Efke 25 Processing

[Mike Kovacs]

I have some Efke 25 in 120 format that I'm running through Michael Carmack's newly serviced Rolleiflex Old Standard.

Anyone ever process it in HC-110?  Best I can tell, I should aim for 4 - 4.5 min at dilution B, but I'll probably double dilute to H and double the time.

[titrisol]

MIke I have used Efke25 in Rodinal 1+100 (10 minutes at 75F)

Contrast can be a problem, so I'd use a higher dilution of Hc110, together with little agitation to keep the contrast in check.

[Julio1fer]

Rodinal 1+100 looks like a good combo.

If using HC-110 you should try a high dilution to avoid excessive contrast.

For what may be worth, my father (who is 84 and does not do developing anymore) was a great fan of Adox KB14 (supposedly same formula as Efke 25, so they tell me) in Beutler developer. Beutler is a two-solution formula that seemed designed precisely for KB14 style films, relatively low contrast and high sharpness / acutance.  

I remember very well the sharpness and tonalities of that combination. It will give you less contrast than Rodinal but less grain.

There is no Efke down here or I would already have tried it.

[titrisol]

Yup, Efke25 = Adox KB14
It is an iteresting film with little red sensitivity, making in Panchro B (I believe)

[P C Headland]

I haven't used HC-110 at all, but can confirm that Rodinal 1+100 with reduced agitation, or even stand development works really well.

Paul

[jake]

I did Efke 25 in HC-110 (B) for 3.5 minutes, but that is really fast. I made sure I had everything at 20C, putting blue ice packs in a water bath to get everything down to that temp & stay there. The film looked fine, but I wasn't pleased with the grain. XTOL stock for 6 minutes is my next try, and then Acutol (1:14 @ 5 min) will be the third. I am not so much of a fan of Rodinal (though I agree it looks pretty good with EFKE 25), but that is because I scan negatives & don't print them with an enlarger. These are two different uses which I think require different processing.

[ImageMaker]

If HC-110B at 3.5 minutes works well, then I'd be tempted to try Dilution G, seventeen minutes, with agitation continuous for first minute, then 5 inversions every 3rd minute (at 68 F, of course) -- this is for 120; if you have 35 mm and do one reel in an 8 ounce tank, you'd want Dilution E and reduce time to 11 minutes.