Rollei film

just saw this brand mentioned on a web page. Is there anything that make this film worth the extra cost except for a professional or very talented photographer?

Long day -- apparently there are two Rollie Films due to split sales of the brand. Have been looking into film in re: reviving my film cameras. Will post what I found in the morning, when I find a link.

Donald, as I understand it, the Rollei film brand is licenced to the German Macodirect retailer, and the B&W films are based on older Agfa emulsions, with the stock predominantly manufactured by Agfa Gevaert in Belgium. I tried the RPX 100 and 400 films a couple of years ago and found them pretty contrasty with a tendancy to clog shadow detail, though the grain was unobtrusive and the images very sharp. Overall, they have a increased red sensitivity, which may not be to everyone's taste. There's now quite a range of Rollei films, and they do tend to be a little more expensive than their competitors. I suspect it's a sort of "love/hate" situation regarding this brand, and I found the films didn't offer anything that would have encouraged me to experiment further. Of course, that's a very personal opinion...I don't think the criteria of "professional or very talented photographers" has much relevance in regard to choice of film!

Hello everyone. Don, I will 2nd Rick's comments on the RPX films. For several years (2011-14) I "tested" various Rollei emulsions & could only come up with one film, Retro 80s, that held my attention. Started with Caffenol, then 510-Pyro & finally with Rodinal. For some reason the 510-Pyro was giving me massive white dots on the emulsion, so Rodinal in both semi stand & straight up, is now used. Odd for me is that Obsidian Aqua has not been tried ! Ah, another "round to it" for my life.

I like the 80's ability to give separation of clouds & sky without a filter. Adding a G to this film is like a 25A (red) to "normal" film. Box speed rating of 80asa is used. 3ml of Rodinal in 450ml of DI water gets 20-22 mins & normal agitation, or 45 to 60 S/S with agitation (2x) points at 2,4,8,15,30 mins. I find the 45min "dump" point is my favorite for "normal" contrast negs. My only "grumble" of the film is the need to use VERY SUBDUED light when loading/unloading the film. The PET substrate is a light pipe !

80s is listed in Freestyles web site. Might I recommend a tour thru the Caffenol blog site. www.caffenolblogspot.com Reinhold is the guy who put caffenol into measurement form. Scroll down the right side of the page & you will find the Rollei films in the "Labels" field. Bear in mind the dates of entries, but it is still good info. Bill

Edited September 11, 2017 by Bill Bowes

Really nice results

The only one I've used is the IR film. It's a nice film, but does not have the sensitivity of Kodak HIE.

 

I've rated the IR film at EI 6, which makes it difficult to use off a tripod(in 35mm, I'm at 1/60 and close to wide open with a 50mm 1.4 under full sun). Also, I found the base quite fragile-I actually tore one roll during rewind(in a Nikon F3).

 

Still, I like that most of their films(all?) are available up to 4x5 and even reasonably priced in cut film sizes.

Don, also check out some of Mike Gamill's work with the Rollei Pan 25 & S/S development in Rodinal. Bill

Donald, as I understand it, the Rollei film brand is licenced to the German Macodirect retailer, and the B&W films are based on older Agfa emulsions, with the stock predominantly manufactured by Agfa Gevaert in Belgium. I tried the RPX 100 and 400 films a couple of years ago and found them pretty contrasty with a tendancy to clog shadow detail, though the grain was unobtrusive and the images very sharp. Overall, they have a increased red sensitivity, which may not be to everyone's taste. There's now quite a range of Rollei films, and they do tend to be a little more expensive than their competitors. I suspect it's a sort of "love/hate" situation regarding this brand, and I found the films didn't offer anything that would have encouraged me to experiment further. Of course, that's a very personal opinion...I don't think the criteria of "professional or very talented photographers" has much relevance in regard to choice of film!

I was speaking for myself. I am tone, contrast and cast blind so I was just wondering if it would make any difference for someone like me. By the way, I have used D76 and hc110 and hc110 suits my tastes. I see a lot of use ordinal and caffenol . Are these more complicated to use and what are their advantages.

Once you have figured out all the in's n out's of your two present developer, and are REALLY BORED with same O, same O, results, get crazy & start another developer ! Bill

Some Rollei films have only limited recommendations for HC110 on the massive development chart. I just experimented with dilution H until I found a time that worked. But that was just for Rolleipan 25. I did shoot a couple of rolls of 80S but don't remember what I used.