End of Agfa Scala. Alternatives?

[Jan Nieuwenhuysen]

Now that Agfa has stopped production of their Scala in 4x5 (all other formats + processing will be discontinued in 2006) I am looking for a possible alternative. I am aware of the existence of dr5, but I do not consider it an option to ship my film between Holland and L.A.

Does anyone have actual experience using the current reversal kits from Foma and/or Kodak?
Does anyone have experience mixing their own chems?
If so, what are results like compared to Scala? This is the bottomline really. I need similar very good quality, not something inferior. All information is greatly appreciated.

[Robert A. Zeichner]

I recently created some B&W slides of prints I made using T-Max 100 in Kodak's T-Max reversal kit. the results with 35mm roll film were excellent. How this would work with 4x5 sheet film I couldn't say, but I did find the process to be pretty straight forward and contollable. Might be worth a try.

[David A. Goldfarb]

There's an article on reversal processing on unblinkingeye.com. It's aimed mainly at alt-printers looking to make one-step enlarged negs, but I'd guess the process can be adjusted for various purposes.

I don't know that dr5 is that mysterious a process. I believe David Wood has said that he developed it from reversal processes used for cine processing in the 1930s. It's just that he's worked out the kinks and perfected it for a wide variety of films. It might be worth looking into seeing if there's some way of making the shipping more affordable before ruling it out.

[Neal Wydra]

Dear Jan,

The Jan/Feb 2002 issue of Photo Techniques describes a process for reversing black and white negative film that you may want to investigate.

Neal Wydra

[Jan Nieuwenhuysen]

Thanks for the info so far. The T-max set seems like a logical thing to try. I will.
Nice study material, also found an Ilford manual on reversal processing. Mixing one's own chems actually seems pretty straightforward.
Did anyone ever compare results obtained by one of these methods head to head with Scala? I am afraid I am going to invest a lot of effort in something that just will not give me the same excellent quality.

[bob carnie]

Jan

Are you saying the film is going to be outdated as well as the lab processes, If your lab is closing that is one thing, if it is not try some various black and white film in the scala lab. For example I have made black and white dupes using fp4 in a scala lab in Toronto. I have heard scala film is actually APX 100, this may just be a silly rumour but I would not be suprised if you tried APX and your lab was willing that the results were similar to scala film, . I would be interested in the results

[Guy Tal]

Capturing the scene on color film (e.g. Astia if you prefer transparencies) and converting to B&W digitally using something like a Channel Mixer will likely provide you with much more control over the end result than a chemical reversal process.

Guy
Scenic Wild Photography (http://www.scenicwild.com)

[Jan Nieuwenhuysen]

The lab is not closing, in fact I have asked them about the possibility of experimenting with other film in the Scala processor. They would like to do that, but the sad fact is that when Agfa pulls the plug on Scala in a year or so they will get rid of the processor. So, no use really to experiment. That's why I have started to look around for other options.
I know, I can scan slides and convert (I occasionaly do), but the result does not compare to a Scala slide. Apart from that, I use Scala slides as end product too. So, I really am looking for an alternative. I also asked the two 8 and 16 mm movie film reversal labs we have over here if they are in an experimental mood. Not.

[tim atherton]

"Doing the slides & then digital is a make do thing, not nearly the quality
of the original with Scala. A print on Ilfochrome directly from Scala
slides is stunning. Nothing in the realm of pixelography does it justice
for now."

why not a print on Ilfochrome direct fromthe digital file?

[Diane Maher]

When was this announced? So all of the labs around the world are going to stop developing this film in 2006? What is dr5?

[Jan Nieuwenhuysen]

Diane, I have this information from my Scala developing lab. I have asked Agfa to confirm this, but I have not (yet?) received an answer.
I have found the dr5 lab on the internet. I understand this is a lab in L.A. specialised in reversal processing of conventional bw films. I have no experience with their service, nor have I ever seen results of their process. It might just be an alternative, I do not know and since I am living in Europe I doubt I ever will.

[Ralph Barker]

There are samples of the results with the two (proprietary) dr5 processes (gold-tone and neutral) with various films on the dr5 Web site (http://www.dr5.com). I've used it a couple of times, and have been quite impressed - more so, actually, than I was with Scala.

But, I can see where dr5 would not be practical for you, Jan. If you do a lot of this type of work, and don't like the results with other reversal kits available in Europe, you might think about contacting David Wood about the possibility of him licensing his technology to an EU lab.

