In tandem with the Leica, I put a roll of Kodak Plus-X 125 through an even more-recent acquisition, an Agfa Silette from a thrift store.
The Silette is a Type 1 (the first version, introduced in 1953) with a Pronto leaf shutter and three-element 45mm f/3.5 Apotar lens — the most basic option set. It has a relatively small viewfinder, and utilizes scale focusing. It seemed to function well in testing without film and I decided to just give it a go for Expired Film Day without a lot of further attention.
I didn’t mirror all the frames, or anything, but I did repeat a few across both cameras. I rated the film at ASA 80 and developed it for 14 minutes and 30 seconds in HC-110 diluted 1:63 at 68°F.
What’s most interesting is that the film was the same as the film in the Leica, but the results were very different. Same emulsion and expiration date, rated at the same speed, developed the same way (in the same tank!), and somehow much better.
Sadly, due to technical issues involving the shutter not firing, or sticking open, and the advance behaving badly with actual film in the camera, about half of the roll was unexposed. I may not waste another roll of film on further testing of this particular camera.
The last frame on the roll has some odd spots, which appear as black blurs, on the end that was closest to the spool. I am at a loss to explain exactly what caused these spots, though I think they are most likely small areas of emulsion loss. The film may have rubbed against the tape or the spool itself. Maybe the film was jostled a lot? I’m hard pressed to think it was a development issue because the spots appear only on one half of one frame from the entire roll.
Regardless, that last frame is by far my favorite from the roll — and possibly from all of Expired Film Day 2016.
In spite of the Silette using scale focus, which I still so often fail at, all the frames that came out on the roll were surprisingly sharp. And the exposure was spot on. This was, hands down, the best roll yet from Expired Film Day.
Other Expired Film Day 2016 posts:
- 2003 Kodak Plus-X 125 (Leica)
- 1977 Kodak Kodacolor II film
- c. 1955 Agfa Isopan FF 120 film
- 1956 Kodak Super-XX 616 film
