Efke 25 and green filter

[25asa]

John Paul asked me to do some scans off of the Efke 25 roll I shot with a

green filter. I was reluctant to do this since for some reason this roll ended

up overexposed. The face shots were blown out in density. I used a Canon Elan

7 with 430EX flash. I metered through the filter which Im told was a no no.

But I'll post the results I got. What I was trying to get were darker toned

skin tones, the bronze look as some say. I managed to get dark skin tones once

with Efke 25 and no filter, but haven't been able to replicate it since.

Anyways for John here are the scans. This first one is off the neg. It was so

overblown I had to decrease exposure prescan to get it close. It needed even

more, but my Minolta Dual 4 only goes to negative 2. So some scans were taken

off the prints done on my flatbed.

 

Here is the first one off the film scanner.

[25asa]

Here's the same pic but scanned off the print with the flatbed.

[25asa]

Here's a second pic off the film scanner.

[25asa]

And another pic but off the flatbed with print.

[25asa]

I'll have to try another roll with either a green or cyan/ blue filter. Next time I'll meter before the filter goes on and readjust accordingly. I may use the flash again if need be.

[willscarlett]

Scott - what do you mean, meter before the film goes on and adjust accordingly? How

would you adjust?

 

I can see what you mean by things being blown out...some parts of the image don't have a

natural look to them.

 

If you read in the post I've linked below, a Harrison & Harrison 50C filter is mentioned. It

will turn ordinary pan films into ortho films.

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00IOpE

[big toys are better]

Have you looked at the color sensitivity of the film? Isn't Efke 25 (aka ADOX KB25) already more sensitive to the blue-green specra (400- 600nm) so that the green filter used would have little effect on the film exposure (and might also have resulted in your inadvertant overexposure?

 

BTW, my impression is that only the Efke 100 has panchromatic sensitivity into the 700nm range.

[larrydressler]

Not sure it is even the old ADOX.. I think changes have been made to it since 1955. though it is a grear film. I shoot the EFKE and the old ADOX as it is now branded.. I think it went trroug alot of changes since the days of DuPont ect. I love the 100 and have been told it was AFGA but it was not... Mystery and love it is still a slow old style film that is still left.

 

No flames please .... I am just pointing out that it is kinda weird that a film can still be made exactly the same way with the same formula and equipment ..... It is not the same.. But still a darn good film... though I prefer the Efke 50 and 100 better than the 25 .... now if someone would make Panatomac -X again so I could attack it as not being genuine I guss but that is not what I would do I would try a bunch of it and then if it fit the bill I would buy more.

 

Larry

 

Larry

[joe_s6]

The 1st image seems the most clear, with the most details. Just some few highlighted areas blown out (back of hand etc).

 

The 2nd is way too contrasty, no shadow details, looks like PanF to me.

[randall ellis]

EFKE film is coated using old equipment in the former Soviet Union, and while the emulsion formula has likely changed due to materials availability, it hasn't changed greatly. As the other poster mentioned, the 25 asa version of this film is orthopanchromatic, meaning it is less panchromatic than the 50 and 100 films, as well as other brands of black and white film available today. Your best bet is to look up the tech data on J and C's web site (http://www.jandcphoto.com) and look at the spectral sensativity of the version you wish to use so that you know you have the correct information.

 

Your best bet with metering may be to meter without the filter in place and then compensate for the filter factor since not all camera exposure meters see full spectrum light (or so I am told). Colored filters will have a different effect on films with different specral sensativities, so some experimentation may be in order, especialy if you intend to scan the negatives rather than print them in the darkroom.

 

- Randy

[ole_tjugen]

EFKE films are made in Croatia, which is quite a long way from the Former Soviet Union. Former Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia would be correct, but not "Soviet Union".

 

Efke 25 and Efke 50 both have sensitivity curves which drop off abruptly in the red region. One effect of this is that the "common" filter factors for blue and green filters must be reduced, and the factors for yellow and orange must be increased - since the film doesn't see much red, removing the red makes very little difference to the film. Conversely taking out the blue with a yellow filter makes a lot more difference than with panchromatic films - like the "ordinary" Efke 100.