[Ellis Vener]

in fact I have asked them about the possibility of experimenting with other film in the Scala processor. They would like to do that, but the sad fact is that when Agfa pulls the plug on Scala in a year or so they will get rid of the processor.

. That's bad. But perhaps you can build up a stock pile of the film and chemistry and buy the processer from the lab? How stable is the chemistry?

[ISO 2]

Jan,

The information from you lab may be premature. It doesn't take much to start a concatenation of catastrophisation and I'm afraid your thread adds to it.

The proprietary Agfa Scala process has been 'under review' from 18 months ago prior to Agfa changing hands (making it about 12 months now I guess). The review process is still continuing. The issue about your own lab terminating their franchise with the patented Agfa Scala process may reflect the lab's own directions rather than a global trend with Agfa Scala.

The self-promoted hype of Dr5 lab sounds really great - I'd love to try it. Diane - log onto APUG.com and check out the sponsored link perhaps if you want to know more about this process. As it is, I concur with Dan Smith; the ilfochrome process, in the hands of a skilled printer, who can correct tri-refringence of CYM and render a neutral print is absolutely gorgeous.

I can't agree with Guy's assessment of simplistic colour conversion to black and white; the failure to previsualise affects artistic vision; the process also does not capture what is intrinsically favoured by Agfa Scala users over traditional monochrome emulsions, which themselves excel over and above colour conversion to black and white channels. But that's not the issue here.

Tim - most labs don't offer digital laser writing onto Ilfochrome.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I've visited the dr5 lab when it was in New York, and the results really were impressive. He used to have a free brochure with a sample transparency. You might e-mail to see if he still has that, or just send a few sheets of Tri-X or FP-4+ to see what it looks like. It's a beautiful process. Be sure to read the instructions regarding exposure for dr5 with the film you are using before you shoot.

[Jan Nieuwenhuysen]

ISO2, the info I got from my lab is that that they are not discontinuing their franchise, but that Agfa will stop production. As I said I have asked Agfa if they can confirm, but have received no reply. I have no inside information from Agfa about this. I hope I have made this clear now.
Even if it turns out you are right and my lab is stopping and not Agfa, I still have the same problem I suppose. I agree wholeheartedly about Scala+Ilfochrome.
Buying the processor, yes, the thought has come to my mind. Not so sure it is practical though.
David, I will see if I can get an example from dr5. I am actuallygetting curious what these slides look like. It's probably best to investigate, before ruling something out. You are right about that.

[ISO 2]

Jan,

One advantage of living in Europe is that if your lab terminates their franchise with the proprietary Scala process and Scala does continue, then Agfa will hopefully make arrangements to forward local Scala film to a Scala lab in another country to develop.

I'd hate to think what the costs (and losses) of shipping film to the States for a process would be.

Have you considered using Maco Ort25 and a straightfoward home DIY reversal+bleach kit, such as the type marketed by Foma or Kodak? The Maco Ort25 is finer grained, and tonally rich with a clear base - obviously a good candidate for reversal processing. It does depend on whether you prefer working with the flexibility of a negative, or whether 'straight' slides are your preference.

[Paul Moshay]

I have used a process from Darkroom Techniques of several years ago and it works very well with Kodak TMax 100 and 400, at full emultion speed. The chemicals are available and the process is controlable to a fine degree, The cost is a lot less than the Kodak kit too. Email me off line and I can send the details.

Paul

pmoshay@dslextreme.com

[bob carnie]

Hi ISO2
My lab here in Toronto does indeed produce cibachrome from digital files and onto fibre paper as well, we have been doing this for the better part of two years, using a Durst Lambda exposing unit.
I was unaware of the Scala Lab situation, Toronto Image Works has one of these scala machines and I never heard that they were shutting down,
Printing onto cibachrome from scala transparancies is quite beautiful, my experience with this tells me that a trans on the dark flat side reproduces well on ciba paper. Once the chemicals are properly balanced achieving a nuetral balance is quite easy, as well fudging the colour to produce many sepia, selenium, green , blue tones with scala is quite easy.
I have not worked with the dr5 trans , but I would imagine they would be easy to work with as well.

[Ellis Vener]

three years ago I tried the dr5 process with a couple of different films from Kodak and Ilford and was completely unimpressed.

