Greetings from Ohio

[Paul Bujak]

Hi, I have lurked in this forum for a while and think it is time to introduce myself. I have been into photography for more than 40 years and have used everything from a Brownie Hawkeye to LF. I have used a Toyo 45A for several years and recently obtained a Calumet C1. Now that I am involved in 8x10, I figured I'd start with new films and chemistry.

I think I'd like to try Efke film but am unsure what developer would give best results. I probably will do landscape and exterior architechture. Any help out there?

Thanks,
Paul

[John Bowen]

Hello Paul and Welcome,

I've never used Efke film, so no help there. Sorry!

[Ralph Barker]

Welcome to the light, Paul (as opposed to lurking in the shadows.

I haven't used Efke film, either, but you might try doing a search.

[Richard Wall]

I have shot Efke PL-25 in 8x10 sheets. I developed it in Rodinal (1:100) for 16mins at 68degs. The massive dev chart (http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.html) suggests only 12 mins, but I find that the contrast is a little low for my tastes at that time.

The film is very sharp. It is slightly low contrast when developed in Rodinal 1:100, so it might benefit from development in a more contrasty developer like Microphen or HC-110 Dil B, but I haven't tried it.

One note about handling the film during development. The emulsion is very soft when wet. Softer than Ilford HP-5. Be careful if you are tray developing as it is easy to scratch the emulsion of one sheet with the corners of another sheet.

When developing Efke I will only put a few sheets (6 max) in the tray at a time. That way I can be gentle when agitating. I agitate my sheets by moving the sheet from the bottom of the stack to the top until I cycle through all of the sheets. I normally use a water stop bath then fix in Kodak Rapid fixer. The emulsion stays soft until the film dries, so even if you use a hardener in the fix you can still damage the emulsion pretty easily. Although, a little caution goes a long way in preventing scratches.

Hope this helps.

r.

[Garry Madlung]

Definately use a water stop bath.

Some people say that the emulsion is slightly uneven, which can lead to uneven skies, so they (and I) aren't fond of using it on a clear day.

[Ted Harris]

Welcome to the Forum.

I've been using efke PL-25 and its predecessor film, Adox KB 14, for 40 years. I have always processed it in Rodinal both 1:50 and 1:100. I can't give you any useful time info since I use a rotary processor and the times are very different for manual processing.

[Scott Whitford]

Hellow Paul.

Whereabouts in Ohio are you? I'm about 30 miles north of Cincinnati.

Scott

[John Powers]

Hi Paul,

Hello from northern Ohio. There are several of us here on the LFF and APUG.org in the outskirts of Cleveland. I am in Bath between Cleveland and Akron, shoot 8x10 and 7x17, develop Ilford and T Max in Rollo Pyro. I am always happy to meet, show and tell, and learn what you are doing in large format.

John

[Doug Howk]

Welcome from a former Buckeye - grew up in Cleveland area.

I've used Efke 25, 50 & 100 in most sizes up to 7X17, and finally gave up on it. Just too many defects from pinholes to density banding. I now use mostly Ilford & Kodak.

[John Kasaian]

Welcome, Paul.
I think Efke 100 works nicley with good old unpretentious D-76. YMMV!