Nothing wrong with rebrands when they give us something that wasn't ordinarily sold for photo use, quite the opposite. I only shot one roll of 400S so far but I loved it, will definitely be coming back for more of these aerial Agfa films.
Just shot a roll of Retro 80S, and gotta say I absolutely love it. With the right optics and chemistry, you can really get past that crushing contrast and get amazing tonality and shadow detail. I'm so glad that companies like Rollei are still around to revive the old Agfa films because otherwise the black and white film market feels kinda like a duopoly b/w Kodak and Ilford. More choice is always a good thing. Excellent video, looking forward to more of these reviews!
Honestly, the only reason I ever bought Retro 80S was because it was the cheapest 120 film I could find to test my Yashica Mat LM. I do like punchy contrast B&W films, and if weren't because I love Ilford PanF, this could be one of my go-to low sensitivity B&W films.
I really like Rollei film stock. I think that if a rebrand can mantain all these variety of film stock alive there is nothing wrong with it. Is only a commercial choice to use the name Rollei but is not like those products who slap a famous brand on the box to sell overpriced garbage. They are really good, and honestly they comes at a fair price (at least in Italy). I've never heard of Rollei Crossbird, I have to check it out!
I think it’s perfectly okay for companies to take harder to buy and more obscure films like technical films, cut them down and roll them up for consumers, and resell them under their brand name, since that is a service that a lot of consumers probably don’t want to do themselves, or maybe even aren’t always able to. That being said, they certainly should be super forthcoming that that is what they are doing, emphasize it on the box or on the website so that the consumer knows exactly what they’re buying
Great video as always dude! I think this film is right up my alley because I really love the contrasty look and I love shooting in midday which the 80 ISO would be helpful for
First of all thank you for this channel, I really enjoy watching your videos. I'm new and I'm a film amateur photographer. I would like to point out something, I think that to talk only of rebranding could be misleading. According to my information, Maco bought AGFA's recipes when AGFA was closed. While still exist an AGFA (Belgium) they do not own the AGFA's recipes, but only the brand's name and the products name. At the same time Maco posses the brand Rollei so they are effectively creating AGFA film by the name Rollei... but the recipes didn't change. The films are AGFA's. Maybe I got wrong what you told in your video but I thought was important to point this out. Again I'm very happy I discover your channel!!!
I love the kind of contrast B&W photos showed in Life magazine in the 60s and 70s. Putting aside that this was also a result of directional light to emphasise surface textures and darkroom techniques, I am interested in films that are suitable strong contrast but at a good quality. Keep up the good work! 🤗
The song "Who Made Who" comes to mind with products like this. It's the same with cars. People bought up the original Cadillac Escalade like crazy but it was nothing more than a Chevy Tahoe.
I very much like contrasty b&w films and I have been very happy with the results I got from Rollei 400s. It may very well be a rebrand, but for me the fact is I get a film I'm satisfied with with like 2/3 price of Ilford and kodak b&w films. Competition is usually good for the consumers :)
I really like Rollei Retro 80S for street photography type stuff. The excellent detail and sharpness is a great fit for city scenes/architecture and that sort of thing. It reminds me a little bit of Ferrania P30, but you can of course get it in medium format, which is great! I don't really have a problem with this rebrand, since Agfa branded films aren't sold anymore (at least not where I live). I hear you on the Lomography stuff though. The colour films are good for being so cheap, but the Kino stuff has a pretty crazy mark-up. Btw the Rollei RPX films are great for push processing. RPX400 looks really good at 3200 imo.
I'm interested in the dynamics of B&W infrared film. It seems to be overshadowed by Aerochrome but I don't see that many people shooting it. All I know is that you need a special filter for it or else it'll just look like regular B&W film
Quite like Super panchromatic films ( Rollei Superpan 200, Ilford SFX 200 and some of the Silberra films amongst others) shot with a normal red filter. you get a bit of IR without the confusion of trying to work out how many stops to compensate with a 720nm filter, usually somewhere between 5 and 7 depending on IR levels which you can only really guess at.
We need more new color film stocks. Not overpriced Kodak Vision 3 adapted to C41 processors but a real new color emulsions like it used to be some thousands days ago
great video! any plans on doing a walk-about around town and taking photos? would like to see your thought process and composition preferences when taking a photo! thanks!
