Efke KB(25,50 or 100) Anyone have sample pics?

Looking at the old style emulsions with high silver content - is there really a

greater differentiation of the grayscale with these old style films? (When

compared to the newer T-grain style)<BR><BR>

Anyone have any sample scans up in their gallery on here? I'm a little

curious...might pick up a roll and try it...would be a fun break from shooting

slides.<BR>

Jed

I'm interested in what you find. I'll keep an eye out for a report after you've tried it. Where are you going to get the old film from?

Hi Jedidiah,

 

Here are two pics from my gallery. Both were shot on the Mt. Etna in Sicily, Italy:

 

http://www.photo4u.hu/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=8795&cat=500&ppuser=82

 

http://www.photo4u.hu/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=8594&cat=500&ppuser=82

Ooops. These are ISO25 rolls that were developed in D76 1:1. As I remember I added an extra minute to the suggested time by Efke. It was well known that you will have a slightly underdeveloped photo with the original dev times. Hope it helps you.

Hello Jed,

 

I shot quite a bit of Efke 25 this spring; good stuff if you can get past the emulsion defects and the light leaks around the paper in the 120 size.

 

I really liked it in Pyrocat HD, 2+2+100. I'll have to look up times for you, but memory tells me 11 minutes.

 

As far as the silver content thing... IDK, most say it's a myth and I tend to agree. After all, only so much silver can be exposed during an exposure and fixer takes away the rest.

They definitely have a unique look all their own, quite unlike the "state of the art" films from the larger manufacturers. I use the KB100 as my regular B&W film in 35mm, often processed by dr5 as monochrome slides, and both the R100 and R25 in medium format, processed commercially. Most of the B&W on my website is Efke KB100, except for some medium-format Tri-X images.

 

The 100 film, at least, produces very interesting results when used at night - my knowledge of the esoteric end of B&W photography is more limited than I like, but I believe what I'm seeing is the Sabbatier effect in bright highlights, like streetlights and so on. I can't find an example on my hard drive this morning, but perhaps someone else has one.

Jed, here are a few shots I've taken with some Efke KB-25. It's only the 25 and 50 speed

emulsions that give a somewhat unique (orthopan) look. The Efke 100 is a standard

panchromatic film.<div></div>

another...

Oops, forgot to attach the picture... and the tattoo shot was on Rollei Ortho 25, so disregard that. Below is Efke 25<div></div>

and one more<div></div>

I also forgot that Efke 25 does very well in Rodinal.

And

Hi, thanks for the info and the samples. The Efke 25 really does look promising. Do you rate it at 25 or 50 ISO?<BR><BR>

Does the orthopan part mean that it has different properties in the red spectrum? This might make it a good film for skin tones - compared to a modern panchromatic film, right? Or do I have that backwards?<BR>

Jed

I rated Efke 25 at an EI of 12, TTL metering.

 

Yes, the ortho part means it has different properties in the red spectrum. I believe it is less sensitive to red. That means you have to use a darker red filter to get the darker skies that you would with another pan film. Efke 25 makes a killer portrait film, especially with an 80B or darker blue filter.

 

With Efke films, at least the 25, you have to take every shot twice to steer around the QC problems. Other than that, it a great film.

 

Sorry about the poor scans, but hopefully all you folks out there in internet land will get the idea.

I've got quite a few Efke 25 & 100 shots in my galleries <A HREF="http://pch.fotopic.net"><B>here</B></A>. There are also one or two Efke 50 shots, but I've tended to use either 25 or 100 in 120, 9x12cm and 5x4" sizes.<P>

 

Both work really well in Rodinal 1+100, and also in PC-TEA 1+50. I always rate them at box speed. I have pushed Efke 25 to 100, after forgetting to set the meter back to the correct speed (doh!). I've never had any QA problems either, apart from one incidence of burning the red window frame numbers onto the negatives when using a box camera in the bright NZ sun (I didn't shield the window properly).<P>

 

<B><A HREF="http://images.fotopic.net/yb2y9u.jpg">Efke 25 in the Iskra</A></B><P>

 

<B><A HREF="http://images.fotopic.net/yh4v69.jpg">Cabbage Trees: Efke 25 in Zeiss Ikon Box Tengor</A></B><P>

I'll post a couple from last winter. KB50 Roll film. Old Standard Rolleiflex with uncoated Tessar. Souped in Rodinal 1:50.

The scans don't do justice to the midtone range.<div></div>

One more from the same roll<div></div>

With medium format (645 and 6x6) Efke R25 and R50 look the same if you don't enlarge more than 24x30cm. With 35mm you will notice that KB25 has finer grain.

 

They are less sensitive to red and more to blue than panchromatic films. If you use a yellow or orange filter you should expose maybe a half stop more than you do with pan-films. For example one and a half stop more instead of one with a medium yellow filter.

 

You can say that the orthopanchromatic Efke 25 and 50 have a "built-in" light blue filter. The opposite to Kodak Technical Pan that's more sensitive to red and less to blue (superpanchromatic).

I'm highly interested in using this film but I have questions about using fix with hardener. Does it really make a difference? I figured since its description on the freestyle website says to handle with care when wet, the results will be the same when dry, whether using fix with or without hardener has been used.

 

Please respond!

Use hardner, i screwed up the emulsion when wet on the roll in my testshot. Ive addet a testexample of this film. Rodinal 1+100 with two centilitres Sodium Sulfide in 18 min at 20 degree celsius semi-stand development.<div></div>