Described as a “Document-copying Film” (in English) or “Dokumentenfilm” (in German), this roll is part of a good number of film rolls I have acquired in 2002, some 20 rolls in total. Some of these were shot in the last years, and those remaining are consumed one by one, with various occasions. And such occasion came, when I had to travel on business. With half a roll already shot in my XA2, I had plenty left to record a few places.
I have seen this film elsewhere called “AgfaOrtho”; in fact, it says so on the can, if you look closely. Agfa states that “The Agfa Ortho 25 Professional film is a document-film that is used for reproductions of writing and drawing templates. This orthochromatic negative is characterized by an optimal reproduction of detail, the highest resolution and extremely fine grain”. I have to agree with this, by the looks of what I’ve got so far from this Agfa Ortho 25 Professional film negative.
Not an easy task to shoot 25asa film while an overcast day is unfolding, as you all know. This type of film needs as much light as it can get. Not a harsh sun, but a bright one. At some point I managed to give it that, but not always during shooting it. A few frames were shot at different speeds I guess (camera is all automatic), just because at that moment the sun was really harsh.
One thing I noticed is that when taken out its zone of comfort, this ortho film starts to display nice grey tones, which are not always to be seen on such emulsion. I am more used to black and white with ortho films, not so much grey. And in those frames, the loss of detail is not evident, at least I haven’t seen anything amiss.
The negative was processed in Rollei’s RLC, at a dilution of 1+10 for 12 mins, gentle 30″ inversions, then 2 slow inversions at every 2 minutes. Rollei dev sheet says that “Rollei RLC Low Contrast is a low contrast film developer, designed for technical films with steep gradation. Depending on developing time, these films can be used for pictorial photography to an adjustment to the contrast curve. The negatives are extremely fine grain and excellent tonal range.“
I used this developer, as the others available were noted for their nasty effect on the contrast. Given that RLC is a low contrast developer, which I usually employ for my Rollei ATP 1.1 (25asa) or Fuji SHR (6-12asa) films, it seemed a good choice.
Plus that this film has been discontinued for a long time now, not many developers left out there for it, if you discount Rodinal and D76/ID11. Rodinal or Rodinal Spezial (yes, this one is still around, but kind of hard to procure) would be the next developer to try this film in.
A good film to use? Very much so, if you remember the primary rule with it: it needs l-i-g-h-t. Plenty of it, really.