Agfapan 100, Fino S31 - Bologna

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

I tried developing this roll with an old bottle of Fino S31 developer. The seller warned me about the age of the bottle,
but I tried anyway with the standard recommended time of 4'30".
The result however was a very thin negative, which would need a good one minute more development, or maybe even two.
So I must assume that the developer did lose some strenght with the time.
The Fino S31 is a compensating developer, and in fact even with this obvious underdevelopment it did record amazing detail in the shadows. With proper times, it should deliver great results.

Subject is for most part the Mercatino di Santo Stefano in Bologna (sort of high quality flea market)
I apologize for the dust, the negative did fall on the ground Evil or Very Mad

ZI camera, lenses used: Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 and ZM Biogon 2/35:

01- I think there's something to be said about the bokeh with film... (Biogon 2/35)

02

03 - period advertising, a tentative to introduce coca-cola to italian consumers Laughing

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

rbelyell · Expire: 2014-01-31

maybe i just dont understand how they should have turned out, but i must say that i enjoyed the look of them very much. i do understand how much is lost in the scanning process, so the detail retained os quite amazing to me.
tony

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

Thanks Tony. I had to boost the exposure to the maximum, because the negatives were so thin. Of course boosting the exposure while scanning had the consequence of boosting the grain.
If the negative had proper development, I would be able to read the details in the shadow without boosting exposure and enhancing defects.
Having that said, you're right, the results in many cases are rather good considering the starting point (if you looked at the negative, you would see it almost transparent).

David · Expire: 2013-01-25

The important question is this: How many of the cameras in picture 6 did you buy?

skida · Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 9:04 am Post subject:

Great results. I really like 4 and 9.

fotomachi · Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 10:57 am Post subject:

Beautiful series; the first and third photo carry the others IMO.

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

Thanks guys
@ David: I admit that I ran away without even asking the prices, I was afraid that they were low and that I could feel the buying impulse Laughing

Nesster · Expire: 2014-02-20

I say BRAVO! Whatever techinical issues, these photographs to me look like they could have been made in the golden era of b&w photography. The tones and compositions, the grain and the thick, tangible look of the 'prints' I feel would be right at home in a book of '50's or 60s (say) art photography. I don't think it could get much better than this.

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

Katastrofo · Expire: 2013-11-19

Love #4, needs to be printed!

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

I love #4 too.

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

Thanks, I will print #4 and show the result
It will be a good exercise for dodging Very Happy

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

I don't think it needs any dodging, it's the way the street artist appears from the blackness that makes it so appealing to me.

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

#12 is my favourite.

erkie · Joined: 08 Oct 2011 Posts: 308 Location: Missouri

Orio , The compensating effect of this developer worked quite well for so little time in development ! Very few of the highlights are blown out and even the darkest areas have some detail. I am not familiar with this developer but the results are very nice indeed !!!

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

erkie · Joined: 08 Oct 2011 Posts: 308 Location: Missouri

Orio, Thank you for the additional information and the link .

I'm going to try to look further into this developer . It appears to compensate quite well, especially given the developing time . It certainly handled the lighting for these scenes wonderfully . #4 is just perfect for the scene in my opinion . It just has a timeless quality that is so hard to achieve !

Photos like this series is why B&W film will be very hard to replace (at Least for me ). Smile

Laurence · Expire: 2016-06-19

Holy cow, Orio! These are WONDERFUL considering you were experimenting. The results are outstanding.

I'll go out on a limb and bring up image #3 as a favorite, if only because of the FANTASTIC tonality. Look
at the gradations in the white borders of the advertisements! Shocked

Gorgeous.

I agree with an earlier poster about these having the look of b&whites from high-end cameras from the 50s and 60s...

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

Thanks Larry! I have 3 bottles of the stuff, it's rather cheap, so I plan doing more experiments Smile

Next experiment will be with Efke, the maker recommends to use this developer with old type of film only (it's not recommended for t-grain film).