I have had much better results with the Kodak T-Max reversal kit and Tmax 100 films. With the right lighting on the subject the results resembeld the very silver rich prints of the 1930s and 40s. I've also had good results with shooting the Ilford black & white chromogenic (C-41 process) film and having it cross processed in E-6 chemisty but the resulting transparency was about 10 points greenish. i over exposed the film by about two stops and had it pushed one stop.

[Jan Nieuwenhuysen]

I do not know of any Scala lab shutting down or intending to. All I know is that my lab has warned me that they see Scala coming to an end 2006. This is not an official Agfa standpoint, nor does this mean anyone is going to shut down. Just want this to be clear. In retrospect I should have put a questionmark in my original posting instead of a period. I am sorry about that. A conversation with an Agfa rep. today confirmed ISO2's statement that a decision has not yet been reached. He also confirmed my labs point of view as 'a very real possibility' at the end of 2006. 'They know the market for this product very well'.
Ellis thanks for the input. This is exactly the kind of user feedback I was hoping to get. The T-Max kit is ordered, I suppose it will arrive in teh new year.
I found a store with a stock of sheet film left today. With a bit of luck I'm save for the next two years at least...

[David F. Stein]

What another shame. It won't help much but I expect Duggal in NYC may keep the line going if their customers have a good stock of the film. They were doing quite a bit of processing, which, when I checked, was very reasonably priced. I will try and get updated info.

[Jan Nieuwenhuysen]

I would like to post a follow up in this thread.
I have experimented extensively with the Kodak Reversal Kit. I used TMX, Bergger 200 BPF, FP4+ and Scala film in it. All 4x5 sheet film. I am not impressed. Scala has the best tonality and contrast FP4+ is second best. I doubled some scenes on Scala and had that processed normally. Nothing comes even close. The green cast of the slides the Kodak kit produces is a real problem for me (I scan my slides and print digital Cibachromes, or use for magazines/books). Toning does not get this right.
I will start mixing my own chemicals and see what happens.

In the meantime I am running tests with my lab to determine if we can find a replacement film to put through the Scala processor.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

I will start mixing my own chemicals and see what happens.

Jan. A French "LF" friend, Claude Eichel, has recently started extensive do-it-yourself B&W reversal tests including 8"x10" films.

You can read at the end of this thread a process he has managed to stabilise.
www.galerie-photo.info/forum/read.php?f=1&i=69109&t=69109 (http://www.galerie-photo.info/forum/read.php?f=1&i=69109&t=69109)
message dated : 16-05-2005 06:23

The process uses potassium permanganate as the bleaching bath for safety reasons instead of potassium bichromate, permanganate is used in the Fomapan R-100 kit ; my friend uses classical film re-exposure with a 500 W bulb unlike the chemical fog process used in the Kodak kit.

Ilford and Maco web sites do provide some information about basic recipes for conventional B&W reversal process. Sodium or potassium thyocyanate is recommended as a silver solvent in the first developer, this chemical is mentioned on Maco's web page as 'Kalium Rhodanid'.

As far as 8"x10" films are concerned he has found that Efke PL-100 has a real clear base as well as Apfapan-100 but Agfapan 100 is to date discontinued in sheet film.

Since your expectations in terms of quality are very high only you can decide whether any home-made b&W reversal process/film combination is suitable for you.

Another information, probably more relevant to European large format B&W slides aficionados is that Arka-Labo in Paris (www.arkalab.com (http://www.arkalab.com)) , the official Scala lab in France, has a comfortable stock of Agfa Scala in 4x5" and 8x10". Another LF friend has recently tested in 8"x10" and is very happy.. but the whole (film + processing) costs are extremely expensive.

So home-made reversal process of Agfapan-100 in rollflm or Efke PL-100 for sheet looks like an affordable alternative ; as of May 2005 I still have absolutely no problem to find Scala in 120-rolfilm and have it processed in France or in Europe. If I insist on 4x5" or 8x10" Scala I just have to place an order to Arka-Labo in Paris. And thanks top the experiments recenty made by C. Eichel I'm confident I'll have at least one or two good solutions as a replacement.

