EFKE developement

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Neil Purling - 25 Apr 2004 12:59 GMT

I am specifically referring to EFKE KB25 (also PL25, which is the lge format
version.

I used the 35mm last year, developing in Rodinal.
However given a sunny day and the tonal range went crazy. I shot some
vintage tractors & a agricultural show and I am using grade 0 filtration.

This film is 25ASA under tungsten light & 50ASA in daylight.

Even on a day which was not sunny the contrast seemed harsh & the shadow
detail was wanting.
Do you get better results rating at 25 in daylight and adjusting the
developement time to suit?
I also wondered if one should agitate the film less than normal.

This film ought to be capable of superb results and I wanted to buy some 4x5
for my Crown Graphic

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Martin Jangowski - 25 Apr 2004 13:57 GMT

> I am specifically referring to EFKE KB25 (also PL25, which is the lge format
> version.

> I used the 35mm last year, developing in Rodinal.
> However given a sunny day and the tonal range went crazy. I shot some
> vintage tractors & a agricultural show and I am using grade 0 filtration.

> This film is 25ASA under tungsten light & 50ASA in daylight.

Obviously, your development was (much) too long.

> Even on a day which was not sunny the contrast seemed harsh & the shadow
> detail was wanting.
> Do you get better results rating at 25 in daylight and adjusting the
> developement time to suit?

Yes. However, the Efke 25 has rather short development times and even
small variations in time, agitation and temperature will give
rather large differences in gradation. I use the Beutler developer
with Efke25, but Rodinal will give godd results, too. I'd try
1+50 and develop short strips with different times, like
4:00 .. 10:00 in 1:00 min steps to find the optimum for
your processing. With Beutler developer and my processing the Efke 25 has
16 DIN (32 ASA). Keep your agitation and temperature constant
for all tests, I put by Jobo drum in a large bucket with temperated
water to keep the temp constant.

Martin

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Dan Quinn - 26 Apr 2004 09:33 GMT

> I am specifically referring to EFKE KB25 (also PL25, which is the lge
> format version.)
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> This film ought to be capable of superb results and I wanted to buy
> some 4x5 for my Crown Graphic

You did not mention day light filtration. Were those "not sunny"
shots open very much to sky light? You may have an at shooting time
high contrast problem. Dan

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Neil Purling - 30 Apr 2004 07:57 GMT

I have looked at the contrast-time curve on a graph as part of the technical
information on KB25.
For contrast of 0.55-0.7 a dev time of around 4 min in ID11 @ 20 C with a
rating of ISO 25/15.
As EFKE say that the speed printed on the box applies to TUNGSTEN light.
They reccomend 6 min in ID11 to acheive that.
I think that when you use this time the daylight speed of 50ASA is too fast
and it may be better to use the 4 min & a speed of 25/15 in daylight.

In some situations it seems that even with the Rodinal the results suggested
under exposure and over developement to a degree.

Now the thing is that does the behaviour of the PL25 sheet film differ from
the 35mm version?
With a tank developement procedure the agitation is definitely more gentle.
My usual procedure with all b&w film is to use a pre-soak for even
developement.

The developers I have used are Agfa Rodinal, Paterson Aculux 2 & Ilford
Ilfosol S.
I really ought to stick to one sort but my local photo stores don't seem to
keep much chemistry thanks to the curse of d*****l.

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