Efke R25 / R50

Gast · 2003-06-14T21:40:44+00:00

Hallo, nach einiger Zeit der Laborabstinenz möchte ich es wieder angehen; deswegen ein paar Fragen zu den Efke Filmen R25 bzw. R50: Wie ist der Eindruck je...

Gast

Hello, After a while away from the darkroom, I’d like to get back into it; so I have a few questions about the Efke R25 and R50 films: What’s the general impression, beyond the technical aspects, when compared to other ‘old’ emulations like Plus-X, newer ones (APX) and high-tech films (Acros)? How fine-grained are they actually, e.g. compared to APX 25 (rest in peace...), Pan F, APX 100 or even Delta 100 in the same developer? Can I now leave the yellow-green for landscapes and blue for skin tones in the bag? If higher-speed, thick-layer films such as 400 ISO can handle more grey tones than low-speed ones (at least that’s what I was taught...), what about the Efkes, which presumably contain considerably more silver than their ‘modern’ counterparts? Is it just my impression, or do some people actually develop Efke films in fine-grain developers? Why? I would have considered Rodinal, Neofin Blaue (or perhaps even Pyro) – fine grain is already there, so you could go all out for edge sharpness!? (This is a serious question; perhaps I’m missing something here...) What do you use to develop? Many thanks in advance for your replies! Best regards, Michael

Gast

Hello Michael, So far, I’ve used a few rolls of KB25 and a few more of KB50. I find the films have a very fine grain and lovely grey tones. The KB50 is perfectly adequate for me in this respect (perhaps the 100 is too; I’m going to give that a go now). I did my first attempts in Ultrafin liquid, but then switched to F09 and haven’t regretted it. Harald

cfb_de

Hello Harald, Could you please tell me your exposure times, development rate and contrast for the Ultrafin liquid developer combined with R50? That would give me a practical guide and I wouldn’t have to test the table values first. Best regards, Franz

Gast

Hi Franz, I’ve worked my way through the FOTOIMPEX table ;-) First 1+20 – 6 mins, then 1+30 – 7 mins; I skipped the 3.5 mins for 1+10 as it was too short for my liking. I much preferred the 1+20 version. Harald

cfb_de

Hello Harald, Thank you! Best regards, Franz

uworischki

I process Efke 50 (though as 120 film) in R09 at a dilution of 1:100 for 20 minutes... and I’m very happy with the results!

Gast

I process the Efke 50 (though as 120 film) in R09 at 1:100 for 20 minutes... and I’m very happy with the results!

How often do you shake the canister? I develop Efke KB50 in F09 1:80 for approx. 11 to 11.5 minutes. I tilt the can continuously for the first 30 seconds, then once every 30 seconds. I haven’t made any paper prints from these films yet (I don’t have a darkroom at the moment), but they look great when scanned. Harald

uworischki

Sorry for the late reply* – my shutter speed: constant for the first 30 seconds, then 3 times per minute. You can find the results at www.photoportale.de. Look under ‘Members’ for Uwe Risch. I’ve got some photos from Crete there. All taken with an R50 at f/0.9, 1:100. Good shadow detail despite high contrast. Greetings from Berlin *My PC’s completely crashed at the moment... :huh:

micha

Hi, has anyone else tried the processing times for F09/Ultrafin Liquid and Efke films using rotary processing? Regards, Micha