What are you replacing Efke 25 with?

[polyglot]

What I find puzzling in the photographic industry is the deth of both film and film camera companies. I also have another hobby that has enslaved me for quite a long time -Hifi (equipment). It is also puzzling how the (analogue music) vinyl, turntable, and tubes have made a come back - roaring. What is very strange is how expensivethese equipments are, but yet "nut cases" still support the hifi companies. As some of you know already, it is easy to find a $100K turntable leave alone Audio Research $10K amps etc. Similarly more companies are sprouting out with speakers in the rage of $10K - $30k easily. The big question is, what is Kodak, Agfa, Fuji, Ilford etc doing wrong to keep film photography relatively robust? Curious to hear your contrasting views!

Getting a bit OT here but I think there are two factors. First is that building an amplifier is pretty easy - an enthusiast can do it in their bedroom using off-the-shelf componentry bought online; it's a little more involved than building an LF camera, but not by much. It's therefore pretty easy for an audiophile startup company (and note that all the $$$ stuff is from tiny bespoke companies) to operate from the garden shed and produce quality products in small quantities. Manufacturing film is orders of magnitude more difficult, requiring a significant capital investment in special-purpose machinery just to produce something that would be sub-par for 1950.

Second factor is the "nutcase" market who buy this stuff, presumably for status-symbol value rather than sound quality. Spending $100k on audiophile snakeoil/baubles as a public statement of how rich you are is a low-risk proposition: you plunk down the cash, you get your toys, you put 'em on display and they make a nice noise. Cameras/film on the other hand require some skill to use and while there's certainly the "Doctor's Leica/Hasselblad" market, there's significant investment of time required before you get anything that will impress your friends, if at all. If you're clueless and want a photographic bauble, it's easier to drop huge cash on big white lenses etc - at least your friends are likely to understand those.

[patrickjames]

I am bummed that Efke is going away. I have been using their PL100 for the last few years and really like it. I have my holders filled with Foma 100 right now but I don't know if I will stick with it due to the lack of an anti-halation layer. I will probably end up using FP4 when all is said and done. Really can't beat Ilford quality.

I thought I read that at some point Adox might resurrect APX25. Don't hold your breath though. I am still waiting for them to come out with the replacement for Agfa APX400 they have been promising for a couple years now.

[searover]

I just went to the www.ADOX.de website under Art Series and it says (dated Sept, 1, 2012)

"1.9.2012:
Important notice: CHS films and ORTHO films have been manufactured by Fotokemika. Due to the production stop at Fotokemika´s we need to discontinue these films.
All ADOX Premium Line products are not affected by this as they are made by us in Germany.
We try to offer you replacements for the affected products as soon as possible."

Lets hope...

John

[Roger Cole]

I am bummed that Efke is going away. I have been using their PL100 for the last few years and really like it. I have my holders filled with Foma 100 right now but I don't know if I will stick with it due to the lack of an anti-halation layer. I will probably end up using FP4 when all is said and done. Really can't beat Ilford quality.

I thought I read that at some point Adox might resurrect APX25. Don't hold your breath though. I am still waiting for them to come out with the replacement for Agfa APX400 they have been promising for a couple years now.

Um, lack of anti-halation in Foma? That's the first I've heard of it. I've shot some 4x5 and 120 and don't see any evidence of that.

[IanG]

I thought I read that at some point Adox might resurrect APX25. Don't hold your breath though. I am still waiting for them to come out with the replacement for Agfa APX400 they have been promising for a couple years now.

Some of the chemicals needed to make APX25 are no longer manufactured which was why Agfa stopped making it, Mirko of Fotoimpex (Adox) has indicated that there's no chance of a replacement, sales were low anyway when Agfa made it.

Ian

[IanG]

There's no problems with halation with Foma films they have good anti-halation properties.

Ian

[Roger Cole]

There's no problems with halation with Foma films they have good anti-halation properties.

Ian

My experience as well. Ironically Efke made film without an AH layer, but this was intentional and offered both ways, IR820 and Aura. I think some of the Rollei branded films made by Agfa as aerial films also lack an AH layer, but no other modern films I can think of.

[Drew Wiley]

Efke 25 has a primitive anti-halation coating requiring particular care. A buddy of mine got
back from a two week trip with heavy packs into arguably the most remote spot in the
Sierra. He had been careful to load his Efke in the shade. But when we finally got to our
cars to camp one last nite, he pulled out his tupperware box full of exposed film to show
me how many rolls of 120 film he had exposed. He was wearing a halogen headlamp at the
time, and sure enough, half his hard-earned shots were spoiled by light piping streaks.

[patrickjames]

I posted the Foma statement last night when I was tired breaking one of the invariable internet rules.... I misspoke when I said Foma films had no anti-halation layer. I am not even sure why I wrote that to be honest. I should have written that it has poor anti-halation properties compared to Ilford which is what I was thinking of when I wrote that. The glow combined with its bias in the reds makes it an interesting film. I use it quite often in 35mm to tone down the microsharpness of Zeiss lenses and also to give a little oomph to skin tones. I just don't think I will replace Efke PL100 with it in 4x5.

I should mention that I am evaluating the film as someone who often includes the sun in the shot so on a general basis I can see why you may think Foma films are fine whereas I don't for my purposes in admittedly an extreme situation.

[Tim Povlick]

Is the Efke 50 similar to the 25?

Tim