Very old Svema film

[miran]

My first ever roll of medium format (120) film. I figured I'd first practice on some film I wouldn't cry over if I messed it up. I have a couple of rolls of this old Russian/Ukranian black&white film which I got for free (unboxed) and know nothing about. It says "black&white foto-64" on it (in Russian and cyrilic alphabet). If I understand wikipedia correctly, this was produced between 1981 and 1987 so it must be at least 25 years old! It probably expired some time in the early 90's.

Anyone know anything about this film? Here's how it looks:



Results are expected. Negatives are extremely thin, about three to four stops underexposed/underdeveloped/whatever and covered in fog and spots, easily visible even on the unexposed part of the film. I actually metered to ISO 50 (my Kiev doesn't have "intermediate" settings) and developed in Adonal 1+50 for 11 minutes which I think should be about right, but still the negatives came out the way they did. I think they actually look kind of artsy.

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[ForenSeil]

I actually like #2 and #4
I like the effect of the old film.
In my experience many emulsions are loosing a lot speed after expiration so thin negs are quite normal.

[miran]

I'm guessing it'll be actually quite ok if I overexpose the other roll by about 3-4 stops. I'll try some time next week if I find the time.

[miran]

And here are a few frames from the second roll. I rated it at ISO 6 and then rounded up on the metered values. Some frames were close to overexposed but mostly they were just right. I can't believe how nice that first frame came out.

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[erkie]

WOW that first shot in the second group is wonderful !

[Nisseliten]

Lovely!

The reason why we started to shoot digital instead eludes me, when I see results like this.

[iangreenhalgh1]

Very nice, unique look indeed, with the right subject this film could be pretty useful, congrats.

[Attila]

Old Russian film , I think same type of Fortepan or Efke.

[iangreenhalgh1]

Efke was orthochromatic, the only ortho film made in the west since the 50s I think, I liked it a lot. Have all the Russian film makers gone out of business now? I'd love to find a source of bulk ortho film.

[marzipan]

I had some old Svema 64 in 35mm. Used it up while it was reasonably fresh. It had a special dreamy feeling or glow that I think was because of no antihalation layer. I developed it in D76 and got great negs but with a tendency to curl.

[martinsmith99]

The 2nd one is quite artsy. Perhaps if you shoot another roll, rate the film a few stops slower and see if you can get better results.

[std]

Interesting - does someone knows what causes the spots visible in the sky.
I have similar spotty NP22 film.
Can i prevent them with if i add some chemical during development, or do you think the emulsion is damaged and nothing can be done?

[Attila]

[martinsmith99]

I thought it was because of old film and losing its quality, but Attila has suggested this can happen with fresh film.