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.

WPPD 2017 in Ann Arbor

The Ondu pinhole cameras - Kat's 6x6, and my 6x9

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day was held on April 30, and this year a bunch of us got together in Ann Arbor instead of some other location.  Given the weather, we made a good choice.  Last year we met in Fostoria, OH, which turned out great. This year, it was a gloomy, cold, and then rainy day. Despite that, I felt we made the best of it, as we met on the University of Michigan campus. There is no lack of possibilities using pinhole cameras there.   I used my ONDU 6x9 pinhole camera for the first time, and realized that partway through the first roll, I had loaded the film on the wrong side, as the film spool should be loaded on the right side, not the traditional left side.  Therefore, the frame numbers will be proper for 8 6x9 images. Duh.  I should have realized that by looking at the arrows on the top of the camera.  With that out of the way, everything worked fine and I feel I got some good images.  Tim and Kat were also there, and always have been stalwart pinhole day attendees.

Since it was graduation weekend, we saw quite a few UM grads there, especially around the Carl Milles fountain.  From there, we went over to Nickels arcade, and then over to Regents Plaza.  I have always wanted to photograph the cube while it was rotating, and the pinhole camera surprised me with the result.

From there, we went over to the UM Law Quadrangle and got some shots in, at least until it started to sprinkle.
After that, we headed home!

The rotating cube.

and.. now for the pinhole result.

Inside Nickels Arcade 

Carl Milles fountain. About a 20 second exposure.

one last video...

The Honest Camera: Mary Ellen Mark 1940-2015.

I'm saddened by the loss of one of America's great photographers.  Mary Ellen Mark died this week at the age of 75.  In September of 2013, I had the good fortune to see a lecture by Mary Ellen Mark as part of the University of Michigan's Penny Stamps School of Art and Design  Lecture Series.  Early on, I appreciated her gritty images of people in unfortunate circumstances.  While she was a documentary photographer, she also seemed to have a way of getting close to her subjects.While sometimes they are grim reminders of unpleasant situations -- she showed that all was not right with the world, as in the series of photographs of poor families on Ohio that appeared in Life magazine in 1989. Along the lines of  Lewis Hine, she was able to give voices to those without a voice via her photography.

This image belongs right up there with those of Walker Evans
 on the sharecroppers of Hale Co., Alabama.

My recollection of her lecture at the Michigan Theater was that this diminutive woman with her twin braids projected a humble persona, yet was confident and fully engaged in the presentation of her work, -- and  a master of her craft.  She told us how she worked on some of her more famous series, and I think her compassion allowed her to get such amazing images.

Later, I attended the Q&A session, and listed to the questions and her answers. Many of the people in the audience were college students, and it was interesting seeing the contrast of Mary Ellen, steeped in the tradition of using film, and these young beginners, who grew up in the digital age.  One young woman asked why she didn't get people to smile in her photos.  Mary Ellen gave a great response to what some might regard as an inane question.  She took the time to talk about how making someone smile removes the authenticity of the moment, much less a  a forced appearance.  I thought about that for quite a while, and I have had others ask why I don't smile for a "selfie."  What the hell am I smiling about?    No, Mary Ellen was right -- a grin should be a natural moment, not a fiction.    She answered a lot of questions and I admired her gentle yet firm demeanor.

She also told us that she felt very lucky to be able to do her photography at a time when the printed page was THE THING.  Many of us have probably seen some of her documentary work without realizing that she was the photographer.  She was an accomplished photographer, and that is still an understatement.

With Mary Ellen Mark, It was not not about the personality, the camera, or the gallery.  It was about telling an honest story with her camera.  She was able to become part of the surroundings, and yet not seeming to affect the subjects.  That's a hell of a talent -- and to come away with images that move us as well.  I am glad that I had the chance to see her in 2013.  Rest in peace, Mary Ellen.  Your photographs will speak for you - always.

A Tendril Into the Past - Margaret Bourke-White at the Museum

I was looking through some ancient back issues of "The Ark" for some information about a particular expedition. The Ark was a newsletter published by the UM Museum of Zoology back in the 1920s. It's filled with a lot of interesting information about the museum before and shortly after it moved to its present location in 1928. However, I stopped at one page from the March 1923 issue and realized that I had just read an unremarkable statement about a most remarkable photographer.


