Gast
Hello,
With the 120 Adox 50 and 100, I’ve noticed very similar light leaks right into the frame. No, I didn’t change the film in direct sunlight, nor did I store it incorrectly, etc.
I suspect poor manufacturing, as I’ve now noticed this on around 20 films since coming back from holiday. And no protective cover helps against the occasional peeling of the emulsion at the edges.
Can’t the manufacturer fix this for a reasonable extra charge?
Asks ThomasN
MirkoBoeddecker
Thomas,
The question is probably what we both mean by ‘incorrect’ storage.
We have hundreds of films being developed here, and only in very few cases does a light leak occur.
Were the films delivered in the black plastic tins and have you kept them in there the whole time?
There are many reasons for a light leak. The most common, apart from “storage in the light”, is the film being wound too loosely (insufficient tension in the film guide).
The protective paper currently in use comes from Germany and is the European reference standard. It doesn’t get any “better” than that.
Unfortunately, things are likely to get worse in future because this manufacturer has ceased production, and in future, everyone will have to cut and seal their own protective paper for roll films.
That is why we have had the new roll film containers specially made.
It is not possible to increase the emulsion’s light sensitivity. These are simply films that have been manufactured more or less unchanged for over 50 years.
On the one hand, this provides the typical characteristic look, but on the other hand, it also requires careful handling.
There is nothing we can do about that. Adding a protective agent to the emulsion would mean that the speed would drop to 20% or less.
All thin-layer, high-resolution films share this characteristic of a soft emulsion.
First and foremost, microfilms (Gigabit/Copex, Imagelink, etc.)
For many years, we have sold hundreds of thousands of efke films and there have never been any complaints. Nothing has changed in all those years. The fact that such posts are now appearing more and more frequently in forums can only be explained (apart from smear campaigns by competitors) by the fact that the film has become known to a wider group of users who are not as deeply immersed in the subject as the specialists who previously took the trouble to ‘find’ us and have already made all the mistakes.
When a “normal” user switches from Kodak or Ilford to efke/ADOX, naturally everything that can go wrong does at first.
It’s perfectly possible to get flawless images with an ADOX 50 ASA film.
It’s just a bit trickier than with standard film.
If you haven’t used the film canisters yet (original efke material), that would be my tip. And as I said, check the film tension.
During development, don’t exceed 20 degrees and agitate gently.
It will definitely work if you follow all these steps.
Best regards,
Mirko
Gast
Hi Mirko,
No – I’m not working for the competition. Whenever I come to Berlin, I always like to buy my supplies from you, and that’s how it will stay. Incidentally, these issues haven’t occurred with Foma.
I store my films in the fridge in my darkroom. When I’m out and about, they go in my camera bag. I wanted to buy some plastic containers on my last shopping trip – but had no luck. I made do by wrapping the films that have been exposed in aluminium foil straight away. There might be something in what you say about the tension. It’s a bit tricky to handle in the Rollei with its rather long ‘lead-in’.
As for the loosened emulsion, it’s not a major issue if, after fixing, developing, rinsing and drying, it remains limited to ‘edge effects’ and these detachments don’t spread over time. I’ll take a look at the remaining 20 films, and if I can reliably reduce the light leak to the minimal edge effects, I’ll be happy to stick with this otherwise truly lovely material. And perhaps you’ll sell me 5 or 10 plastic containers on my next visit.
Wishing you a lovely weekend,
Thomas
CPD
Hello,
If you don’t have any roll film containers yet, you can make do with the effervescent tablet tubes from Aldi and the like. They hold exactly two rolls of film. Colour them in with a black felt-tip pen first. They’re certainly not as nice or as light-tight as the containers, but I’ve been using them ever since I read that tip in a magazine years ago.
Best regards
CP
Gast
I had the same problem with this film.
I stored it in a black container and developed it in the darkroom.
MirkoBoeddecker
Guest,
Who are you, and what is the emulsion number of your film?
I’d be happy to have a look, but there’s no way I can develop every single film we have in stock :P
Best regards,
Mirko
