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View Full Version : Calling All 8x20 Efke 25 Film Consumers



Michael Kadillak
17-Sep-2009, 08:38
Efke 25 sheet film in ULF sizes have been eliminated as stock items from the conventional sources domestically. As a result those of us that want to continue to have access to this emulsion are needing to put our requirements together and arrange deals to secure this marvelous emulsion for our needs.

At this time I am starting the ball rolling with 8x20. I already have Jim F and Barbara W that have expressed interest and wanted to share this with the forum to make sure that others that would like to have an opportunity to participate have a chance to do so.

Please PM me if you have an interest in this offering and I will pass the details. While we are securing costs I anticipate that a 25 sheet box of Efke 25 in 8x20 will likely be in the range of $130 to $150 per box including shipping. We are doing this through Digital Truth and I am a purchaser as well.

I would expect that other ULF formats as well as even 8x10 could be similarly ordered at a later date. If someone wants to spearhead a solicitation for another format please feel free to take the ball and run with it. I will pass along all that I know.

Thanks

John Jarosz
17-Sep-2009, 10:59
I am interested to hear more as I am unfamiliar with this film. I am concerned about it's slow speed. But I am looking for a high density range (Dmax of 1.90 or so) that makes it suitable for carbon printing. What developers are good, and what are some of the film's good points? I've heard there are some films where the emulsion is very fragile (or is it soft)? Is this true with this film?
The price is right.

Thanks

John

MIke Sherck
17-Sep-2009, 11:01
John, talk to Frank in the LF Asylum (also a Chicagoan.) He uses Efke 25 at lot in 4x5, unless I'm very mistaken.

Mike


I am interested to hear more as I am unfamiliar with this film. I am concerned about it's slow speed. But I am looking for a high density range (Dmax of 1.90 or so) that makes it suitable for carbon printing. What developers are good, and what are some of the film's good points? I've heard there are some films where the emulsion is very fragile (or is it soft)? Is this true with this film?
The price is right.

Thanks

John

Glenn Thoreson
17-Sep-2009, 11:11
The emulsion is is soft and easily damaged, but only while wet. A hardening fixer takes care of it. It would be a great film for a high D-max application. Slow and sharp.

chris_4622
17-Sep-2009, 12:01
John,

The film is has a lot of contrast, I'm developing it in Pyrocat Hd. My latest negs printed on the Canadian Grade 2 Azo, which needs a 1.65 or 1.7 negative, and I still had to use a water bath to control the contrast.

The emulsion is soft while wet but once fixed, washed and dried it is fine. As far as characteristics go I can't offer much yet. Once the new Lodima paper is here I plan to do a side by side comparison with three or four different films to educate my eye on the differences.

Michael Kadillak
17-Sep-2009, 13:42
To add what the others have stated, it does build great film density for alt processes and Lodima and care needs to be employed when processing it but as long as you understand these variables they can be managed. The other ancillary benefits are the reasonable cost and the fact that it has considerably longevity in a freezer. I pulled some Efke 25 that I had in the freezer for five + years and it looked just like new film with no noticeable FB&F. Great film to stock.

Michael Kadillak
24-Sep-2009, 07:29
In an effort to communicate with all prospective participants in the Efke 25 8x20 sheet film arrangement that is forthcoming, please review the communications between myself and Digital Truth (Jon) below and get back with me relative to your firm order size so we can get shipping costs. The sheet film will be packaged in 50 sheet boxes which will save on shipping.

Cheers


From: Digitaltruth Photo <sales@digitaltruth.com>
Date: September 24, 2009 7:13:10 AM MDT
To: Michael Kadillak <m.kadillak@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: 8x20 and 11x14 Efke 25

Hi Michael,

The factory can apparently coat this in approximately 4-6 weeks, which is good news. They have asked me for an exact number of boxes so that they can prepare the order, so please let me know.

In terms of pricing, we are only putting a tiny markup on the order, so it would help keep the price down if you can pay by bank transfer. The price will be $299 per 50-pack. If you need to pay using a card or Paypal, then the price will be $315, as otherwise with the charges we have to pay we risk losing out on the overall cost. You can also pay us by check at the lower price, but it can take a while to arrive in our account and I would prefer to avoid all delays to make sure they include this in the production run.

Once I know exactly how many boxes you want, I can get final shipping costs.

Best,

--Jon



On 23 Sep 2009, at 23:04, Michael Kadillak wrote:

At this time our collective experience is with Efke 25 so we would like to wait until this sheet film is coated, aged, cut in 8x20 proportions and packaged for sale.

If possible we would like to have the film packaged in 50 sheet boxes to save on shipping costs.

Any prospects on timing even if it is rough would be appreciated.

Michael Kadillak
On Sep 22, 2009, at 10:44 AM, Digitaltruth Photo wrote:

Jim Fitzgerald
24-Sep-2009, 08:01
Michael, if we are going to do 50 sheet boxes then I would have to go for one box. I have used this film and developed it in Pyrocat-HD and printed my negatives in carbon and all I can say is wow! It is a high contrast film which builds nice density and I have found it not to be as fragile as everyone says. John, I have gotten negatives in the 2.35 DR with this film. Maybe I am just more careful with my development as far as scratching goes. The Pyrocat does harden the emulsion and I find that it is less prone to scratching than the x-ray film I also shoot. This has become my standard film and I mostly shoot it in 8x10. I do have some 11x14 and the negatives that I have gotten are some of my best. The reciprocity for this film is not bad either. I generally shoot barrel lenses on my ULF cameras and I find that I do not have crazy long exposure times. Great thing for anyone doing carbon transfer is that with this film you can shoot in bright light and with the Pyrocat-HD control your development to get the DR you need without long development times.

Jim

imagedowser
25-Sep-2009, 06:19
Count me in for one box..and thanks for doing the leg work, Bill