding- confused?
Well don't be! Adox 100 and EFKE KB21 are basically the same emulsion, not only that they haven't essentially changed since the 1950's
Here is a shot I took on EFKE KB21 (100) in 1991:



So how does the 2007 EFKE/Adox rate?
Firstly the film is packaged quite well, 120 rolls come in a neat container, 35mm come in the type of cassette that can be reused should you 'roll your own' and looks to be the same type as Ilford and Agfa used in the 1970s.
The films feel thin when you load them into the camera (and later in the film spiral for processing).

I set the ISO on my spot-meter to 100 as in my experience these are 'fussy' films that need good exposure and development to give best results. But when you get accustomed to their idiosyncrasies they can be more than rewarding, with smooth tonal range and very good sharpness.
Below is a shot of a local church taken on a rather dull afternoon.



and the 100% crop



If you look at the lower centre right area you'll notice the time on the City Hall clock 3:47, the sharpness is pretty good for a cubic crystal (as opposed to T-Grain) film although in duller conditions I may in future rate this film at 80ISO or process it at 1:50 as the grain is quite visible in the sky area.

This film is one I would use if I wanted high sharpness, but needed long tones with just a little grain.

All Images and text ©Mark Antony Smith 2007

Ilford FP4 Plus



This film was the first B&W film I ever used, although now called FP4 'plus' it has very similar characteristics to the original.
One thing that has changed is the packaging which is a white box rather than the old black, something that has made me confuse it with Ilfords other 100ISO film Delta 100.
FP4 is a 'medium' speed (125ISO) film with quite fine grain and good tonal range. I feel (as do some other photographers I know) that it is best when slightly down rated to 80-100ISO and this is how I have used it for many years, as it gives better shadow detail.



Whenever I come back to FP4 using it feels like I'm with an old friend; I know its basic character so well. It does most things very well which makes it a good all round film but personally I feel it can lack depth in certain situations, but most of the time it suits the job very well.
Grain and sharpness I rate as good, in fact if you look below I was surprised how good the 100% crop looks.



Below is the 100% crop.


The Black bag has gold writing on it, and this can clearly be seen, definition is a little low but this could be the 1950's lens. Tonality is very good as this image was taken in bright sunlight, although I'm sure Rodinal helped preserve the scale.
FP4+ is a very capable film, and one that most photographers could use with confidence if they need a medium speed film.

All Images and text ©Mark Antony Smith 2007

Fuji Neopan Acros



This film despite having the word 'new' all over its packaging has been around since 2002, I suppose compared to others in these tests that is fairly new!

This film has one of the finer grain structures of 100 speed films, depending on which developer you opt for will give grain similar or better than T-Max 100 (TMX), and is an excellent choice when accutance and fine grain are called for.

Some feel that the film is a little contrasty and can look 'clinical' or 'metallic' and dare I say digital feel. While it may be true that there are films with a nicer tonal range this can be helped by developer choice.



Above is one of my first attempts with the film and is processed in Paterson FX39 and clearly shows the films overall contrast whilst still holding the highlights although I feel the shadows are a little blocked

Below is the result you get from a Diluted Rodinal (1:100 at 18 mins)


Notice how the highlights (especially the sky) have been held yet so has the detail in the shadows this is one of the reasons I rate Rodinal so highly, for its ability to work well with variable dilution's.

Grain is very fine in fact probably the finest 100 speed available although it is very close to T-Max 100 I prefer Acros for the way it both scans and prints.
Acros is my film of choice for 120, I feel it gives both the acutance and tonal range, although for 35mm I prefer 'conventional' films for some subjects such as portraits and subjects that require a softer approach.
But if you mainly shoot Landscapes or detailed subjects Acros is the way to go.

All Images and text ©Mark Antony Smith 2007

Adox CHS 25 ART



This film has been around since the 1950's and is the same as the EFKE emulsion that was called KB14.
I had used the KB14 version of this film in the 1980's and found it to be a little contrasty for my taste (which was Agfa AP25) and as most of my shooting at the time was done on 400 speed films, I didn't really persevere in finding a good exposure/development time combination.

Now in the 21st century I find myself trying the film again, this time armed with 3 rolls and some time to 'nail' a setting.
The film is pretty much as I remembered it, contrasty, slow and pretty fine grained, I eventually settled on a development time of 18mins in Rodinal at 1:100 which gives the long range of tones I like for scanning.

Also it must be noted that this is a thin emulsion that needs to be handled carefully, especially in 120 size. With a one min pre-soak (which will look blue when tipped out).


Adox CHS 25 at 18min in Rodinal 1:100, Leica M4-P. Canon 35mm 1.8'S'

The image above was taken early in the day in quite bright sunlight and clearly shows how well this film can handle contrast if processed carefully using a lower contrast developer or higher dilution.


Adox CHS 25 at 8min in Rodinal 1:50, Leica M4-P. Canon 35mm 1.8'S'

below is a 100% crop of the door in the above image which was taken in very bright conditions at mid-day.




As you can see, the detail is good and the grain is fine especially for an 'old tech' type film and certainly OK up to 12x18 (A3+) most of the grain/noise is probably introduced during scanning.

So overall i like this film, with the exception of the excessive contrast caveat which can clearly be seen in the two images posted (the second image was processed 1:50 at recommended times and is higher in contrast).
Who'd have thought the old film was so good, whether films like Acros or T-Max 100 give similar results at higher speeds is debatable but if you like the old tech films and the way they handle this film is worth a try.
All Images and text ©Mark Antony Smith 2007