Great suggestion for when the weather is a little warmer and more foliage is out -- *NOAH* -- get ahold of Kasey Stern from Camera Conspiracies and have him do the video while you take the photos with film -- I bet that the results would be very entertaining!!!!!
I used to use AGFA BW Films, and found them to be of High Quality, and welcome Re-Brands using the AGFA Formula, rendering rich BW Negatives, and Prints!
I love the look of this film. I wouldnt knock Rollei/Maco too much for rebranding... its not really different from what FPP does. They have some technical films I wanted to try. Fun idea for roll reviews: an episode just on pre-exposed special effects rolls. Can maybe cover Dubblefilm options in a video and Revolog rolls in another.
So regarding rebrands as me from a hobbyist perspective, rebrands are just a very common thing in every single Industry, it's nothing even worthy complaining about. However the price increases are a good note to make tho
For sure! I’m interested in rebranding for film because it’s such a niche hobby and it’s interesting to know who exactly is actually making film to shoot and where most of this is coming from
Do you happen to know if this film(or any rollei film from this era) is dx coded? I just put some in my point and shoot and realized too late to check for the DX Code….
I'm with you on this. It's not the idea of rebranding that bothers me, if they put somewhere (even in small print) what the original film was, it would be helpful. In fact I would be more on board to support them for making these available. But the idea of them trying to imply they have come up with a new film or that they are directly linked to camera manufactures, it is a bit confusing. Though I don't think Williams F1 team are making car cleaning products, the brand is licensed to Williams waterless wash n wax, we're made clear in advance that they endorse it but don't make it themselves. They don't hide it.
Dude your content is awesome! Very informative. I don't understand how you don't have 10 times more subscribers! You deserve it more than some beanie-wearing hipsters out there that dont know what they're talking about but have 100k subs
I’m curious what is the video that you’re mentioning here about the spider web of film rebranding? This video is decently old enough, do you have the finished video about film rebranding out by now?
Compliment and question! Your videos are so easy to understand, thank you for that! Do you happen to have one video that explains the workings of iso, shutter speed and aperture all together? If so, what is it called!? Thanks in advance!
I tackled the topics individually, but did not get to do something combining them all. I’m hoping soon to do something concerning the basics of exposure and working with 35!
You can preflash and pull process slightly to relieve contrast. Retro 80s/Agfa Aviphot 80 is ultra high resolution. It even challenges TMax 100 and Delta 100. What you totally missed is that: *It’s also one of the only true infrared films left* apart from SFX. It has real IR range up to about 750nm. So it responds well to deep red and real IR filtering and flash. So plenty of Woods effect and Rayleigh scattering filtering. All of the Aviphot films have IR range. There is only two films on the market from the line: 80 and 200. The rest is different confectioning and branding. The silver packages are confectioned by Foma, and has slightly worse quality check (scratches, pinholes etc. nothing I ever experienced though). The black packages are confectioned by Ilford. The difference is also mirrored in slightly different price. It would be far cooler to sell the film under the Agfa brand. But it’s probably impossible. The brand has been whored out left and right to all kinds of non Agfa films. It’s very probable that some other company has the rights to use it for consumer film right now.
I actually quite like this film and strongly suspect that this retro 80s and the RPX 25 are in deed the same film stock. It makes sence that shooting it +2 stops and developing it as 25 ISO might produce less contrast and finer grain. This was a good video, looks like lots of these shots are taken around Toronto. 😎👍
I didn't realise this film had a clear base. It seems like with that level of contrast it would also make a really good stock to develop as monochrome reversal. I will have to get a few rolls and try it out sometime.
I think you missed a big part of the frustration surrounding film rebranding here. It's not so much the brand connection, its that when I hear of a new film/brand, I'm hoping for a newly-formulated emulsion. I want to see someone actually putting R&D money into keeping film fresh and moving forward technologically. I'm disappointed every time when I find out it's just recut/reboxed technical film.
We usually don't include arerial film into the category of tehnical film. For a reason. We usually understand technical films as not having midtones, whereas aerial film does. (Also for a reason, in fact the reason being the same as for our normal photographic film. Aerial photographs want to present an image, not a graphic.) But completly agree with you about rebranding. Unfortunately you can not do much against it, not for the fault of teh rebranders but for the fact that hypster photographer find it easier chasing the silver bullet instead to learn the trade. (Lomography even is about ignoring the trade.)
