Pulling Efke 25 film

[oistrakh]

Hi,

 

I know that Efke 25 is a thin emulsion film, and thus is not a good candidate

for pulling. But the scenes I like to shoot are frequently high in contrast so I

end up pulling a lot to reduce the contrast. Does this film really react poorly

to this type of exposure/development? How is it compared to Ilford PanF+ in this

regard? I'd like to get some ideas about what others have tried with this film

before I start my own experiments with it. I shoot mostly landscapes.

 

Thanks!

 

Chris

[aaron_muderick]

The film does not tolerate overexposure. The film responds well to 1-2 stops of underexposure. That is the official line from Efke.

[aurelien_le_duc]

I have already made it successfully. I used Efke 25 @ EI 12 and developped it in PMK. It was great.

You can see it here...<div></div>

[Alan Johnson]

For landscapes I have had good results with Efke 25 at EI 12 developed in PMK Pyro 1:2:100 for 7min 70 F. I daresay good results could be obtained with dilute Rodinal or Beutler type developers that have a compensating action as well.

[oistrakh]

Good to know, as my developer of choice is Rodinal, and I'm experimenting with Pyrocat HD. Thanks!

[ted_gofferenger]

If your scenes are high contrast you have two opportunities a day to shoot the scene so they're not: before dawn and after sunset.

[larrydressler]

I found that if you shoot it at 25 and develop it in Diafine the contrast is held down real well.

[chuck_pere]

You might try a minimum agitation technique with Pyrocat HD. When I did it I agitated for the 1st minute, 1 invert per minute till 4 min and then 1 invert per 2 min after. I just pulled that out of my you know what so do a search on minimum agitation here or APUG to see how the experts do it. I used Efke 25 9x12cm sheet film when I did it.

[niklas_wibom]

I have shoot Efke 25 as ISO 6 and developed with XTOL (stock) in 6.5 minutes and I?t looked quite good.

 

But thats me :)

[blarg_.]

I develop with FG7 and get too much contrast when I pull efke 25. But it looks fine at 25...why would I pull it? If I'm looking for longer exposures I just throw on ND filters...with a 3.0 filter you can shoot for MINUTES on a sunny day...with a 6.0 - forget about it.

[paulh]

I always shoot it at EI25.

 

If you develop with a dilute developer, like Rodinal 1+100, and go easy on the agitation, you'll be fine, even in high contrast situations.

 

I use Rodinal 1+100 for 17 minutes, with 5 gentle inversions at the start of each minute for the first three minutes, then one gentle inversion every three minutes thereafter. Great results every time.

[ted_gofferenger]

Longer development times give you contrasty film. Sounds like that is the last thing you want right now. Rodinal in 1+25 would adress your problem, not add to it.

[paulh]

Ted,

 

I've got to disagree with you there, especially with Rodinal 1+25.

 

It is much easier to prevent the highlights blocking up, while still getting decent shadow detail with the higher dilution and reduced agitation of 1+100.

 

The technique I outlined above works well for most films, but especially those that have a reputation for being contrasty.

[big toys are better]

Well diluted Rodinal (1:50 or greater) with minimal agitation is the best solution to contrast issues for the finer grained films-- always has been and always will be. Faster films need other methods but edge definition will then suffer.

 

I've routinely used 1:100 and 1:200 with various degrees of agitation, mostly semi-stand (15-20 seconds of agitation every 3- 5 minutes over a period of 10-20 minutes depending on the film and exposure) with films such as APX-100, FP-4, Pan-F, Delta 100 and the Efke family films with good results. the developer is also very economical to use this way, plus is very stable in storage. It is the ability of Rodinal to work effectively with minimal agitation that makes it so wonderful as a compensating developer.

 

Efke 25 is not a good choice to pull, and Efke's documentation is very direct about this, but the dilute Rodinal and semi-stand processing is a good cure for all but the harshest light situations. For a high contrast scene, try exposing at EI 25, and developing for 20' in Rodinal diluted 1:200 with DISTILLED WATER, agitating for the first minute, and then for 15-20" every 3 minutes afterwards (at 4', 9', 12' & 15'). I use a 3'-5' plain water wash after the developing time followed by an alkaline fixer (TF-4).

 

If the image is not optimally exposed but otherwise looks good and you are confident in the accuracy of your original exposure, then adjust your developing time up or down by 10-20%. If contrast is still a bit too high, then perhaps even less agitation will help, so try 5' intervals, and you can dilute more but the developing times will increase. Also, at these high dilutions, be sure to have enough developer in the final volume to adequately process the film, generally about 6-10ml of the stock Rodinal solution per 8x10 sheet of film.

 

You can adjust your film contrast (and whether the highlights, midtones or shadows get preferential development) by adjusting the dilution and agitation schedules. Just remember that it will be the "shadows" (least exposed areas of the film) where the developer exhausts last when highly diluted, so the agitation schedule will largely determine just how much the midtones get developed at the high dilutions (1:100, 1:200 & greater), while lower dilutions (1:25, 1:50) will benefit the highlights much more regardless of agitation.