Zeiss Ikon Contessa S310 with Agfa Photo APX 100 – Developed in Bellinifoto DF2 Duo Step Diafine

I recently reviewed my Zeiss Ikon Contessa S310 Here. It’s a gorgeous camera, so simple to operate and a pleasure to handle and to use. The cherry on the cake is the fact that the results are very pleasing with that little 40mm f2.8 Tessar, being almost the perfect snapshot focal length. The 40mm is more or less what you see, so when you ‘see’ a picture, you’ve already framed it in camera – just lift and shoot!

I’m shooting a lot of Film lately, all Black and White, while trying to figure out which Film I like the most and which suits me and my style the most.

My Photography is almost always in sunny conditions which I like, why? Because the contrast is always forgiving and easy to work with. Sunlight gives nice texture and tone to almost every subject (obviously as I guess photography is always about the light and what better source is there than Helios?)

So naturally I almost always migrate towards medium to slow Speed Film in the ISO 100 range. Looking back at my archives and also my posts here on 35mmc I have used many different Films. But these days it has to be affordable, so anything Ilford, Kodak and Fujifilm is not an option, alas, as I do like Fuji Neopan Acros 100 along with Ilford FP4+ and Ilford Pan F 50. I did settle on Rollei Retro 80s for a while but even that has shot up in price. So it has to be a budget Film. I’m talking B&W here by the way.

I’ve tried Kentmere and Fomapan and wasn’t keen on either. But one Film I have been shooting for years has been Agfa Photo APX 100. This is not the classic Agfa Gaevert APX 100, but an emulsion developed by Harman for Agfa Photo/Maco. Even though I’d shot a lot of it I dismissed it as the Film I fall back on when I must have a Film delivered the next day from Amazon. Silly me.

I had been alternating between this and Kodak Eastman Double X 5222. With the Agfa Photo APX 100 costing about £5 with free next day delivery from Amazon, it was about half the cost of the Kodak Double X.

Now I like both and really enjoy the Kodak, but to be frank and honest looking at my results the Agfa Photo is consistently nicer. Lovely tonality all round, good detail in the shadows, no blown highlights and lovely skies. The Kodak on the other hand is trickier to shoot with, and suits a purpose for when its classic black and white look is required. Shooting in bright sunlight the Agfa Photo wins every single time, but shoot with the sort of lighting which suits the Kodak and you’ll be rewarded with its distinctive look.

This of course is based on my own experience and ability combined with the developer I use. I assume that if I used Kodak HC-110 with the Kodak Double X my results would be exemplary but I make do with the developer I choose to use.

I use BelliniFoto DF2 Duo Step, which is liquid Diafine. Now the very special thing about this is that it’s far and away the easiest developer to use. Why? For a number of reasons.

1. It is not temperature critical. I’ve used it in mid winter after taking the bottles out of the larder, to mid summer, with a wide temperature range, all with the same consistent results. So you won’t need a thermometer or flaff around with heaters or other stuff ever.
2. It stores for years (allegedly) if stored in an airtight bottle
3. Almost every single Film has the same development time, being 3 Minutes solution A followed by 3 Minutes solution B.
4. It is a compensating developer, so you can chop and change the ISO as you shoot and it’ll give you the same consistent results after the simple development procedure.
5. It’s cheap and economical and can be used again and again with none of this ‘One Shot’ palava.
6. It’s easy peasy to mix – pour 500ml Solution A into a bottle and add 500ml of Water. Same with Solution B. Job done.
7. It requires no Stop bath. Just rinse with water then fix.

How to use “Tentative” Diafine: Firstly, no pre-soaking according to the original instructions. This developer can be reused until it runs out! 1) Develop your films in Part A for a minimum of three minutes using GENTLE agitation for the first 20 seconds then five seconds each minute at the one minute mark and for five seconds prior to draining. Old school Diafine users advise that too much agitation will result in a reduction of shadow detail. 2) Drain, DO NOT RINSE and especially do not use an acidic stop bath 3) Add Part B and again, develop your films for at least three minutes using the same agitation as per Part A 4) Rinse in water for 20 to 30 seconds then fix, wash and dry as normal. Job done!

It’s a developer for lazy blokes like me. I can’t be asked with all the technicalities and tolerances which every single other developer requires. I’m not a pro and neither do I have to print, display or sell anything I shoot. I get pleasure out of Photography and using Film and that’s it. I’m not going to go through any extra hassle to get marginal better results, as to be honest I’m pretty happy with the results I get of my snaps.

I recommend this for anyone just getting into developing their own Film, it gives an easy stress free introduction and if they wish they can then progress to other Developers in time.

Nik and Trick specialize in Bellinifoto products, I also bought the fixer which I must say I am very pleased with.

Anyway, back to the Agfa Photo APX 100. After my recent two rolls with the Contessa which I wrote about Here, I immediately loaded it up with a roll of Agfa Photo when me and the family went out last weekend. It was a gorgeous day and we took a jaunt to Harwich, a North Sea Port in Essex for a loaf.

With my Yellow filter attached (as always, though I am going to start shooting with a Red 25 soon as I have two rolls of Rollei Retro 80s I want to copy Dave Powell’s IR stuff with), I fired off the roll in Mistley and Harwich. Developed and was greeted with very fine results. Very pleasing (to me). Here I present 22 frames from the 37 (the other 12 were much as you see here but no need for duplicates),

Why no love for Agfa Photo APX 100? It’s as cheap as the cheapest B&W and the cheapest B&W Film Amazon will deliver to you the next day to for Free! I noticed Eric and Scott Ferguson shooting and experimenting with some B&W stocks recently, I can’t recall if they have ever tried this Agfa Photo APX 100.

The Film gives lovely silvery tone, especially when combined with this Developer, I can imagine *better* developers will give even more. There also doesn’t seem to be much love for the Zeiss Ikon Contessa S310, which is another damn shame.

I was very pleased with the Photos of Mrs Ibbs below: All required minimal post processing, I just tweaked the ‘Light’ up just until it ‘blew’ and made sure the ‘dark’ was black. That’s it. Bear in mind that this is a Scale Focus camera, I shot the portraits wide open with lens set to 0.9m using my outstretched arm to gauge distance (1 Yard). The same for the Grasses. It’s very easy and nailed every time.

Some were shot at ISO 50. I generally set the 100 ISO film to ISO 80 for most, until the bright sun and backlight demands ISO 50. As you can see, The Film Developer combo and Camera aren’t bad! I think I’ll be Agfa Photo’ing it for a while. I’ve shown the standard distances I use. F Stops are f2.8 for portraits, f4 or 5.6 for 2 people, generally f8, f11 for more depth of field and brighter light, f16 if required. Distances are almost always 0.9m, 2m and 3m. Distance on the lens is only in Metres.

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