I am interested in what developer and dilutions that people are using for Agfa 100. I have tried xtol st. 1:1, 1:3 and Rodinal 1:50. Anyone have a favorite developer and dilution? I am wondering about Rodinal 1:100 as well.

-- Bill Shaden (bshaden@rocketmail.com), May 18, 2000

Answers

Kodak D-76 1:1, 9 minutes at 68 degrees, agitation at 1-minute intervals in a small tank. This is considerably less than Agfa's recommended times, but always yields nice medium negatives with minimal grain and rich detail that print easily on our Omega D-3 with condenser head.

-- Michael Goldfarb (mgoldfar@mobius.com), May 18, 2000.

I use the AGFA APX 100, 120 roll in combination with the German made TETENAL - NEOFIN BLUE. It's a one shot developer that makes per bottle 500 ml. working solution. It maintains a small grain and very high sharpness in detail, it also well balances the highlights and shadows. It's worth testing it. Check the TETENAL.COM site. I used Rodinal too but found NEOFIN much butter. Good luck ! Stavros

-- Stavros (stavros@athensintercon.gr), May 19, 2000.

Thank you for the response. I still wonder if anyone uses Rodinal 1:100, with APX 100 as is commonly done with Agfa 25. Does anyone use this dilution? What do you think of it? Thanks again for the response. Bill

-- Bill Shaden (bshaden@rocketmail.com), May 22, 2000.

I have friends who use that combination and swear by it. These are mostly other Minox maniacs who are looking for the ultimate in fine grain results.

Me, I don't even know HOW I would do a dilution that great - mixing D-76 1:1 in a kitchen measuring cup is more my speed! But, for the record, the time/temp I gave above works great with my Minox APX 100 - I've made plenty of nice 5x7s from these negs with grain that's barely visible, but not distracting... Since that's a blowup along the lines of 16x20s from full-frame 35mm negs, I think this is pretty darn good!

-- Michael Goldfarb (mgoldfar@mobius.com), May 22, 2000.

One of my favorites is Diafine for all Non T-grained films. Divided D- 76 is great also but not as high acutance as Diafine. Scott

-- Scott Walton (scotlynn@shore.net), May 23, 2000.

I just sent this to Shawn in regards to a question he asked... Shawn...I think your time\temps are off but I can't be sure as you do not provide the temp you used. I don't know what your looking for as far as grain goes, but if you want great sharpness, wonderful tone and, for the APX 400, the best looking grain Ive ever seen, follow the directions that I got from an Agfa rep several years ago. Those direction are for Rodinal at 1+50 and 1+100 at 68 degrees. The times are 20 minutes for 1+100 and 15 minutes for 1+50. The only variable is what you rate the films EI at. Agitation is constant for the first minute...about 20 inversions, then 1 or 2 inversions every 30 seconds for the remaining time. I develop, using Rodinal 1+100, Agfa 400 shot at EI 250 for 20 minutes. With the film rated at 200 you develop it for 15 minutes. Agfa 100 shot at EI 100 is developed for 20 minutes. If you shoot it at EI 64 you use 15 minutes. In both cases I use the 1+100 version. I have never used the 1+50. With the 1+100 you will get negs that are very easy to print. I have processed more then 100 rolls of Agfa 400 and at least 50 rolls of the 100 this way. The APX 400, especially in 120, must be tried. Another very good combo is 120 Tri-X, not the pro, shot at 400 in Rodinal at 1+100. Again, great grain. Dont use HP5+ for this. If you do it must be rated at 160 for 1+100 or 100 for 1+50..cheers....jim

-- Jim Vanson (primary_colors@hotmail.com), May 27, 2000.

i4m used the FX 39 (Paterson) 8 min 1+ 9

veri good.

-- antonio(spain) (ansolla@nexo.es), June 05, 2000.

I tested the 120mm and 35mm versions of this film.My adjusted film speed for the 120mm was about 50ASA and for the 35mm about 80ASA.This is of course is with my meters,cameras etc,as the saying goes "results may vary....".I developed them in HC110,1to31( I use an syringe with no needle to suck out just what I need,exactly ie. 10 ml.) at 68F with a presoak of one minute,agitation 5seconds every 30seconds with an intial 30seconds to start,times are about 5minutes 30 seconds. This works for me espcially the 120mm in the studio with strobes but exsposure is critical (ain't they always),good luck.

-- Stephen Mitchell (mitmad@telus.net), June 08, 2000.