Fuji Acros 100 - Developer and suggestions?

[Dan Jolicoeur]

Fuji across is my main film now mainly because of quickloads. I rate the film At 64 and process in Xtol 1:1 @70deg. for 6:30 constant agitation in a jobo 2509 reel. Not sure what the tank number is? I use about 600ml of solution compared to the recommendation of 375ml with no presoak. I get excellent results, and process manually with an enlarger, instead of digital. These are based on my test with my equipment. I could not get D76 to work good with this film that is why I switched to xtol. I love this combination. It will remain my main stay until I can no longer get the two.
Good luck,
Dan

[Donald Qualls]

Hi Donald.

According to the pdf, Acros is orthopanchromatic. I'll try to attach the pdf.

Jay

Okay, this is confusing. It's not at all the same response as Efke 25, the archetypal orthopanchromatic film; Acros only calls for 3 stops filter factor for a #25 red filter, same as I'd give Tri-X or Fomapan 100, while Efke 25 wants, IIRC, 5 stops. The response curve shows the same drop-off just below 650 nm that I'd expect to see on, say, Plus-X (though it doesn't carry out as far as TMX). They do in fact use the word "orthopanchromatic" but they clearly don't mean it the same way as when it's used to describe Efke 25. In fact, it appears to be a perfectly ordinary Type B panchro film, based on the response curve and filter factors.

I suspect Fuji is using the word correctly -- "ortho" meaning "true" as in "true panchromatic" -- while with Efke 25 it's used to describe a response halfway between orthocromatic and panchromatic.

[Jay DeFehr]

Hi Donald.

It is weird. Fuji Neopan 1600 seems to show a nearly identical spectral response, but they call that film panchromatic. I hadn't actually compared the curves until now, and you're right, I don't see how they arrive at the designation orthopanchromatic for Acros and panchromatic for Neopan 1600. That will teach me to take manufacturer's spec's as fact without looking a little closer. Thanks for bringing this discrepency to light.

Jay

[Kirk Keyes]

I don't see how they arrive at the designation orthopanchromatic for Acros and panchromatic for Neopan 1600.

Maybe it's a typo? Or perhaps some sort of Engrish?

[Donald Qualls]

Or perhaps some sort of Engrish?

Interesting possibility, but I'm pretty sure Fuji sells enough product in North America, England, and Austalasia that accurate translation is worth something to them; everything I've read from them is idiomatic and grammatically correct. I'm much more inclined to think they used that coining correctly without realizing it was already in use as a portmanteau to describe Efke 25, especially since Efke never, AFAIK, use that word themselves; rather, I've only seen it used by those trying to describe the Efke film's response, without knowing about the old Type A, Type B, Type C panchro response designations.

FWIW, for those who aren't familiar with that nomenclature, Type A is Efke 25 style -- film responds to red light, but much more weakly than to blue or green, typically also dropping response to near zero at a relatively short wavelength (say, 600 nm or so). Efke 25 and Efke 50 are the only Type A examples I'm aware of on the current market. These films show great speed loss (IIRC, Efke 25 loses two stops) under tungsten light, or with the yellowing light of the "magic hour"; these films are almost incapable of separating clouds from blue sky and holding detail in foreground objects because the filtration required has a huge filter factor (a #25 requires, IIRC, five stops on Efke 25). Type B is the common range, covering Plus-X, Tri-X, and almost all other current B&W films, films that typically need a filter to separate clouds from sky with exposures suitable for ground objects, but lose little speed (up to about 2/3 stop at worst) under tungsten light. Type C is extended red response, like Tech Pan, Classic 400, Ilford SFX -- Type C films can often, with the correct filtration, give IR-like effects such as Wood effect (which starts at around 680 nm, IIRC), and some Type C films actually have limited response in the fringes of near-IR, beyond 700 nm. Type C films usually show no speed loss, sometimes a small speed gain, under tungsten light, and can frequently separate clouds from blue sky without a filter, even at exposures suitable for objects on the ground.