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.

One Roll Review - Ferrania Orto 50

 

Before modern-day panchromatic b&w film emulsions appeared, film was orthochromatic - sensitive to the blue part of the spectrum, but insensitive to red.    Wet-plate photographers still deal with this, and their images have a special look that while retro, are modern.    Likewise, modern orthochromatic emulsions - and there are a few - are geared towards a special use as in 35mm cine applications, or like the ortho emulsions from Ilford, Rollei, and now Ferrania - offer a special look that panchromatic films cannot.     

Ferrania has been producing their P30 panchromatic film since late 2017, which was a bit of a surprise for the backers hoping for an E-6 film. However, as in my 2018 review of the P30, I liked the black and white film, which said to be an old-school emulsion with rich blacks and wonderful tonality.  The film certainly gained a fan.    Moving to 2023, Ferrania has just announced their Orto 50 orthochromatic black and white film.    I was given a test roll by the Film Photography Project  to see how this film looks.   

From Ferrania’s web site, here is their description of Orto 50: "In the earliest days of silent cinema, film stock was blue-sensitive or orthochromatic. Hollywood relied on cosmetics as a "corrective" for on-screen actors. One hundred years later, the very "flaws" that plagued our predecessors are now the creative features that distinguish orthochromatic films today." This is a true statement - orthochromatic films are definitely for those that want a unique look to their images, as reds turn into dark tones in this film. I don’t usually shoot people in my photography, but if you do, ortho films give an old-time look to portraits. In addition, these low-iso ortho films are fine-grained and great for architecture and many landscapes.    In urban settings, they give a contrasty old-school look to images, and that’s why I love to shoot with them.

Ferrania recommends that you shoot this film at box speed, ISO 50. That holds true for other Ortho films, such as Ilford Ortho Plus (ISO 80), and Rollei Ortho 25.  Shoot at box speed!

I loaded the film into my Pentax Spotmatic SP II with a 55mm f/1.8 Super-Takumar lens, and headed out on a walk along Haywood Road in West Asheville.    It’s a great place to test any film, with colorful murals, store fronts, bars, and many signs.  It was a good test for this film on a wonderfully sunny day.

I developed the film in FPP D-96 for 8 minutes, as recommended by Ferrania. I used constant agitation for the first minute, and then agitated for 15 seconds, stopped for 15 seconds, and repeated that until the 8 minutes was up.    Water stop, and 8 minutes in fixer.   As soon as I hung the film to dry, I knew that I’d be happy with my results.

red is very black with this film, as it is insensitive to it.

Lots of blue tones here, so they are lighter

Why the iPhone is a pretty good camera

My latest issue of Monochrome Mania is available from my Etsy site - Monochrome Mania No. 10, Pocketing Memories.  It’s a departure from most of my issues in that all of the b&w images were originally taken with an iPhone, not a film camera.  I’ll admit that I had some trepidation in putting this issue together, since it’s a departure from my previous issues -- but wait! Monochrome Mania is about the b&w image, no matter how it’s produced.  Having a tangible product and not an e-zine  is what Monochrome Mania is all about.  

 I purchased my first Apple iPhone in 2017, and it became a secondary image-maker, and a readily available photographic notebook.  I often shot with it to record exactly where I was, since the location data accompanies every image.  Many times, I use it to gauge how an image may look in square format, or in monochrome, and it becomes a tool that accompanies my film use.  Beyond that, however, it’s also a creative instrument that allows me to photograph a scene and see the result in real time, and store it away in my pocket until later.  My first iPhone was an SE model - smaller and less expensive than what is currently available.  It was replaced with an iPhone XR in 2019, which I am still using.  

There’s no doubt that camera phones have killed compact digital camera sales, since for many people, their camera phone does all that they need.  Always ready and easily pocketed, camera phones have sophisticated software to provide the user with images that probably are far better than they would have gotten with a compact digicam.  There’s also the idiom that the best camera is the one you have with you, and for many, it’s going to be a smartphone.

So, the latest issue has been curated to show a variety of images - some grouped by subject matter, and all have been taken since about 2017.  As you go through the issue, I have some commentary on Walker Evans, who totally embraced the then new Polaroid SX-70 as a creative instrument.  I think if you take his comments about the SX-70, they could easily be applied to the camera on a smart phone.  Of course, printing an image is important, and you can now purchase small printers that connect to your phone via Bluetooth and print your iPhone images as if you were using a Polaroid -- at a lower price point.  Something that I think more people should do with their photos.

You should also consider that you can take your smartphone images and turn them into b&w negatives in your favorite image processing program, and make digital negatives that can be used to make cyanotypes and other alternative-process analog prints.  

I have been very happy with the comments by readers of this issue.  In several instances, they were inspired to use their iPhone as a “real camera” and take time to compose and use the filter that matched their vision.  Others have told me that this is my best issue so far, in terms of the images and the presentation. 

Hopefully, you’ll read the issue and be inspired to use your smartphone or at least happy with the images that I present.  That’s what Monochrome Mania is trying to do - engage you in the world of black and white photography, in all of its facets.

Monochrome Mania No. 10, Pocketing Memories is 40 pages, including the covers. At $10 + shipping, it's still a bargain these days.

 

Read A Photography Book!

