New At Photokina 2012: ADOX SILVERMAX

[sepiareverb]

Lovely news. I'm on board.

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Originally Posted by mhv

You don't need extra zones to print silver gelatin.

The extra dynamic range captured by the negative can be brought out in the print by dodging and burning. Several existing films, like Kodak Tmax 100 and 400 can capture 14 zones easily, but it does take some work in the darkroom (or photoshop if you scan) to bring that full range onto the print.

[sepiareverb]

Originally Posted by mhv

You don't need extra zones to print silver gelatin.

Lots of us here (myself excluded) scan film and never see a negative placed in an enlarger. This is coated on a clear base, and ADOX mentions processing it as a slide.

I'd agree with Chris, it will make a difference. More info on a negative means the potential for more info in the print- if one can manage to get it delivered to the paper. That's not everyone who prints by a long shot.

[whitecat]

I'm looking forward to see some examples of this film.

[Argenticien]

Absent any advice yet from Adox, what does one soup this in? Perhaps Rodinal?

Good on 'em for introducing this. Damn shame it won't be in 120 as well, but we can't have everything.

--Dave

[loquax ludens]

There is a dedicated Silvermax developer for souping this film. I'm not a fan of dedicated developers, myself, so I plan to test it in Rodinal and HC-110 for starters, then Pyrocat HD, as these are the developers that I routinely use.

[bwcolor]

Waiting for word from Freestyle. Here is an explanation of the 'silver' claim:

http://www.apug.org/forums/viewpost.php?p=1394949

Why would you want to develop this as a positive? How is this done?

[Roger Hicks]

Originally Posted by bwcolor

Waiting for word from Freestyle. Here is an explanation of the 'silver' claim:

http://www.apug.org/forums/viewpost.php?p=1394949

Why would you want to develop this as a positive? How is this done?

Highlight: slides.

The 'Silver Rich' claim is... not really very relevant. But I have several rolls to try.

Cheers,

R.

[sevo]

My guess given a clear base and the references to reversal processing is that this is some intermediate step towards re-engineering Scala - which is not quite all there yet (or for which they haven't yet been able to create a companion process as good as the one Agfa had for Scala reversal), hence it is marketed as a predominantly negative rather than reversal film.

[MartinP]

Oh, I was hoping that it would be a sort of Adox Verichrome-Pan, or Neopan-SS. My next materials order will include a few rolls too!

[sepiareverb]

Apparently sold out already from the Adox FB page. I've got ten rolls enroute via DHL, never quick, never cheap, but they do eventually make it.

[bwcolor]

Freestyle Reply:

"Hi Gary

Thank you for your e-mail. Our executives have been at Photokina last &
this week. They will be returning within the next couple of days. I know
the Adox Silvermax & silvermax developer was on their agenda. We won't
have any information until next week when they all return.

Stay tuned.

Thank you.

Marv Keller
Manager,
Customer Service & Consumer Direct Sales"

Fast reply and to the point. Always, a good company to work with.

[gb hill]

Originally Posted by Roger Hicks

Highlight: slides.

The 'Silver Rich' claim is... not really very relevant. But I have several rolls to try.

Cheers,

R.

Roger, are you going to be writing an article for Shutterbug. I hope Frances experiments with some prints in the darkroom.

[Roger Hicks]

Originally Posted by gb hill

Roger, are you going to be writing an article for Shutterbug. I hope Frances experiments with some prints in the darkroom.

Insh'Allah. But George (the editor) is not all that keen on silver halide.

Cheers,

R.

[gb hill]

Originally Posted by Roger Hicks

Insh'Allah. But George (the editor) is not all that keen on silver halide.

Cheers,

R.

Perhaps George needs to be aware the only time I purchase a copy of the magazine is when you write an article for traditional photography. This is sad news. I guess it has to do with there not being any advertising for film & traditional photography supplies.

[Rangefinderfreak]

I was at Photokina and asked Ilford : is the Harmann/ Kentmere 400 same as Maco RPX-400 ? The answer was: That you have to ask at MACO booth... At Fotoimpex booth I asked: Is Silvermax the same as RPX-100 ? The answer was: Definitely NOT! At MACO booth I asked : Is RPX-400 same as Harmann/kentmere 400 and is Silvermax same as RPX-100 ? The answer was,yes, but no... Kentmere 400 and RPX 400 are very close, but different specs, slightly as they are from different batch. Everytime we ask for a master roll, we adjust the specs, accordingly the feedback we get.You know: TRI-X evolved during the years in the same way, without really making a fuss about it. As to the Silvermax/ RPX 100, they are obviously different film, as we guess Fotoimpex wanted it to differ from previous products. What it means to reality, in images, remains to be seen. It is not out of question that MACO would not adjust the parametres in future master roll specs...
What will change, or has already changed is the 120 size rolls. Our former partner for cutting and packaging the product has ceased to exist... ( In photokina, on the booth of EFKE, just a taped sign EFKE was present, no explanation...)

[Harry Lime]

Originally Posted by mhv

Sounds interesting in theory, but what's the point of having 14 zones if your paper can't print them all?

All photographic films can be developed to cover a range of densities that is commensurate with the exposure range of a paper. That's why you can have full black, full white, and all the grey tones in between.

You don't need extra zones to print silver gelatin. The only reason I know to have film developed to a very high Dmax is when you are printing on a soft-contrast paper, such as platinum/palladium, Van Dyke brown, etc. But these processes are mostly sensitive to UV light, and are very slow--which preclude enlargement printing, unless you have a UV-source light in your enlarger. 35mm contact prints are a bit tiny.

I smell a gimmick. Or else it's a film designed to do slides (in which case you do need the extra Dmax), but I see nothing to this effect in the press release.

Your traditional paper may not be able to show all 14 stops, but you can decide which of the 14 to print. In my experience the more information you have to start from, the better off you are.

I've never understood this concern, because the exposure range of negative film has pretty much always exceeded that of paper. Slide film on the other hand has a more limited exposure range that is closer to paper, but IMO that has always been a severe limitation outside of the studio.

Of course if you scan the negative properly you have access to all 14 stops to bring back shadow or highlight detail. You can compress the exposure range to fit within the range of the paper (inkjet or silver gelatin). If this is done correctly it will not look like a silly HDR image, but like a finely dodged and burned traditional print.

I estimate that I get about 11-12 stops from my negatives. That's far more than the paper can display without some help, but that's a better problem to have to deal with than not capturing as much of the exposure range of the scene as possible.

[Rob-F]

I see there are references, above, to T-Max as covering the same dynamic range of 14 stops. I wonder: does this mean Silvermax will be apt to look flat? T-Max often looks flat to me, especially in the middle tones--not enough "snap."