Gast
With the launch of the ADOX range, FOTOIMPEX now offers film, developer and paper for every genre.
What I’m missing is a 220 film. Ilford stopped producing it after going bust. Kodak only stocks Tri-X and a few colour films in Europe. They don’t want to supply Plus X in Europe.
In the studio and for reportage, 220 is always an advantage because you don’t have to change rolls so often.
Can’t Efke design its 100 film to be twice the length?
Or is there no factory in the world apart from Kodak that can do this?
Guy Meurs
Diest
Belgium
CPD
I’m also sad to see the 220 go. However, an Ilford employee once mentioned on another forum what percentage of films sold were 220s: the figure was sobering, and it’s perfectly understandable that, given such low demand, no manufacturer is willing to offer this format any longer. It’s a shame, because the 220 really does offer enormous advantages.
Regards, CP
MirkoBoeddecker
...and, unfortunately, also enormous DISADVANTAGES.
As I cannot stress enough: it is incredibly difficult to maintain film quality WITHOUT the photographic parameters plummeting.
Only a factory with enormous production volumes of millions of square metres can afford to synthesise these chemical substances. The new Kodak films are significantly softer than the old ones. I can well imagine why. At Ilford, the path will certainly also lead in this direction in the medium term.
Without the protective paper acting as a ‘sliding film’, there is unfortunately a risk that the 220 film will get scratched.
The protective paper for roll films now has to be made by hand – the last factory has thrown in the towel.
We already have enough trouble preventing light leaks at the edges (which is why we now also have the black containers as double protection). With 220 film, this is even more critical.
Furthermore, the whole thing isn’t economically viable because there are only a few cameras that can use this type of film at all, and almost no new ones are being built. The market would therefore be in decline from the outset.
However, we can still supply KODAK TRIX 320. This is still available in 220 format.
With ATM49, the film also works quite well for landscape photography (it’s actually a wedding photography film with a modulated grey-scale curve).
Some leading photographers use this combination and are very satisfied.
Best regards,
Mirko
Gast
Hi Mirko,
I don’t quite understand that, though. Neither lead-coated film nor sheet film has a backing paper, and they don’t get scratched either.
Best regards, CP
Gast
Tri-X is a good alternative, but as Mirko said, it actually has a greyish cast for portraits.
It’s not exactly of fine grain either.
For my other shots, I use 120 film (ADOX 50 and 100). The latter is an excellent portrait film in the studio.
In the early 1980s, I used the 70 mm film format myself for high-altitude photography. Unfortunately, this is no longer an option either. This is, of course, partly due to the fact that there were very few labs capable of conducting its development.
Either I could develop the colour films myself in my Minilab film developing machines (Agfa and Fuji), or the cassette would no longer be used.
Even with 220 colour film, it wasn’t always easy to develop the entire roll in a minilab without any problems. I usually had the colour films developed in a hanging unit.
Guy Meurs
Diest
Belgium
Gast
Hi Guy,
You can still find a few items of 70mm film here and there:
http://aerial.agfa.com/
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller...e.x=7&image.y=7
You’ll just have to develop it yourself or find a lab that specialises in processing aerial film.
Best regards, CP
Gast
Hi Guy,
Foto-Hauck-Werbestudios in Mannheim apparently also offers 70mm film. Why not give them a ring?
Best regards
MirkoBoeddecker
Maco is planning a 70mm perforated film based on the new Rollei films currently in development.
Price: approximately €120 for 30.5 metres.
However, this information should still be regarded as provisional ;-)
MirkoBoeddecker
@ CP:
35mm films have perforations, sprockets and, relative to the film width, a very wide guide.
With medium format, the ratio is different (very narrow margin) and the film carrier must ‘support’ a much greater film width without the film sagging, catching or snagging anywhere.
To do this, it requires pressure across the entire image window area from the pressure plate.
Sheet films are carefully slid into the cassettes and removed just as carefully.
This is quite different from roll transport under film tension to ensure flatness and tight winding of the take-up spool without any light leak.
The film has to cool down quite a bit.
It is what it is, and one of the reasons why the relatively soft microfilms aren’t available as roll film either....
At the moment, however, we’re experimenting with hard plastic injection moulding for improved spool cores. This might open up whole new possibilities ;-)
Mirko
Gast
Hello,
In an email, Maco – I’d contacted him previously about double-perforated 70mm film – gave me the address of a company where you can have 70mm film perforated (Maco already has a few rolls of unperforated film on offer). Unfortunately, the price is a bit steep.
If you don’t have the right equipment, such as a film loader and an oversized film canister, there’s no point in using 70mm film anyway: I was lucky enough to be able to buy some of that gear, along with a Habla magazine, a few years ago at a reasonable price (back then, FP4 was still available in 70mm). However, despite their undeniable advantages, I hardly ever use them anymore; the minimum quantities required are simply too large for me, and I’ll probably sell them off on eBay. A shame – yet another missed opportunity. You can wind from cassette to cassette, just like with the old Exakta, so you can remove partially exposed film at any time with minimal material loss, or perform exposure on around 70 shots in 6x6 format, or around 53 in 56x72 with Linhofs. Brilliant for travelling! In the USA, there used to be ready-made cassettes available. Oh well – the best system didn’t prevail with computer operating systems either, nor with video. So let’s buy what we can (still) get – and hopefully for a long time to come.
Regards, CP
