One Roll Review - Silberra S25 b&w film

This post has been a while in the making.  I originally received a roll of the S25 back in January 2021, for my donation to the Indiegogo campaign by Silberra in 2017.  I shot that that roll in October 2021, while in Arizona. However, instead of having the FM3A in A mode, I had accidentally set the shutter speed dial to 1/4000 sec, and for some idiotic reason, I was not paying attention to what the camera was doing/showing and was snapping away until I realized my folly.  That has to be the most bone-headed thing I have done in my years of photography.  Needless to say, there was not much in the way of recoverable images on that roll.  In November of that year, I found that Blue Moon Camera had a supply of the Silberra films, so I ordered a roll of the S25, 50 b&w films, and 50 ISO color film (which I have yet to shoot).   A few weeks ago, I finished up the S25 roll in Cleveland while there for the FPP recording sessions, as well as the Beers and Camera meetup.  

What is Silberra S25?

 Silberra, a Russian company based in St. Petersburg (I can only assume they are still in business, but with the war on Ukraine I doubt they are getting purchases from the US), came onto the scene in 2017, and launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for their production of b&w films.  Their website silberra.com is still active, so I assume that they are still selling their products.  

Silberra S25 film is a slow, ISO 25 black and white film with high resolution, super low grain, medium contrast, and extended red sensitivity.  The beauty of an ISO 25 film is that you can shoot with it in daylight with wide apertures to achieve that beautiful separation of foreground from the background.  My favorite low-speed panchromatic film was Kodak’s Panatomic-X, which I usually shot at ISO 25.  Agfa’s APX 25 was another classic slow film, and more about that later.  Just about the finest-grained (as in no grain) was Kodak’s Technical Pan film, which at ISO 25, also has an extended red sensitivity.  I still have a lot of Tech Pan, but the problem with that film is that it requires a special low-contrast developer to achieve the proper gray middle tones.  With APX 25 (and it’s successor, Rollei RPX 25), as swell as the Silberra S25, D-76 can be used for the developer.  That’s an important aspect for most users - easily obtained developers.

I shot my latest roll of S25 with my Minolta Maxxum 7000 - which I use with an M-42 adapter to take advantage of those delightful Super -Takumar lenses from Pentax.  I call it my Spotmatic with a motorized film advance.  Used in Aperture-Priority mode, it becomes a great camera for M-42 lenses (in manual aperture, not auto aperture).  I developed the film in D76 1:1 for 6.5 minutes, water stop, and normal fixing.  One thing I should note about the film - it was sold in one of those plastic reloadable cassettes, which is the first time I have seen that from a vendor. There were no edge markings on the film.

Results - Here are some images from the roll of Silberra S25. All were scanned on my Epson V700, with minor adjustments in Corel Paint Shop Pro.

I am quite pleased with the results.  When there is a great deal of contrast in a scene, the shadows are quite dense, and for some, that can be a bonus.  When there is less contrast, the film seems to have great latitude, and very pleasing tonality.  The film base is polyester, and there are no edge markings.  It’s said that the film is one of the Agfa Aviphot surveillance films, which it certainly may be.  It is also quite similar to the Rollei RPX-25, which has similar characteristics.  I reviewed the RPX 25 in February, 2020.  

Anyhow, I enjoy shooting low-iso films, such as this.  I get results that are different from the typical ISO 100 and 400 films that I normally shoot with.  Since these are panchromatic films, they can be used with yellow or red filters to achieve more dramatic results, and since I have shot the last of my Silberra b&w film, I have ordered some RPX 25 to test further.  To me, that’s the beauty of film - different emulsions can give so very different results using the same camera and lens.

The Takumar Trek

 

I have returned from my latest road trip, that accounted for 2,241 miles over 9 days - which had several objectives. Primarily, it was a trip to Photostock 2022 in Cross Village, MI, but it also included a US 23 journey, a visit with my sister and her husband in Canton, Ohio, and photographing small post offices along the way, and almost all of it was photographed using several Pentax Spotmatics and a Pentax 6X7.  My new to me Canon EOS M5 camera also got used a bit, as well as the Horizon 202 and Ansco Pix Panorama.  However, it was the lovely black Pentax Spotmatic SP shown here that was used the most.  I picked it up at Ball Photo in Asheville a few weeks before my trip, which started on June 20 and ended June 28.    

The lens that I used the most is the Super Takumar 35mm f/3.5, as its coverage is perfect for travel photography, and it's also a relatively small lens, especially compared with my 35mm f/2 monster!   The Spotmatic SPs and Spotmatic F (which was almost always paired with the 28mm f/3.5) accounted for about 15 rolls of film during this trip, mostly in black and white.  The Spotmatic F always had a roll of color C-41 film.  

Film waiting to be developed!

My route US-23 is a long-term project, and all that remains is to do the route S of Weaverville. There's a lot that I have photographed along it in previous years in Michigan, but it was never really a "project" at the time.  The northern terminus of US-23 is at Mackinaw City, MI where it ends at I-75.  I only did part of US-23 going N, because I had to cut over to Canton, OH to visit my sister.  That gave me the opportunity to check ahead of time for routes that would take through small towns with post offices. 

Hartville, OH

In Ohio, it was route 224 that took me from Canton OH area to I-75 N to MI and US-23.   On the return trip it was US-23S all the way from Ann Arbor, MI to Weaverville, NC.  Going N on US-23 in Michigan, I started in Standish, where US-23N splits off from I-75. The rest of that route follows the coastline up to Mackinaw City.

The northern terminus of US-23N at I-75 in Mackinaw City, MI

Photostock was held in Cross Village, MI this year, and Bill Schwab, the organizer, did a wonderful job putting together a meeting and event that brought photographers together for a couple of days. It was fun sharing our work, seeing old friends and making new ones in a very laid-back atmosphere along the Lake Michigan coastline. It was a long trip for me, and I'm glad that I went, as it became part of the Takumar Trek. 

I have yet to process my film from this trip, but I will get started on it shortly.  I'll be sharing some of the images here, on Instagram, and of course, on my Flickr account (all mfophotos).

Waiting for the train to do its crossing at Standish. 

Paul Bunyan and Babe, in Ossineke, MI

I had some time to kill before Photostock, so I stayed two nights in Mackinaw City, and on June 23, I took a short trip into the Upper Peninsula to revisit some spots along US-2.  

Gould City, MI

Naubinway, MI

I returned to the lower Peninsula in the early afternoon, and drove down to Petoskey, in time to attend a lecture and exhibit by Henry Horenstein at the Crooked Tree Arts Center.  If you have heard Horenstein's name - it's probably because he has authored the best manuals for b&w photography.  His exhibit  - Honky Tonk, is a wonderful look at people, musicians, and bars from the 1970s.  I highly recommend it if you are going to be anywhere near Petoskey, MI.

The next couple of days were all at Photostock, and while I mostly shot film there, here are a few images from Cross Village.

It's pretty tough to beat a Lake Michigan sunset

After Photostock, it was back on the road - southward, and eventually on US-23 from Ann Arbor all the way home.  That's for another post!