Film choices: Black and white film on 4x5"

[anyone]

Hi there,

I'm planning to experiment with a few new film types on 4x5" and would like to ask if anyone tried them before? My standard film is Ilford Delta 100 that is developed in DD-X using a CPE2.

The candidates are:
RPX 25 for very high resolution at an affordable price;
Foma 100 for experimental things.

I'd develop both in Rodinal, which I heard should not do good with rotation. So probably stand developing is the choice here.

What do you think of those films compared to my standard choice of Delta 100?

Thank you!

 

[MartinN]

I do have Foma 100 as my standard sheet film because of money reasons. It's a bit grainy, I think, in comparison to Delta 100. However, I never drumscan so my Epson V700 could not handle much more resolution. Foma 100 responds very well to different developers, and I mostly use Rodinal, HC-110 or Studional (Rodinal Spezial). It is really a great film for the price.

 

[MartinN]

BTW I am going to do Rollei Ortho 25 and Agfa Copex Rapid in 120 format, because there I have 5300ppi real resolution to play with. I have thought to buy RPX 25, but haven't made up my mind.

 

[anyone]

I do have Foma 100 as my standard sheet film because of money reasons. It's a bit grainy, I think, in comparison to Delta 100. However, I never drumscan so my Epson V700 could not handle much more resolution. Foma 100 responds very well to different developers, and I mostly use Rodinal, HC-110 or Studional (Rodinal Spezial). It is really a great film for the price.

With the Foma 100 I'm most thinking whether it makes sense. On the one hand, the price is great and of course tempting. On the other hand, my volumes in 4x5" are so low that the black and white film choice does not really matter. But when I shoot 4x5", I like to get as much detail as possible. As I do have a drum scanner and an Imacon Flextight here, I'm also able to transfer this detail to the digital world for further processing.

The bottleneck is more the development and handling and the related time, as I can only process 6 films at a time.

PS: RPX25 is on sale in Germany currently, 40 EUR/ 25 sheets.

 

[MartinN]

BTW I usually order film from Macodirect. However, due to EU rules, they have passed the limit for foreign volume sales, so they have started to charge Finnish VAT of 24% from me. Ouch.

 

[MartinN]

Film is such a strange thing, if you don't buy it today for storage it will be more expensive tomorrow.

 

[MartinN]

Some people say Fomapan 200 is T/Deltagrain hybrid. I don't believe it.

 

[anyone]

Film is such a strange thing, if you don't buy it today for storage it will be more expensive tomorrow.

That's true, but an expired film that is not reliable anymore is also not that helpful. On the other hand, if B&W film is stored in the freezer, it will last at least a decade. But I will follow this approach and stock up another 100 package of Delta 100 4x5".

Concerning new film choices, I'm torn in between "improve the technique with what you know already", i.e. try to further improve my shooting with the Delta 100. On the other hand, I'm curious to try new films.

Now I read a few reviews of the RPX25 that I want to share here:

Film Review – Rollei RPX 25

When I first learned about the RPX line of film I was pretty excited, these days we often get news of discontinuation of films more than the addition of a new film stock. I was

www.alexluyckx.com

Films i love: Rollei RPX 25 — Oliver Grimm Photography

Every now and then you are confronted with what I call a ‘grower’. It may be a record, a movie or in this very case a film. Growers don’t show their quality at first sight—some of them do but not many. They grow, with every time we hear the track, watch that movie or use and develop a film.

www.olivergrimm.info

Rollei RPX 25 Black and White Film

Late in 2013, three new black and white films were launched by eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d=k||c.toString(a)}k=}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k){p=p.replace(new…

www.uklandscapephotographer.com

The contrast seems to be hard to handle, i.e. the chance to get shadows without detail seems to be high. Resolution is reported to be excellent. if handled properly, it seems very promising to me.

