whirlpool rapids bridge underside
This bridge was completed in 1897. It replaced the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge, constructed in 1855, the world's first railway suspension bridge. Previously a heavily used railway connection between the United States and Canada, now it only transports around 500 people per day on the upper rail deck, and no cargo. The lower deck is a road for cars. The bridge received extensive maintenance in 2009, so it looks very good for its age.
This was the first test roll of the Adox CMS II 20 film and Adotech IV developer. I shot this entire roll at ISO 16 and developed it at a time and temperature in between their ISO 12 and 20 recommendations, 10 minutes at 24C in 1+14 dilution, with a gentle rotation every minute for agitation. Stop bath was called for so I used dilute citric acid. Fixing time only one minute and washing time 5 minutes. I did do about 5 prewashes to avoid uneven development, even though the instructions recommended against it. It doesn't seem to have harmed anything. I added a slight increase in contrast to this image using curves and cropped the left side in slightly for symmetry.
Early impressions are that tonality is reminiscent of Fuji Acros 100, which makes sense as both have similar spectral sensitivity, being labeled Orthopanchromatic. It also reminds me of Agfa Copex Rapid in the way that it renders detail. I used a plastic slide mount to keep this film flat for its DSLR scan - any difference in sharpness you see in the center versus the edges is likely due to that small variation in flatness. No digital sharpening was performed as I dislike its look. In the next round of digitization, I will use anti-newton ring glass to keep it flatter and compare the quality difference. Previous results were that the glass does slightly muddy the contrast and slightly reduce center sharpness, but also increases edge sharpness, compared to the plastic slide mount. The film dries curly due to its thin PET base, a definite drawback when recording fine detail where flatness is crucial.
The film and the developer can both at times be hard to find in stock. Together their cost for home development results in at least $13 per roll. You may need to stock up at a time when both are available if you have an interest in this film. Unless you are a highly technical user who is able to a maintain a process to a very fine tolerance, I believe this film is going to seem like overkill. I will see if my opinion changes with familiarity as I shoot and develop it more.
whirlpool rapids bridge underside
This bridge was completed in 1897. It replaced the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge, constructed in 1855, the world's first railway suspension bridge. Previously a heavily used railway connection between the United States and Canada, now it only transports around 500 people per day on the upper rail deck, and no cargo. The lower deck is a road for cars. The bridge received extensive maintenance in 2009, so it looks very good for its age.
This was the first test roll of the Adox CMS II 20 film and Adotech IV developer. I shot this entire roll at ISO 16 and developed it at a time and temperature in between their ISO 12 and 20 recommendations, 10 minutes at 24C in 1+14 dilution, with a gentle rotation every minute for agitation. Stop bath was called for so I used dilute citric acid. Fixing time only one minute and washing time 5 minutes. I did do about 5 prewashes to avoid uneven development, even though the instructions recommended against it. It doesn't seem to have harmed anything. I added a slight increase in contrast to this image using curves and cropped the left side in slightly for symmetry.
Early impressions are that tonality is reminiscent of Fuji Acros 100, which makes sense as both have similar spectral sensitivity, being labeled Orthopanchromatic. It also reminds me of Agfa Copex Rapid in the way that it renders detail. I used a plastic slide mount to keep this film flat for its DSLR scan - any difference in sharpness you see in the center versus the edges is likely due to that small variation in flatness. No digital sharpening was performed as I dislike its look. In the next round of digitization, I will use anti-newton ring glass to keep it flatter and compare the quality difference. Previous results were that the glass does slightly muddy the contrast and slightly reduce center sharpness, but also increases edge sharpness, compared to the plastic slide mount. The film dries curly due to its thin PET base, a definite drawback when recording fine detail where flatness is crucial.
The film and the developer can both at times be hard to find in stock. Together their cost for home development results in at least $13 per roll. You may need to stock up at a time when both are available if you have an interest in this film. Unless you are a highly technical user who is able to a maintain a process to a very fine tolerance, I believe this film is going to seem like overkill. I will see if my opinion changes with familiarity as I shoot and develop it more.