 In my many decades of photography, it should not come as a surprise that I’ve accumulated a lot of knowledge in my noggin.  I look back to my teen years, when my first darkroom experience was in a high school class taught by my science teacher.  That first roll developed from my Kodak Instamatic (Verichrome Pan) was magical, and I have never lost that sense of a magical moment when I pull a roll of film from the developing tank.  Almost 50 years later, I still enjoy developing my film and using film cameras, despite the obvious alternative – which of course, I do also use.  There are many reasons to use a digital camera, and just as many reasons to use film, especially black and white, which I believe offers more opportunities to explore creative avenues that digital just can’t match.

Over the course of many years on social media, and more recently, Reddit, it’s become clear to me that there are a lot of new users that want to experience what film cameras have to offer, and it’s also clear to me that many of those people are also unlikely to look for a book in a library about film photography.  It’s hard to ask or answer questions without a common framework of terms, without a common grounding in basics.   

First of all, photography is photography, whether it’s done with a digital sensor or a piece of film.  Those basic functions of exposure – aperture, shutter speed, and sensitivity (ISO) are the same.  If all you have ever used before is a smart phone, then I can understand your lack of knowledge.  But if you have been using a camera – whether a point and shoot, a DSLR, or a mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses, there are rudimentary principles behind those exposures that you should grasp.  Any basic book of photography has that information, as well as the camera manuals.  Those principles don’t change if you are using a film camera.  In fact, things actually get simpler.

My first piece of advice is to BE CURIOUS and do your research.  That means to actually read up on whatever it is that you want to do, and not expect a quick answer from someone on an online forum to a question that’s easily answered in most photography books.  I have this suspicion that many people today do not actually read a damn thing, but rely on YouTube videos that may actually have misinformation.  I don’t want to come across as a cranky old man – but you can’t ignore the value of an easily carried around book.  A book such as the following listed here are my recommendations to learning about using a film camera and photography:

Bellamy, Andrew. 2017. Analog Photography. Reference manual for shooting film.  Princeton Architectural Press, 190 pp. ISBN 978-1-61689-817-5   www.papress.com

Horenstein, Henry. 1983 (with numerous edition reprints). Black and White Photography, A Basic Manual.  229 pp. Little, Brown, and Company, Boston. ISBN-0-316-37314-1    This great resource is available from Thriftbooks.com for about $5. 

Lovell, R.P., Zwahlen, F,C., Folts, J.A. Handbook of Photography, 4^th edition.  1998.  385 pp., Delmar Publishers, Albany, NY.  ISBN #0-8273-7913-7.  Pretty much all you need to know, and a  commonly used book for photography classes. It's less than $5 at Thriftbooks.com.

You can’t go wrong with the Horenstein book for black and white photography.  It’s very popular in b&w photography classes, and I believe it’s the best book for beginning photographers.  

Of course, there are many, many books out there for learning about photography, and about other photographers, but I point to those above as the best starting points. If you have one, you will find answers to most of the questions that beginning film photographers will have – and they are there in black and white, at all times.

There, now you have a good reference that’s been vetted by publishers and thousands of users, not the opinion of some random keyboard commando.  From here on, you'll have a useful guide to get you started in using a film camera, and throughout your photography career.

If you are able to take a photography class, it's always a good option - sometimes they are offered as adult education classes, one-day workshops, or courses for college credit.  The only "class" I ever had was the one in high school.  Today, there is a vast reservoir of information online from film manufacturers, photography sites, and of course, social media.  The other avenue is working with a mentor - a person with lots of experience and the ability to spend time with someone wanting to learn.   In lieu of a class or a mentor, a book can be the best resource - always available at any time.  Don't expect to know it all at once - photography can be as simple or as complex as you want.  Take your time to learn the basics, and the rest will be much easier.

A Tale of Two Yashica Electro 35 GTNs

Pretty, and deceiving

A few posts ago, I reviewed my experience with a beater of a Yashica Electro 35 GTN.  Several weeks later, another example of the same model fell into my lap, and it was in pristine condition, shutter speeds and indicator lights were perfect.  I rewound the few frames that I'd shot in my "beater" GSN, and loaded the "new" GSN with the roll of Kentmere 400, and it went along inside my car for some brief photo trips, including my recent visit to Pittsburgh.  

I was shooting with it last week, and realized that sometimes the camera felt as though something wasn’t quite right - and I also saw that sometimes the rewind lever rotated as I advanced the film, and sometimes - most often, it did not.  I rewound the film and developed it the next day.  Much to my disappointment, almost all the frames were overlapped - some just by a sprocket width, some by a half frame, and others, barely overlapped.  Some were up to 3 exposures overlapped.  

As you can see in the video, I checked the advance AFTER the fact, and this is what I should have done in the beginning:

On the plus side, everything was in good focus and properly exposed, but as you can see, it was a bad film advance.  Afterwards, I loaded a many-times exposed test roll that I keep for testing cameras, and with the back open, I could see that the advance would work, and then not.  I could actually hear a difference in the winding when that happened, and it matched what I heard when shooting with it.  Had I tested it that way initially, I would have been spared the disappointment.  So, I will put that lovely example in a box and sell it as a repair camera, and go back and use the beater GTN that works well.  Lesson learned -- and it’s a good thing that I mostly used the Nikon F3HP when I was in Pittsburgh.  Those shots came out great.

see the overlapping frames

So, remember to test a camera with a junk roll to make sure that the mechanical aspects of film winding go as they are supposed to.  In my desire to use that pretty GTN, I forgot to do the one thing that would have saved me from failure later on.

Here's a few photos from the roll - maybe I can call them "art!"