Agfa Copex Rapid 50 film - One Roll Review

I was going through some files today and realized that although I had shot this film in 2017, and noted it in my article of the pre-assembled Caffenol mix, I did not really review the film! So, here is my recollection of the Agfa Copex Rapid 35mm film.

I bought a roll of the 35mm Agfa Copex Rapid film from Freestyle to try it out. It sat in my fridge for many months before I decided to give it a try.  My delay was probably more about the development of the film than the shooting of it. At 50 ISO, it's not as slow as a lot of the strange films that I have tested, and it certainly is a stop faster than Kodak's TechPan film.  Since it's basically a microfilm, it will be inherently contrasty.  Not as much as something like Kodalith, but I assumed it was going to be more like a Technical pan type of film.

Here is Freestyle's online description of this film:

Agfa Copex Rapid 50 is a low-speed panchromatic black and white film with a nominal sensitivity of ISO 50/18°. Featuring excellent resolution, very fine grain and excellent acutance. The emulsion is coated on a transparent synthetic base providing excellent long-term and dimensional stability.

Features:

• Traditional Black and White Film
• 35mm x 36 exp.
• 50 ISO
• Manufactured to ISO specifications for archival use
• For optimal results use: Spur Modular UR AB Developer

Note: Film has to be loaded and unloaded in subdued light and exposed film should be stored in a light tight film container.

When Copex is developed with Spur Modular UR developer, sharpness, fine-grain, exposure latitude, tonal values, speed utilization are all retained. The Parts 'A' and 'B' are needed for the absolutely streak-free development of the SPUR DSX/Agfa Copex Rapid roll film; Part 'C' is no longer needed as previously.

This film can also be processed using a black and white reversal process (SCALA) to make black and white slides (positives) with a neutral black tone, a middle graduation, very fine grain, a very high sharpness and detail resolution when processed as a black and white slide.

Black and White Reversal process expose to:
35mm: ISO 50-64
120 Medium Format: ISO 64-80
Development time: 4 minutes
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What deterred me from shooting it for so long was the specialty developer.  I like to use what I have, and I am assuming that the aforementioned developer tames the contrast.  Nevertheless, World-wide Pinhole Day was approaching, and I wanted to shoot the film in an SLR while also doing the pinhole stuff that day.  For some reason, I chose my Minolta X-370 SLR and took it along for the day.  I shot the film at 50 ISO, and used a tripod, as it was an overcast and chilly day. Some of my exposures were set at f/16, which meant shutter speeds long enough to blur motion.  As my link at top shows, I developed the film in the Labeauratoire Caffenol Concoction  for 15 minutes.  I figured, what the hell, just go for it and see what happens!

Developed in the Caffenol, the film looks a lot like some of the specialty microfilms that I have used -- though it was certainly faster.  I'll take ISO 50 over ISO 6 any day.

Here are some sample images.  Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at the results.  The film is on a PET base, so it does lie flat and scans easily. I had to do some tweaking in Corel Paint Shop Pro to get the look I wanted from the scans from the Epson V700.  I guess if I were to seriously try this film again, I would try the SPUR developer. However, the Caffenol did a pretty good job,and of course, I could also try Technidol to see how that works with the Copex rapid 50 film.

The beauty of shooting film is that there are so many different approaches you can take with any particular film.  In this case, I took a chance with a non-traditional developer and it worked pretty well.  Your results may vary when using the Copex Rapid 50, but it certainly is fine-grained and may be just the solution to what you are looking for in a film.  Missing TechPan?  Give this film a try.