[Jan Nieuwenhuysen]

Emmanuel,

Thank you for your information. It is good to hear that the Ilford procedure gives good results for your friend. The thread in the French forum is very interesting.
I think the main problem with the Kodak Kit is the chemical fogging of the film. I get better results with this kit if I do not use the fogging redeveloper supplied, but use instead a second exposure and dektol.
I develop in a Jobo CPA-2, expert drum 3006, speed F, T= 22 Celsius for those interested.

There is also some 4x5 Scala for sale now at the Dutch Scala lab: S-Color (www.scolor.nl).

One of the things I am going to investigate next week is how Scala will look when I develop it at home in Agfa chemistry like Neutol. I suppose it is only logical to assume they use one of their own developers for their own process?

[Claude Eichel]

As my friend Emmanuel gave you the link to the french forum I decided to try a translation.
Please excuse the faults :

- First developper
PQ Universal dilute at 1+4 + 9,5gr per liter of sodium thiosulfate.
Add the thiosulfate just before use.

- Rinse 2 minutes

(For Efke films only : a taning bath is needed 2 minutes
Formaldehyde 15ml
Sodium carbonate anhydrous 5gr
Water to make 1 liter
- Rinse 2 minutes )

- Bleach 5 minutes
I use a Potassium permanganate solution
Prepare two bathes :
A : 500ml water + 2gr of potassium permanganate
B : 500ml water + 10ml of concentred sulfuric acid
Mix A and B just before use

- Rinse 2 minutes

- Clearing bath 3 minutes
Sodium metabisulphite 25gr + water to make 1 liter

- Rinse 5 minutes

- Expose to a strong light 4 to 5 minutes
I use a philips tungsten light 500w at about 3 feets. You can not overexpose but do not underexpose !

- second developper Dektol normal strenght (1+2) 5 minutes
I prefer Dektol for this step IMHO it gives better results then PQ at this point

- Rinse 2 minutes

- Fix with a tanning fixer 4 minutes
Tetenal fixer + 30ml tetenal hardenning solution

- Rinse a usual
1 minute with demineralized water, 1 minute in a hypo clearing agent then 15 minutes in running water. And a final rinse with photoflo or such a product

A few developping times (first developper)
Scala 8min, Agfa Apx 100 5min, FP4+ 6min, HP5 5min, Tmax100 8min30s, Tmax400 8mn, Efke R100 8min

Have fun !
Regards

Claude

[Thomas_6208]

Hi Jan,

actually I do some tests to find a backup film material if Scala is not longer available. Last week I had an Kodak Tmax 100 (135) exposed at 50 ASA. The film was developed as described in the document "ILFORD Application Sheet Reversal Processing" by a small lab in Berlin, Germany (http://www.phototechnik-berlin.de)

The result is:

Tmax resolution and sharpness is a bit lower than Scala.
Contrast and no of grey tones is nearly the same like Scala.
White is really white, black is really black (and not dark grey).

In my opinion Tmax at 50 ASA is one option if Scala is not longer available.

Tomorrow I will get the results of an ILFORD PANF 50 exposed at 25 ASA developed by Phototechnik Berlin. Next I will do some more tests with Kodak Tmax 100@100 ASA and ILFORD PANF 50@50 ASA. If you are interested I will post the results here.

Regards, Thomas

[John Kasaian]

I seem to be able to reverse process film without even trying. I once cooked some tri-X in a rather strong dilution of HC-110 and wondered wy my negative came out looking like a print!

[Peter Hruby]

Bob,

Toronto Image Works discontinued processing Scala as of Sep, 2005. I personally was interested to buy Scala from them but they don't have 8x10 film at all nor they process Agfa Scala. In my research the possibility is to use dr5 or develop new process at home. Kodak reversal and Foma reversal is another option, but, there is always "but", there is problem with control.

Emmanuel,

Does Arkalab have email address? I would like to order some Agfa 8x10. I also print on Cibachromes and do Direct to ciba pictures.

Peter.

[Peter Hruby]

Additional info for all former customers of Agfa Scala they used to send order to Toronto Image Works:

This is official information of Toromto Image works:

Dear Scala Users,
We regret to inform you that we will no longer be processing Agfa's Scala film as of Tuesday, September 6, 2005. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Scala can still be processed at the following labs in the United States:

MAIN PHOTO SERVICES INC.
827 South Main Street
Santa Ana
California
92701
Toll Free: 1-800-640-MAIN
Web: www.mainphoto.com

COLOR REFLECTIONS
111 N.E. 21st Street
Miami
Florida
33127
Phone: 1 714 647-7600
Web: www.colorreflections.com

Hope, this helped to all Scala users.

