Agfa APX in Poole

Posted byandytree101Posted in35mm, Dorset, Film, Walking

I believe that the “new” Agfa APX100 is the same as Kentmere 100. Question: Have you ever come across a supplier that offers both? Not that it matters any, it’s a couple of pounds cheaper than FP4, so if I ever get to the point where I need to reduce my film costs, I’ll be happy to use this. I’ve never seen Agfa APX 100 or 400 offered as a bulk length but Kentmere 100 is.

This roll I exposed on my usual walk around Poole. It’s a walk that I enjoy partly as it has variety, high street. town, park, harbour and beach. I used my Leica M4-P, an ideal camera for just wandering about with.

This roll was developed in FX55 for 9.5 mins at 20 degrees. It scanned really easily, and most of the images had little or no correction. I’m trying to make a point of using up film I have, especially the odd random rolls, rather than buy more film. I wouldn’t say that it’s going well, but I’m making slow progress. This is my last roll of APX (for a while)!

9 thoughts on “Agfa APX in Poole”

    1. Hi Ian, Yes- not a bad set of negs – after about 45 years of developing film I may just be getting the hang of it! 🙂 Joking apart it’s taken me this long to realise that I do think certain combinations of film and developer like each other. APX100 and FX55 I think is a good match. Cheers Andy

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    1. Hi Ben! I tried a roll quite some time ago, down in Symondsbury, (there is a post somewhere) and I liked the contrast too. That roll I developed in Ilfosol3 and thought it was good – but I think this turned out better in FX55. Good luck for this coming week! Cheers Andy

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  3. since I vanquished my film funk in 2020, I went to using ilfosil 3 for everything. And for the moment it seems to work. Is that a case of if it ain’t broke don’t fix it? My stop bath is just water, and my last bath is 40, 20, and 10 inversions of water with rinsing fluid…. if I need to clean my negs then I use rubbing alcohol and a special special spectacle cloth.

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    1. Hi Ian!
      Rather like you, as I got back into developing my own film a few years back after a break, Ilfosol3 was my go to, and it is a good developer. I also treated myself to a bottle of DDX, even better, but that’s not cheap. Another issue with either is that even with my volume of film use, I’d throw some out towards the end as it had gone off. I tried Rodinal as it has legendary shelf life, but by and large am not keen. That’s partly my fault for using it with faster films quite a bit. I like it more in my recent tests with FP4. When I discovered D23, how easy it was to make, and that I could just replenish it for 25 films or more, I had to try it. Then I saw how it held the highlights so well! I made my first batch up in May and it’s still going (with replenishment) 25 rolls later! Now, I wouldn’t be without it. That lead to my making some FX55, and that is more environmentally friendly, keeps for years, and I find a truly great allrounder, even with faster films. Until I try the next one – I’m sticking with D23 and FX55! Not that I am any great expert but I believe your water stop bath is fine if you have a decent developing time of say more than 8 mins or so, the time that it takes to reduce the development, as a percentage will not matter. If you have an active developer that takes your times down to 4 or 5 minutes, it may be a bit slow to stop and lead to slight over development? I’m going to do a post about how I wash my film, mainly to see how it differs from others – there seems to be many different ideas!!! Sorry it’s a long one!! Cheers Andy

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  4. Very beautiful series full of contrasts and very nice details of the scenes. For my luck i got a pack of the old AGFA RPX 100 expired in 1995. It was badly stored but, the negatives are looking clean and not damaged – of course i did a test roll before buying this amount. It only tells us about the quality of the old emulsions, sure there is some difference between these and the modern “same” emulsions.

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    1. Hi Victor! Yes, I think I missed out on using the original Agfa emulsions. All of my local camera shops (pre internet) in the 80’s, tended to stock either Kodak or Ilford. I know the original (Made by Agfa) RPX/APX was a favourite of Ansel Adams. I’m pretty sure that the current Agfa APX is made by Ilford, a little less sure that it’s the same as Kentmere 100, but there’s not much difference. As a “cheaper” film however I do like the Agfa, so if I ever need to curb my film budget – that would be my choice I think! Lucky for you to find a batch of the original – enjoy using it!! 🙂 – Cheers Andy

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