Developing Agfa APX

I shoot Agfa 400 APX black and white and have decided to start developing the

film myself. I would appreciate a few suggestions as to developer to use for

this film, and even more some simple directions about how to develop, step by

step, for the developer you are suggesting. Long ago I used to develop BW so I

recall all the prefatory stuff like winding the film onto the reels and the

general progression from developer to fixer, and getting the right temperature

of the liquids.

 

This is a lot to ask, but I would be grateful for the help. Thanks ahead of

time. rolly

If you are not already familiar with it, there is the <a href="http://digitaltruth.com/devchart.html">Massive Development Chart</a> at Digital Truth. It serves as a good starting point in terms of development times for various film and developer combos. Your individual times may end up varying due to agitation techniques and other process variables.

I use ID-11, 1:1 for 14.30 min @68 degrees.

 

I see on the chart from Ilford it also has ID-11

 

stock 10 min @68 degrees

1:3 25 min. @68 degrees

 

Hope this helps you!

Do you already shoot APX400, but until recently, have had them developed at a lab? Did you like the results from that lab? If so, you may want to find out what developer they used.

 

My response would be HC-110 (Dil B), XTOL (1+1 or 1+2) or Diafine (@500 EI) -- Why? Because those are the developers I'm most familiar with. Others will respond according to their own experiences and what you'll get is a whole laundry list of developers.

 

Simple directions (35mm or 120):

 

1) In complete darkness/changing bag, load film onto reel, then place reel in tank. Place light-tight cover on tank.

 

2) You may turn on the light. Pour developer into tank. Agitate (different ways/methods/preferences to do this).

 

3) Stop bath for 30-45 seconds.

 

4) Fixer for 6-8 mintues

 

5) Water wash - about 30-45 seconds

 

6) Hypo clearing agent - 1-2 minutes

 

7) Water wash - about 5 minutes

 

8) 1 ltr water, 2.5ml Photo Flo, 30ml rubbing alcohol - 1-2 minutes

 

9) Hang to dry -- preferably in humid area. Attach a clothespin to the bottom of the roll.

 

10) Make sure you wash out the tank THOROUGHLY before you use it again -- you don't want residue from the Photo Flo mixture when you develop your next roll.

 

Good luck!

 

KL

Thank you all for the input.Evan, that's a great web resource, I appreciate it. Bill and Keith, thanks for the more explicit directions, which is what a novice like me needs. Keith, no I am not satisfied with my lab which was why I decided to save the money on development and also put matters into my control.

Rodinal and Agfa APX are made for each other - literally. Follow the instruction sheets that came with the film/developer/stop bath/fixer/ clearing agent and you can't go wrong.

Rodinal and the revised APX 400 are not particularly well suited to each other. If you have the last version of APX 400 made, rate it no faster than 200 if you want to try Rodinal and get the best results. Agfa's own data supports this. It will provide acceptable results at 400, but not the best.

Lex-- I aways shoot apx at 200. I have always had it developed commercially as if at "normal" for dip and dunk.

Rolly, 200 is a good speed for this film. Unfortunately, most labs tend toward overdevelopment. I suspect they assume that most people tend to underexpose their film. You're probably getting more contrast, a higher CI and more grain than desirable for best results.

IMO Rodinal and Ultrafin are good for Agfapan 400. Exposure rate might need an adjustment, would try from 200 to 320ASA. Do not be afraid to use Rodinal more concentrated then AGFA suggest, like 1:25 -> 1:10 might get you happy. Otherwise Kodak D76.

Shoot it at 400 and use Diafine it looks great.

Here is the Rollei Retro developing table.

Rollei/Maco bought the last production run 2005 APX films when Agfa Photo went down.

 

Indeed pretty good in Rodinal 1+25 (or 1+50), 1+10 you can use (also) for photo paper development.

 

Suggested E.I. 200 to 400 depending on your light contrast scene conditions and indeed the film can have a large over-exposure but hardly any under exposure.

 

http://www.fotohuisrovo.nl/documentatie/Development_Rollei%20films.pdf

 

Retro 100 is APX 100 (new) and Retro 400 is APX 400 (new) compatible. All films are made from the 35mm, 135 micron APX material.

A rank novice question-- but what is meant by 1+25, 1+1 etc?

 

The film I am using still has quite a few years before expiration, so maybe it is part of the Rollei/Maco production run. I really like the way agfa 400 looks-- lots of grays, to my eye, a very rich look. But as I mentioned, there has been too much inconsistency in how the lab I use sometimes nails it, sometimes is off.

One of the last jumbo rolls (APX/Retro) are from 1010 exp. date.

 

The change of APX 400 to APX 400 (new) was in 2003.

 

1+25 is a dilution ratio: One (1) part developer + 25 parts water to make your working (one shot) developer solution.

And the official minimum amount of Rodinal for one 135-36 or 120 roll film (same area) is 10ml but in practice the real minimum is 5-6ml pro film.

So that means in a high dilution Rodinal you need a larger volume developing tank.

 

Rodinal is a para-amino phenol developer suitable for slow and medium speed film. It gives films an enhance acutance effect (especially suitable for classical cubical film crystals) and a high sharpness. However pronounced grain and therefore (unless you want that effect) for slower speed films only.

Rodinal like slow agitation. In rotary development the acutance parameter is gone.

 

The liquid concentrate has a tremendous long lifetime (> 10 years). A real exception in liquid developers.

Hi Rollie,

 

1:25 is one part stock solution to 25 parts water.

 

If you used 1 ounce of stock then you would add 25 ounces of water for a total of 26

ounces.

 

!+1 would be equal parts of stock with water.

 

If you need 16 ounces, for 1 reel of 120 or 220 film then 8 ounces of stock plus 8 ounces

of water would then total 16 ounces.

 

Hope this helps you!

Sorry It should say "Hi Rolly!"

Ah, now I get it! Thank you both.