EFKE KB25 processing

Gast

Hello, I’m Flemish and I understand quite a bit of German, but I can’t write it. So please forgive me for posting in English, but you can reply in German – no problem. My favourite film for studio work (with flash) is the EFKE KB25. I use it at 25 ASA. I’ve found a good way to develop it with A49: small tank (300ml), 1 roll of film, 1+2 – 8 minutes 45 seconds Continuous agitation for the first minute, then 3 seconds every 30 seconds Then I heard that the film is much sharper in Tetenal Neofin Blau. Tested this developer and got acceptable negatives in a small tank (500ml) – 1 roll – 15ml of developer in a total solution of 500ml – 6 minutes 15 seconds – 1 x 3-second agitation per minute The result in Neofin Blau is sharper, all right, but it looks rather ugly. The greys aren’t beautiful and there’s something artificial about it. Especially with model photography, you have a problem with this extreme ‘contour’ sharpness: the ‘imperfections’ in the skin become very visible. I’ve never used a pre-soak in water for the KB25 (a 1-minute water bath before starting development). Could that have something to do with it??? If you do use a water bath, how does this affect your development times?? I hope to receive a reply from someone. I’d also like to thank the team at FOTOIMPEX – it’s great to know there are more fellow darkroom enthusiasts out there in this ‘digital’ age. Kind regards Robert Van Brustum Artistic photography by Robert Van Brustum

Gast

Hi, What you’re describing is exactly the Beutler (=Neofin Blaue) look – high acutance, sharp edges, plenty of micro-contrast, but poor mid-tones, a sort of etched look (like traditional engravings), sometimes derisively referred to as ‘soot and whitewash’. This may be great for certain types of landscape or architectural photography (in fact, I’m currently testing developers to achieve this look), but it certainly isn’t what you want for portraits – there, grain-dissolving developers WITHOUT edge effects will be much better – since for portraiture, smooth skin tones (= low micro-contrast, fine grain) and edges that aren’t overly pronounced are usually best. I personally use A49 (1+1) when I want to shoot portraits (Perceptol or other super-fine-grain developers will also work), but I used Rodinal (and am testing PyrocatHD, Beutler and a Metol-2-bath) for landscapes where I want extra sharpness. Conclusion: Whilst it is not advisable to change developers all the time, on the other hand there are certain types of developers that work best with certain kinds of photography, so you might choose two very different developers and get to know them, to use for specific purposes; or simply use ID11 for everything (it will produce good results with any type of film and any subject matter – though it doesn’t excel in any particular category either – it’s ‘middle-of-the-road’. Roman

Gast

Hello, I’m Flemish and I understand quite a bit of German, but I can’t write it. So please forgive me for posting in English, but you can reply in German – no problem. My favourite film for studio work (with flash) is the EFKE KB25. I use it at 25 ASA. I’ve found a good way to develop it with A49: small tank (300ml), 1 roll of film, 1+2 – 8 minutes 45 seconds Continuous agitation for the first minute, then 3 seconds every 30 seconds Then I heard that the film is much sharper in Tetenal Neofin Blau. Tested this developer and got acceptable negatives in a small tank (500ml) – 1 roll – 15ml of developer in a total solution of 500ml – 6 minutes 15 seconds – 1 x 3-second agitation per minute The result in Neofin Blau is sharper, all right, but it looks rather ugly. The greys aren’t beautiful and there’s something artificial about it. Especially with model photography, you have a problem with this extreme ‘contour’ sharpness: the ‘imperfections’ in the skin become very visible. I’ve never used a pre-soak in water for the KB25 (a 1-minute water bath before starting development). Could that have something to do with it??? If you use a water bath, how does this affect your development times?? I hope to receive a reply from someone. I’d also like to thank the team at FOTOIMPEX – it’s great to know there are more fellow darkroom enthusiasts out there in this “digital” age. Kind regards Robert Van Brustum Artistic photography by Robert Van Brustum

Hey Roman, Thanks for the explanation – I suspected it was something like that. Similar story: PAN F at 50asa in Ilfotec DDX 1+9 gives you super-sharp negatives, but again, an artificial sharpness. Then I’ll go back to A49 for studio shoots. As for the pre-soak in water: a 1-minute water bath before developing. How does this work with KB25? I thought adding 30 seconds for a single film processing Something pretty “amazing”: HP5 at 100 ASA, Perceptol stock. Works excellently for night photography – super detailed!! Thanks for everything, Roman, Robert [email=robert.vanbrustum@pandora.be]robert.vanbrustum@pandora.be[/email] Robert Van Brustum - Artistic Photography