Agfa Copex Rapid in Delta-MICRO

Published by dirk on

If you are looking for a (very) high resolution and (very) contrasty Black and white film, you have probably looked at Agfa Copex Rapid film already, but have not ordered it because it’s high price (about EURO 6,– per Roll). I got some testrolls recently from Maco Direct to try how it behaves in caffenol. This film is not so easy to handle and there is not so much information about it, as it is specified as microfilm and can be used in x-ray cameras. Resolution is about 600 lines/mm (Fuji Velvia 50 is rated to resolve 160 lines per millimeter) so the film will outperform any Lens you have, easily. It complies to ISO 10602 and has a life expectance of 500 years. The Film base is made of PET and curls like Hell, even if you hang it with film weights. The emulsion scratches easily when wet, so please give this film a good wash before you wipe it, or don’t wipe it at all.

For high contrast Microfilms I have made some adjustments to the Delta-STD recipe, but I don’t think that I am there, yet. Here is the recipe for 1l stock:

  • 22 grams instant coffee
  • 32 grams washing soda
  • 10 grams Vitamin C

As you can see, the amount of coffee is reduced quite a lot here, but soda has increased a bit. I think lowering the Vitamin C could lead to not so contrasty images, so I will try this next, together with adjusting the time. Development time here was 17 minutes at 22 degrees C, The Film was exposed at ISO 32, I think ISO 40 is easily doable, even ISO 64 should be fine .

The film came out slightly overdeveloped, and what really looks stunning is that this film has a completely clear film base. It looks almost like Ilford XP2.

So let the pictures speak for themselves:

If you have any suggestions on how to develop microfilms in caffenol or even have done some developments of this film in caffenol, feel free to send me a message using the contact form


dirk

Dirk Essl is the founder of caffenol.org And has done a tremendous amount of coffee development in the past.

9 Comments

Kristian Heitkamp · January 24, 2011 at 9:29 pm

Hi Dirk,

nice blog.

I also like this article very much, especially because the AGFA Copex is as far as I know the only Lithfilm that is available in 120 format.

Would like to hear more about it. Since I just don’t have the ability to contribute to the research at the moment otherwise I would like to do some research of my own.

regards

Kristian

Rossen · February 5, 2011 at 11:57 am

Looks really good, definitely giving this a try soon 🙂

Martin · March 24, 2011 at 11:03 am

I’d like to try this- what ISO did you use when you exposed the film?

    dirk · March 24, 2011 at 11:08 am

    Martin, The Film was exposed at ISO 32, I think ISO 40 is easily doable, even ISO 64 should be fine.

Jonas Edin · May 4, 2011 at 6:37 pm

I have tested ADOX CMS 20, a document film with extreme contrast if developed with a “normal” developer. I exposed it at EI 25 and developed the film in a diluted variant of caffenol:

6 grams instant coffee
25 grams washing soda
0,5 grams Vitamin C
500 ml water

15 minutes at 20 degrees C
Continuous agitation the first minute and
10 seconds agitation every 3:rd minute
Short fixation in a fresh rapid fixer (one minute)
Normal washing

The result is OK, but can be improved. The film is not forgiving. Less than one stop latitude.

Best regards

Jonas

Pedro · May 1, 2012 at 3:14 pm

Hi,

Nice recipe. Try to put 0,5 gr of Potassium Bromide. Usefull for long development in this cases.

Horta

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