 

[MartinN]

I have tried to manage the ENOURMOUS contrast of 4x5 Rollei ATO 2.1 and Wephota FO5. They are as sharp as an ancient Japanese sword, but the contrast is on the verge to unsurmountable. I have tried David Kachel's SLIMT http://davidkachel.com/wpNewDK/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SLIMTs_Practical_Application.pdf
with either copper or ferricyanide, but my results showed worse shadow retention with SLIMT. Plain development was in my opinion the way to go. However, compensating stand development seems to be beneficial.

I think Rollei RPX 25 is an easypeasy film to handle compared to those mentioned here.

 

[MartinN]

I like the Alex Luyckx 6x6. So SMOOTH. Thats simply great (Rollei RPX 25). Thats the rewards of panchromatic pictorial film. Perceptol is magic. I have a packet in storage, but it goes stale mixed very fast.

 

[anyone]

I like the Alex Luyckx 6x6. So SMOOTH. Thats simply great (Rollei RPX 25). Thats the rewards of panchromatic pictorial film. Perceptol is magic. I have a packet in storage, but it goes stale mixed very fast.

I guess it's a matter of taste: to my liking, the Blazinal (Rodinal) development looks very nice. But in general, I agree, very nice results on his page. I'll give it a try, let's see how I will survive with these contrasts.

 

[anyone]

I just read in a German forum about another variable to consider: the RPX25 seems to be really, really thin and therefore (physically) difficult to handle, including the loading of film holders and removing the film from them.

 

[MartinN]

Rollei ATO 2.1 and Wephota FO5 are lith films on a special base, and the thinnenst of thins. That is actually a requirement for super-resolution. Loading a cassette is not a problem. Developing is a little problematic, I use MOD54 and agitation has to be quite soft, but I usually do stand and don't have any problems. Other than the MOD54 may be better suited.

 

[MartinN]

It has happened a few times, that the sheets have dislocated from the MOD54 and got stuck on the inside of my Paterson tank, and that is the main problem to avoid. However, if the emulsion is faced inside to the tank, I think they have developed ok. Overlapping sheets is disaster.

 

[MartinN]

I just ordered some Fomapan 100 4x5. Usually I prefer 9cmx12cm, but who knows when that size is not available anymore, and then I may have to give away those filmholders. Certainly I won’t use scissors. Fomapan is so forgiving, and one of the easiest films to handle and develop. Couldn’t help myself.

 

[MartinN]

I have to admilt I had occasional problems with Wephota FO 5 today. A few sheets jammed and got lost, and I don’t know where the problem really was, but probably I have to load very much more carefully next time. Perhaps the sheets were partly in the channel for the darkslide.

 

[anyone]

Ordering done. I'll try RPX25 and Foma100 and stand development using Rodinal.

 

[MartinN]

I had problems with the film holders and out of 10 sheets I got 7 properly exposed and one creased. Two jammed the darkslide in the filmholder and got loose inside the camera. I think one must be very careful with thin films because I belive there is a greater possibility, than with normal films, that the film get inserted at on side accidentally in the darkslide groove. Then I did my MOD54 development with just four films at a time, and not the maximum six films. I think hereafter I will always do batches of four films, because of the possibility of films loaded wrongly with six films maxed out. With Foma I can manage six.

 

[anyone]

I had problems with the film holders and out of 10 sheets I got 7 properly exposed and one creased. Two jammed the darkslide in the filmholder and got loose inside the camera. I think one must be very careful with thin films because I belive there is a greater possibility, than with normal films, that the film get inserted at on side accidentally in the darkslide groove. Then I did my MOD54 development with just four films at a time, and not the maximum six films. I think hereafter I will always do batches of four films, because of the possibility of films loaded wrongly with six films maxed out. With Foma I can manage six.

Try before putting the darkslide in with your fingernails whether the notches are free. This way you should feel if the film accidentally went into the wrong notch.

 

[MartinN]

Ordering done. I'll try RPX25 and Foma100 and stand development using Rodinal.

You can certainly try stand development with Foma 100, but even vigourous agitation should not be impossible. Some, have mentioned they get easier blown out highlights with Foma films, but I have not experienced that. Maybe with enlarger printing, but a good scanner can take a high dmax.