I'm a suspicious person. I always investigate. Film, what it is and where it comes from is never something I question....because I've already done the research. So I don't mind the rebrands. I've got some Retro 80S in the refrigerator ready to use soon.
You can still see Agfa Aviphot for "sale" on evil bay, but thanks to Crazy Ivan (or, is that Vlad the Invader) you can't buy it and all the Boris's shop sites says they're on holidays until 31 Dec 2030. So, unless you can find tins of the stuff lying around, you're out of luck. Unless, someone else is cutting and packaging it.
It's my favorite B&W! THE best B&W for landscapes and especially clouds because it has less blue sensitivity so it cuts through haze. It's also IR-sensitive so slap a filter on there and get those white trees. I've gotten great results developing in both Ilfosol 3 and Rodinal. I don't understand why the "rebranding" is an issue, AFAIK you can't buy anything like this anywhere else. Lots of companies are just trademarked names and their products are made by a company with a different name (Voigtlander comes to mind, made by Cosina.) It has no bearing on the user experience.
Any chance of getting a review od the new Agfa film? Like AgfaPhoto APX 200/400? I know that they are made by whoever else and are not based on the original Agfa film, but I would like to hear your opinion on it. Its also one of the cheapest films available around these parts.
My thoughts on rebranding: it's sorta like ordering Chinese food when the guy taking the order is Indian, the cook is Mexican, and the server is British... If it tastes good...👍
Thanks for info. What is most similar to Plus X that was discontinued about 20 years.Fortunately Kodak still makes TriX. No theories please direct experience or research. Thanks Joe
Retro 80 actually looks similar to a 1950's newspaper film to me with the strong contrast. ...though even Birmingham News had very punchy photos during the late 1990s and 2000s.
I dig the fact that there are so many rebranded films ... I really do like the lomagraphy color stuff, never had good success with their B&W stuff ... also all their negs have WAY too much curl!!!
Do I have to use Rollei films in my Rolleiflex TLR? :) If you are interested in re-spooling and re-branding, you should have been around in the 1980's. Freestyle had so many film types and brands that you may or may not have recognized. The fall of East Germany opened up the Orwo and other lines. The ultimate rebranding bargain was about 2010. Kodak made a special run of Plus-X and Tri-X for Freestyle, who sold it under the Arista name.......for $2 a roll! And there was no question that it wasn't Kodak. Every user and store employee knew this. I still have a few frozen rolls of this. I just hate the idea of using it because it's the last. I know, I know.....
The film is ok used as a standard film but it really shines with an R72 filter for infrared. Absolutely gorgeous. Not sure why you’re so hung up on the name.
Definitely interested in the infrared stuff! Not hung up on the name, just interested in who makes what, where things come from, and how much film is really out there that makes this hobby possible in a world where it's now very nice.
@@AnalogResurgence most of Maco/Rollei’s films are actually IR sensitive not just the IR400. I used an R72 filter and polarizer for the 80S and metered at iso 1.5. Absolutely epic. I suggest it to everyone.
The main problem with people like Rollei or Adox rebranding other people's films, which in most cases are no longer in production, is that the availability of stock is not stable. They are here today and gone tomorrow. Just have a look at the list of ' No Longer Available ' films from Adox and Rollei. I use quite a bit of this Rollei 80s, which is the old Agfa Aviphot. It is by no means an ISO 80 emulsion for ' normal ' pictorial purposes. It is at best iso 32 and more often than not iso 25. It requires particular care with the choice of the developer and time and agitation, requiring the use of highly compensating developers or very dilute HC 110 or Pyro. Get these right and it does reward the photographer with extremely fine grain, superb sharpness and near IR spectral sensitivity. It is by no means a general purpose film and neither is it a plug and play emulsion, even in the film world.
I'm never sure what to make of film rebranding - let's say I buy custom 36" rolls of kodak gold 200 from kodak for $15,000 and slice it into 4x5 sheets... I can't sell it as Kodak gold, that's trademarked, and it certainly won't be as cheap per square inch as actual kodak gold (because kodak sold it to me at some mark up) so I have to come up with a new name, and sell it as something else - some companies don't even want you to say you bought their product to use white label so now I have to take heat for providing a product kodak had no interest in selling and complying with their purchasing agreement? Unrelated to that in the 60s Rollei sold rollei branded film that said what it was right on it. I've seen Rollei plus x pan, rollei double x, and rollei ilford pan f all in rollei boxes with quite a mark up. So rollei film not being made by rollei isn't new at all.