[Jan Nieuwenhuysen]

Thomas, thanks for the information. Glad you found an alternative you like. Yes, I would be intersested in hearing your other results.
Peter, if necessary I could inform about the e-mail address for you. Nice to hear from another photographer who prints Scala on Cibachrome!

I hope to continue working with Scala for some time at least. My lab (S-Color in Amsterdam) is very supportive and very committed to develop Scala for as long as possible. I estimate my supply of film will last maybe 2 years and by then it most likely will be impossible to find a lab that develops it anyway. My experiments with DIY chemistry and other films have been unsatisfactory so far.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Does Arkalab have email address? I would like to order some Agfa 8x10.
Ahem... I did not find any e-mail contact in their web site...
www.arkalab.com (http://www.arkalab.com)

You could try a fax.
The best is probably that I place a phone call and get some fresh info.

Laboratoire ARKA, 52 rue Notre-Dame des Champs,
75006 Paris, France

Tel : (+33) (0) 143 257 972
Fax : (+33) (0) 143 252 069

[Hans]

@Jan

From the experimental results that I have seen so far from Maco 100, Kodak TMAX 100, Ilford Pan F and FP4 I would agree to you that nothing comes even close to Scala - if a wide variety of lightning conditions are to be covered.

You are writing that "(you) think the main problem with the Kodak Kit is the chemical fogging of the film. (You) get better results with this kit if (you) do not use the fogging redeveloper supplied, but use instead a second exposure and dektol." This is quite interesting as I plan to test the Kodak reversal kit for myself. Can you describe in which aspects the results become better with a second exposure instead of chemical reversion?

Thanks.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Hi gang.

Fresh and good news from Aka Lab in Paris. Placed a phone call this morning.

- as of Jan. 2006, they do have 4x5" and 8"x10" Agfa Scala in stock (plus 135 and 120) and are continuing support for both film supply and process.
- they welcome orders coming from everywhere, including Northern America of course ;-)
- they do speak English, so please send a fax for any quotation, in case you need more info, do not hesitate to place a phone call, "English Spoken".
Fore more details, please ask directly Arka Lab.
USUAL DISCLAIMER : I am not at all affiliated, etc... but I am happy to support Scala Film and B&W slides any format !!

[Jan Nieuwenhuysen]

Hans, it reduces the greenish cast. Kodak advises to get rid of the green cast with brown toner, but I have not found a store that sells it here in Holland.

[Hans]

Jan,

how would you quantify that greenish cast? Is that noticeable right away, or does it appear only when changing from warm color slides to b/w ones? Knowing about your green-cast experience the Kodak J87 document reads a little different: "To obtain a more neutral image tone in processed films, you can treat slides with KODAK Brown Toner." They might have a good reason to recommend that. I assume every other brown toner on the market will do the job.

How about the other quality criteria, e.g. maximum density, clear highlights, are they fine even with the fogging redeveloper? I would really prefer to do the process straight through the baths without a second exposure and with chemistry from a single package.

Another question to all: When push/pull development is required, do you modify the times for the Kodak redeveloper as well?

[Jan Nieuwenhuysen]

I would "quantify" it as a very ugly green cast. You are right Kodak advises to use brown toner as I wrote in my previous post. I could not readliy obtain that over here. I did not try with another toner except the selenium toner I had on hand (no result). I did not like the density etc I obtained and the slow film speeds was a real problem for me as I do mostly portraits on location with existing light.
I'll stick to Scala for as long as I am able.

[Hans]

There is something that confuses me regarding color casts of the Kodak reversal kit. Fotoimpex (http://www.fotoimpex.de) has mentioned that Tmax creates a pink color cast - that goes in hand with a web shop (http://www.foto-mueller.at/shop/pd132263137.html?categoryId=218) selling fixing solution especially suitable for Tmax fixing to reduce the pink coloring faster than other fixing solutions.

That brings up some questions to me:
<ul>
<li> Is the pink color cast in negative processed Tmax films a feature, i.e. indicating that fixing was too short?
<li> Is the statement from Fotoimpex applicable to reversal processing as well?
<li> Does the pink cast from Tmax become green on reversal?
<li> Or does the color cast on reversal become pink or green depending on some conditions? They are opposite colors, so probably there is a dependency on processing temperature like in color processing?
</ul>

It might be worth to contact Kodak on that one specifically.