The Margaret (White) shown here is none other than the woman who would later be known as Margaret Bourke-White, one of the great photographers of the 20th century. Of course, nobody at the Museum would have known that the young woman working in the darkroom would become an extraordinary photojournalist, with iconic images on the cover of Life magazine. At that time, photography was still considered to be pretty much a male domain, and it's a testament to Margaret's talent, vivacity, and audacity that she was able to overcome the barriers to women and reach the highest level of her profession.She was a star, and though it is true that her looks and charm may have gotten her into some assignments -- she came away with the goods and got photographs nobody else could get.

Margaret entered U-M in 1922 (after having spent year at Columbia Univ, where she studied photography under the pictorialist Clarence E. White) and originally wanted to study Herpetology. Alexander G. Ruthven, the Museum Director and herpetologist, offered her a temporary job in the museum darkroom, hence the little blurb in The Ark in 1923. Although studying in the sciences didn't work out for her, Margaret apparently had a life-long interest in reptiles and amphibians.

It was at Michigan where she began photographing and building a portfolio, though she apparently did not regard her early work there as worthy of mentioning in her autobiography, Portrait of Myself. However, Deborah Gilbert's 1987 article in Michigan Today (first page shown here) provides some details on Bourke-White's two years at Michigan. I now know that she lived at 915 East Ann and 1052 Baldwin. While at Michigan, she photographed many of the same structures that I, and many other photographers find of interest. In the 2005 book, Margaret Bourke White: The Early Work, 1922-1930, there are a number of U-M photographs featuring the Cook Law Quadrangle, the Michigan Union, and the campus along South State Street. The old Museum was barely visible in one photograph, and that very classic building was demolished in the 1950s. Gilbert (1987) proposed that the dark and murky photos that Margaret took at that period mirrored her emotional state. It's very likely the emotional scars from her time at U-M stayed with her until she wrote her autobiography, which is perhaps why she didn't mention much about her start at U-M.

Margaret Bourke-White's stay at Michigan might have been longer, but she married engineering student Everett Chapman in 1924 and the two of them went to Purdue in 1925. It was an ill-fated marriage, lasting barely a year. Margaret left for Cornell University and graduated in 1927. From there, she went to Cleveland, operating a small studio, and the rest as they say, is history, as she rose to prominence after working for Henry Luce at Time.

References

Bourke-White, M. 1963. Portrait of Myself. Simon and Schuster, New York. 383 pp.

Bourke-White, M. Ostman, R.E. & H. Littel. 2005. Margaret Bourke-White: The early work, 1922-1930. Godine, Boston, MA. 128 pp.

Gilbert, Deborah. 1987. Margaret Bourke-White: How a U-M yearbook photographer became The Portrayer of This Age. Michigan Today. 19(2):8-10.

Goldberg, V. 1986. Margaret Bourke-White: A Biography. Harper and Row, New York. 427 pp.

Web Sites to Visit
NPR Story on MB-W's Photography of Design

Post on Digital Journalist

Women In History site

Goodbye to a fellow photographer

David J. Bay, a colleague at the University of Michigan passed away on Feb. 21 after a lengthy illness. I had known David for nearly my entire career at UM (28 years), and he'd been working for the University for over 34 years. I always envied Dave's position -- after all, not all that many photographers end up with a full-time job with benefits. Dave was a laid-back person that really knew his craft, and I enjoyed his wry sense of humor. I can't say that we were close friends -- in fact, most of his personal life was a mystery to me. I used to see him at the bar at Ashley's pub every now and then, and he often drove around in a black Harley with a side-car, and looked every bit the part of someone that enjoyed being himself. Dave was an excellent photographer, and whether he was shooting a staff portrait, some butterflies in a tray, or making slides for talks, his work was always well-done. I doubt that many faculty realized the "I need it by tomorrow" approach to getting slides done for a talk that should have been done weeks before was a sure way make Dave lose his hair.

I used to talk to him whenever I was in his building, and whenever we ran into each other somewhere, we would discuss photography. He loved Nikons and we shared a common interest in the craft of being a good photographer. I know he liked sharing his expertise, and I imagine there are scores of graduate students that learned a thing or two from Dave. With anyone so well-versed in photography, he made the difficult appear simple, his techniques refined from years of experience. The digital tide came his way, and he adapted, though I suspect somewhat grudgingly. Because as we all know, anyone with a digital camera instantly thinks they are now an expert on photography. I'm sure Dave had some interesting exchanges with such people.

Throughout our lives there are people that we wished we'd had one more conversation with, one more beer with, or one more chance to find out more from that person. David Bay was one of those people, and we are poorer with his passing.

A gathering of family and friends will be held at Matthaei Botanical Gardens on Dixboro Road, Saturday, February 28, from 1 – 4 p.m.