 

Efke films and some others are sold under the ADOX name by some vendors. It is difficult to find out what these films are and who made them. but anything marked EFKE should be from Fotokemika in Samobor, outside Zagreb in Croatia.

[willscarlett]

So how much should the filter factors be increased/decreased? I normally use a Y2 filter which has a one stop compensation...what should it be changed to? I've shot a few rolls of Efke 25 and 50 using a Y2 filter on a Nikon 8008s and a Canon AE-1 Program and have just metered thru the filter and the shots have come out fine...what would the additional compensation be for a blue or green filter end up being?

[randall ellis]

Ole,

 

Thanks for the correction. My geography in that part of the world is a bit sketchy. Sadly, in the States (at least where I grew up) they didn't cover any aspect of Eastern Europe and the nearby regions in public school other than to say they were all Communists...

 

My appologies to anyone who might have been upset by my mistake.

 

- Randy

[Alan Johnson]

To get the darker skin ortho look with efke 25 and a filter, I think it will not work with a model with white skin.In Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits by Mark Viera are some early (1928?) pics of white models on ortho film.The skin does not come out dark, only the lips are dark. I recon to get the ortho dark skin effect a model suntanned or with some red in their skin is needed.I have tried this with Rollei Ortho film and it works.Interesting project you have.

[willscarlett]

So it's just better to shoot ortho film if you want the ortho look, eh?

[Alan Johnson]

J-P, the Rollei Ortho and special developer with suntanned model did work(sorry I dont have a scanner) but it's quite expensive on materials.The Efke plus filter would be more economical if it can be made to work.

[willscarlett]

Hmm, which special developer - the Rollei High and Low Speed Developers? Rollei's data chart says you can develop their ortho film in D-76, but would that create incredibly extreme contrast?

 

I recently picked up some ortho film but haven't tried it yet...do you think either ortho film or Efke w/green filter would work well on this subject?<div></div>

[Alan Johnson]

Nice pic J-P. The recommended developer for Rollei Ortho is Maco LP Docufine LC (unless I am out ofdate and they changed the name to Rollei) but I think it will work with other microfilm developers too (eg Technidol,Adotech ) Dont use D76 it will as you say be contrasty.

 

The model you show has about the same suntan as the one I photographed,should work with ortho film IMO. Try some with highlight from fill in flash maybe.The results with Efke pls filter are not yet known.

[willscarlett]

Thanks, Alan. So I notice you say I should use a flash to fill in the highlights...well I'm all for that, but I've never used a flash outdoors before and I'm just worried that using a flash will give the pictures the look that indoor flash photos have...most of the picture bathed in the flash light, looking somewhat unnatural, while the background falls off into darkness pretty quickly. I have a TTL speedlight of sorts for my Nikon 8008s...I'm not sure of the exact model cause I'm at work now.

[Alan Johnson]

The fill-in flash idea was try a few only ,not all of them.Just mentioned it as mine were done with studio strobes at max power and the best had a highlight from a strobe to one side ,as well as the main light from the front.The highlight contrasts with the ortho dark skin.

[25asa]

John- I meant to meter with the filter off, then put the filter on and adjust manually the exposure.

 

So are you guys saying a green or blue/cyan filter will have no effect on Efke 25? It might explain my results. I still to this day can't figure out how I got darker skin tones on that first roll of Efke 25 and no filter. I haven't been able to duplicate it since.

[willscarlett]

Green is a two stop compensation, right?

[willscarlett]

Oh...and if using flash fill outdoors, is the proper way to expose the shot to meter for the

bright areas of the scene as compared to the face which may have some shadows?

[25asa]

Sorry John,

Can't help you with those answers. I'd like to know myself those questions. I suspect using a filter with fill flash may have been part of my problem.

[big toys are better]

Here is a prior discussion link of interest here:

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=009vNk&tag=