[Jan Nieuwenhuysen]

1. No. Tmax films have a magenta sensitizing dye adhered to the silver halide crystals. This dye only starts to get washed out when the silver halide crystals are dissolved. In plain terms: the dye sticks to the silver halide crystals until you put the film in the fixer. What fixer does is break up the silver halide crystals in order to make it possible to wash them out. If your negative is still magenta or pink after fixing you know there are still silver halide crystals left in the film. So, the reason the magenta dye is in the film is not the help you see whether the film has been properly fixed, but it can be used for that as a side effect.

2. There is not much fixing necessary with reversal processing of film. There will be almost no unexposed silver halide left in the film after the second exposure and developing step. Tmax fixer is simply an extra rapid fixer, isn't it?

3. I do not know, but even if it does it should get washed out if you fix the film properly. I think it is highly unlikely that the reversal process somehow makes the sensitising dye turn green and then stick to the film base or something.

4. I do not know what causes the green cast. I suppose it is not related to the sensitising dye. Maybe it is related to neutral density dye in the film base reacting with the chemical fogging agent. Never took the trouble to figure that out.

[Hans]

Jan,

I have just processed the first 120 roll of Tmax in the Kodak reversal kit in a Jobo CPE2. Sharpness, grain and film resolution looks pretty much okay. The greenish cast was not visible in the first instance. But by direct comparison with Scala in the light box it turnes out that contrast is too low, density too high (although exposed as 50 ASA) and of course the greenish cast. Wasn't shure in the beginning whether it is yellow or green, but the more familiar I become with this result the clearer it is: this process needs modification.

I think I will achieve higher contrast by longer times for the first developer and exposure as 100 ASA. My second roll is already being exposed like this.

One alternative would be to try the Foma kit. Another one to try a selenium brown toner. Most probably I will start with the brown toner, the slides are already there ;-)

Do you know whether the brown toner will increase or reduce the density of the slides?

[Jan Nieuwenhuysen]

Selenium toner darkens the shadows somewhat and increases contrast a bit, brown toner (in prints) generally lightens the print somewhat, in other words: opens the shadows and clears the highlights . I suppose this works the same in b&w slides.
Brown toner is not selenium based, by the way. It is a polysulfiding toner (turns the silver in silver sulfide).

[Hans]

I have tried ADOX Selenid toner at 1:25 dilution and 24°C in JOBO rotation to simulate the last processing step before washing. 5 minutes are too much, the slide already turns into red-brown. I toned another slide with 2,5 minutes, that's perfect. It appears neutral when hold in hand and slightly sepia in projection. I found out that the density looks perfect when viewed with a small slide viewer, the projector still needs a lower density to achieve an acceptable brilliance.

I found it encouraging enough to continue with the Kodak kit for the moment. I will try to optimise density and contrast (maybe with sodium sulfite in the first developer as suggested by Kodak) in the next step.

[Hans]

Jan,

I have found that brown toning was somewhat uneven, at least this was my subjective impression in the projector. As this effect was also mentioned by Kodak, I followed their instructions and increased the concentration of the selenium toner to a higher grade than for paper processing, i.e. I tried 1:10 and shortened the time to 1 minute. Unfortunately it is not possible to fine-tune the toning with test slides because toning a film at the end of a development process seems to generate slightly different results. I guess this is because the emulsion is becoming softened during the reversal process.

The second roll of Tmax exposed at 100ASA and developed with (1¹/₃)² of Kodak's base time for the first developer of course became lighter and achieved a higher contrast. It has still a higher density and lower contrast than Scala.

Whilst the third roll of Tmax is being exposed like 200 ASA, I developed an Ilford FP4 exposed like 200ASA. The emulsion of the FP4 gets significantly softer than with the Tmax. The Jobo reel was not white after processing any longer, it seems that this process is stress for the emulsion. The film has not achieved the targeted 200ASA but thanks to the fact that some scenes have been bracketed in ¹/₂ f-stops, I can tell that the FP4 (135/36 in this case) would have been just right with 125ASA at (1¹/₃)³ of Kodak's base time. The contrast is just like the Scala, sharpness and grain are very fine. It seems there is another alternative to Scala when handled very carefully because of the soft emulsion.

Let see what can be done to further tune the Tmax...