Is there still demand for 25 ASA film?

[Firstlightau]

..Only if it's APX25!

[Roger Cole]

For contact printing? No. For enlarging? Yes. Typically slower films have finer grain. Techpan used to be the uncontested king of the hill. Then it went away, and we have Fuji Acros followed by Kodak TMax-100 and Ilford Delta 100. Some people have been able to develop Efke 25 with almost no grain. That's absolutely fabulous for enlarging, but of course it really doesn't matter for contact printing.

Another reason to use a slow speed film is when a shutter doesn't have a range of faster speeds. Some older shutters top out at 1/50th, so to change exposure you then have to stop down. Well, if your composition relies on a shallow DOF, you'll need a slower film. Sure, you can shoot slower and shorten your development time, but some films start to bloom or block up in the highlights, and you can't control that. The film is simply overexposed.

Also, for fine grain, there's the cool factor when you can take a 22x loupe to a negative, and count individual bricks and bicycle spokes over a block away, stuff that would be lost with a grainier film. I have just a few sheets of Techpan left, and then that's the end of it for me.

Another reason is that sometimes people want to shoot with intentionally long shutter speeds for motion studies. I hadn't really thought much about that until someone brought it up in a similar discussion on APUG. I've seen some stuff like that I liked - I forget the famous photographer but there was a series done of waves blurring over motionless rocks that was pretty well known. I can see some possibilities for that kind of thing though I've never really tried it.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Many people ask me why do I use Efke-25 in ULF and 8x10 when I don't need to. I use the film speed to create a look to my work. It is a useful tool to give me what I see. The film has a quality for me that is hard to describe. I know it well and it suits my work. It is great for my style of carbon printing.

[ac12]

I would personally like SLOW film.
I like to shoot LONG exposure, and currently I have to use various combinations of filters to cut the light to the lens. It would be a lot simpler to just use SLOW film.

[mcfactor]

I believe that Wephota NP15 was branded as Adox Pan 25 in large format and Rollei Pan 25 in roll film. Freestyle stocked this for a while, then it just stopped.

This was by far my favorite film, the base was perfectly clear and it was incredibly sharp and beautifully toned. It also had much better quality control than efke 25.

I would love to have it again in 8x10. Ilford delta 100 is great, but it just doesnt have that same look.

[Drew Wiley]

I had just as many quality control issues (specifically, zits) with Rollei Pan 25 as with with Efke, and it lacked the shadow separation. I'm sticking with ACROS in
120 film and 4x5, or Pan F where the contrast isn't so extreme, though I still have a fair amt of Efke in the freezer for when I truly need it. With 8x10 I don't need the fine grain.

[Peter Gomena]

I really would have liked some ISO 25 film when I was trying out my shutterless rapid rectilinear lens. For anything else, I can get by with a 2-stop ND filter and 100 ISO film. Or, a larger ND filter to fit my RR lens.

[rcmartins]

I like Efke 25 a lot. I have used it for years in MF and more recently on LF. I still have a few sheets but I find it sad to see it disappear. I have never had issues with quality control and my developer soup for that film worked wonders in terms of tonal rendition, acutance and grain. The only thing that comes close in my development style is Pan-F but, as we all know, that doesn't come in sheet film. if the option came I would certainly embrace the possibility to buy 25 ASA film again, specially if it has the quality Efke 25 had. What I used it for, mainly: studio with flash, night scenes (outstanding reciprocity) and blurred water landscapes.
Most of my B&W shooting since has been done through HP5+ at EI=160.

[polyglot]

These guys are trying to demonstrate demand

[cyberjunkie]

Were they not folks from Banse & Grohman? They stock Wephota NP15 - lovely 25ASA film based on older ORWO emulsions and as far as I have been told they make the runs at least once a year - and B&G then cuts the film to any size you want...

Contacted them very recently.
The 25 ISO is present in their catalogue, cut in a huge number of sizes (metric and inches - both UK and USA formats), but they wrote me that they have the 100 ISO now...
25 and 50 ISO wheren't mentioned in their email, so i guess they don't have them at the moment.
I didn't ask when the 25 ISO will be available, but i have to do it in the near future, because it's the only film i'd buy right now.
I have some Wephota, even in uncommon sizes like quarter-plate, and some old Orwo film.
I regret i bought just a few boxes, because some sizes (and the lower sensitivity films) are not available anymore from german web shops.
At least i could get the last box of Efke 25 ISO 8x10" with a recent order.

I guess that expressing some interest via email, and submitting a few pre-orders, would convince them (Grohman/Wephota) to give it a go

cheers

Paolo