What's the closest film out there to the old Kodak Super XX?
What's the closest film out there to the old Kodak Super XX?
The old Kodak Super XX, if you can find it. There are many good films out there, but nothing quite like Super XX.
Without question the closest sheet film to Super XX is T Max 400.Originally Posted by Turner Reich
Super XX had the ability to linearly increase usable film density and developed in pyro makes contact prints that are to die for. That said it was really not a "sharp" film and can only be enlarged to a certain point.
T Max 400 also builds usable film density to the moon but is much sharper and has the best reciprocity properties I have ever experienced in any film. Additionally, I have seen it produce absolutely marvelous tonality when printed on silver papers and Azo.
I would also point out that people that have gained their experience with T Max films using T Max 100 and did not find it appealing must realize that T Max 400 is not even close to T Max 100. T Max 100 is highly sensitive to developer agitation and temprature prefering the JOBO rotary process. T Max 400 is considerably foregiving to these variables and can be souped in a myriad of developers with tremendous success.
Now that T Max 400 is being offered in ULF sizes and Kodak actually just finished improving the grains structure of this film to make it even a better film kicks T Max 400 to the level of the most advanced sheet film in the market today with impeccable quality control. I hope like hell that it continues to be offered long into the future.
Cheers!
Last edited by Michael Kadillak; 4-Sep-2008 at 07:28. Reason: typo
Michael, could you offer an example (or two) of developer (PMK?) and time for Azo and Pt?
-Richard
can someone remind me what the code notches are on super xx?? I'll try to dig up some old negs and post... we should have a super-xx only picture post... or is that dumb?
Bergger often said that their 200 ASA film was just like Super-XX, but after using some of it I'm not exactly convinced that there is any real substitute.
Based on M. Cadillac's comments I'm tempted to buy some T-Max400. I didn't like the T-Max 100 and never tried any of the other T-grain films.
Like many I purchased some of the Bergger 200 film after reading a same View Camera article written by Gordon Hutchings a number of years ago where Gordon stated that this film was comparable to Super XX. When I plotted it up and really looked at the data (density vs exposure or commonly called the HD curve) I understood the situation more clearly. What Gordon was stating in between the lines was that when one is printing silver (Density range of about 1.0 +/-) and staying within reason of normal development the center part of the Bergger 200 film curve is in fact a nice straight line. OK great.
However, when one needs to develop for Azo grade 2 (Density range of 1.65) or one of the alt processes that have even higher density range requirements OR one needs to increase development for a N+ scene it clearly becomes evident that Bergger 200 experiences a "topping out" of the films ability to attain usable density. It looks like the top portion of a capital "S". HP5 exhibits similar characteristics whereas FP4+ does not. I am simply stating my experience with these films and what I have learned in using them - nothing more.
T Max 400 builds usable film density to the moon and as I stated earlier, the reciprocity correction does not kick in until about a 2 second exposure. Some exposures I can use nearly the full stated 400 film speed with with LF and particularly ULF is an answer to a photographers prayer. Most alt process users already are familiar with what this film can deliver and many others are discovering its unique properties to make marvelous images. It is not the least expensive sheet film available but I know that the quality control is impeccable so in the balance it works for me.
As far as developers I know people that have used it with Xtol, TMax RS, D76 and many variations of these as well as pyrocat with regular dilutions and stand and semi stand developed. I have seen prints made with T Max 400 and Harvey's 777 on Azo that blew my mind they were so excellent and pyro works well with it as well.
I am sure that others will contribute their experiences with this film as well.
Bottom line is that I believe that we should all use the best materials available that we can afford and strive to make the best prints possible. T Max 400 is still available in 10 sheet boxes in 8x10 before Kodak goes back to 25 sheet boxes later this year and 4x5 is a regular stock item.
How fortunate we all are to have this many great choices in the analog world that was supposed to have been dead and buried a long time ago. And then to have access to an even higher quality silver chloride printing paper is to good to be true.
Cheers!
Michael,
Commercially speaking, is anyone out there packaging Harvey's 777, other than (name escapes me) one in Kentucky that sells the basic chemicals to make the formula?
Thanks,
BILL
Unfortunately Bill, they are the only one that mixes this formula that is still proprietary from the 1930's. There is an article on Unblinking eye.com on harveys777. The company is Bluegrass and they are mentioned in the article. It is a replenishing developer that needs periods of unagitation to realize its full potential.
Aside from the long straight line characteristic curve that SXX had, some landscape photographers say that "it made the skies light up." In my own experience of using SXX well after it was in regular production, it does respond in a unique way to filtration, and I think that's what made it such a great film for color separations and for B&W landscapes. It's as if a yellow filter or an orange filter has a very precise and predictable effect on a specific part of the spectrum, equal to a filter of similar density in a different part of the spectrum. This is reflected in the spectral sensitivity curve of the film (not to be confused with the characteristic curve), and that is something that hasn't quite been replicated in any other film.
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