michael-kielgmxnet
Hello everyone,
I recently tried the Silvermax for the first time and I’m really impressed. I developed it in Moersch Finol, using the times specified for the APX 100 minus 10%. This produces beautifully detailed negatives with a rich range of greys. The base paper is excellent too; the Silvermax curls much less than the APX, making it easier to handle when scanning.
I do have one small criticism, though, even if it’s just ‘whinging at a home-level’: I’m not at all keen on the numbering of the negatives, particularly the fact that it doesn’t start at 0. On top of that, some of the numbers are duplicated and blurred (by which I don’t mean that the numbering is tailored to the half-frame format, but that the same number appears several times, slightly offset, along the edge).
Could this perhaps be down to teething problems with the first batch that was produced, and will it (hopefully) be better with the next one?
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Best regards,
Michael
MirkoBoeddecker
Hello Michael,
The marking drum is from Forte and these frame numbers are from 1964 (original).
We haven’t yet figured out why some numbers are slightly blurred. Nor do we know what the half-frame numbers are all about.
All Forte, Classic, Bergger and early Arista films were marked in the same way. As no one has ever complained, we have continued with the packaging despite these minor issues.
However, we have already used lith films from a replacement drum combined with the original one to eliminate these small overexposures next to the numbers. These have now been eliminated since the penultimate batch.
Perhaps that was also what bothered you the most.
The machine notches the film at frame 1. Every film should start with the same number (unlike the films previously packaged by AP, where frame 45 was sometimes on the first one). However, as we are still unable to keep up with the packaging and delivery of Silvermax at the moment, we have postponed further ‘investigations’ until the summer break.
Best regards,
Mirko
michael-kielgmxnet
Hi Mirko,
Thanks for the info. Yes, I can live with the numbering for half-frame; it’s no different with the old Orwos and, to some extent, with the Rolleis either. However, if the numbering is faded, the contact sheets are hard to read and it might take longer to find the negative.