Interesting -- I like Retro 80s, but my results have definitely not been as contrasty as yours -- must be the developing or the scanning -- I have always sent my film to The Darkroom in California for developing and scanning. To me the results do have a "retro" feel -- like the family photos from my parents youth -- like 1930s/1940s. Especially the 120 film when shot in vintage box/pseudo-TLR cameras. As far as rebranding -- it's good that I found out that the Arista EDU BW films are rebranded Fomapan films for a few cents less -- in fact the color band on the Fomapan boxes is an exact match of the color corner tag on the Arista EDU boxes for each different speed. And I am pretty sure that Kentmere film is rebranded Ilford film -- tho it may be different emulsions than those sold as Ilford film stocks. But if you want to save a little money, the rebranded films offer a good choice -- especially if you know the lineage of the film. Ilford films are rock solid in terms or the results, and I have found the same with Kentmere -- yet I can save a little money. And of course even an inexpensive film is not worth it if the results are not what you are looking for. Try another brand/emulsion and see if you like it, then hunt out the bargains. But I must admit -- I have felt "suckered" by Lomography into paying premium prices for expired film! The Metropolis film is interesting, but it very obviously is one specific brand -- but expired. And I really could get the same results by shooting regular color film and tweaking the colors when digitally editing -- for less money.... Thanks for the testing and info Noah!!!!!
Well, Kentmere and Ilford are owned and made by the same company (Harman) so it's no secret they're very close. Some suggest that Kentmere could be rebranded Ilford Pan 100 and 400 (stocks only available on certain markets) but it's not anything certain. And Rollei RPX 100 and 400 is made by the same company as well so we can count these in for the possibilities.
I would call this a rebranding if this "Rollei" film was available under other names cutting the middle man, but... is it? 🤔 are the currently available Polaroid films "rebranded" because The Impossible Project is behind them? 🤔 I am not sure.... 🤔
Rollei has really nice film stocks, but they're *very* curly. Makes it more difficult to load into the spirals, as well as archiving and scanning. A bit of a headache.
Yeah a ton of film rebranding happens without anyone knowing. I only use retro 80s for testing Soviet cameras since soviet lenses are very contrasting I use it for portraits. I love finding out where big and small film companies make their film and where lomography’s stuff comes from. All I know my large format film is made in a x ray emulsion factory in China
Who makes what and us rebranded by whoever else .. yep. I would rather buy it under its original name, or at least read its history in fine print on the final packing.
Do I aks to much from somebody making a (claimed) documentation about something to speak out correctly the name of that something? Point in case: Rollei.
Call it what you will but Rollei Retro 80S is a brilliant film, whether processed in Rodinal, Rollei Supergrain, or my favourite, Rollei RLS Low Speed. Superb as 35mm, but absolutely stunning as 120 roll film.
Nothing wrong with rebrands when they give us something that wasn't ordinarily sold for photo use, quite the opposite. I only shot one roll of 400S so far but I loved it, will definitely be coming back for more of these aerial Agfa films.
Right! AND it has near-infrared sensitivity, so get a red filter if you don't have one (and most people won't).
This is why I love FPP. If it can capture an image, they'll cram into a film cartridge just to say they did.
Just shot a roll of Retro 80S, and gotta say I absolutely love it. With the right optics and chemistry, you can really get past that crushing contrast and get amazing tonality and shadow detail.
I'm so glad that companies like Rollei are still around to revive the old Agfa films because otherwise the black and white film market feels kinda like a duopoly b/w Kodak and Ilford. More choice is always a good thing. Excellent video, looking forward to more of these reviews!
Honestly, the only reason I ever bought Retro 80S was because it was the cheapest 120 film I could find to test my Yashica Mat LM. I do like punchy contrast B&W films, and if weren't because I love Ilford PanF, this could be one of my go-to low sensitivity B&W films.
I really like Rollei film stock. I think that if a rebrand can mantain all these variety of film stock alive there is nothing wrong with it. Is only a commercial choice to use the name Rollei but is not like those products who slap a famous brand on the box to sell overpriced garbage. They are really good, and honestly they comes at a fair price (at least in Italy). I've never heard of Rollei Crossbird, I have to check it out!
I think it’s perfectly okay for companies to take harder to buy and more obscure films like technical films, cut them down and roll them up for consumers, and resell them under their brand name, since that is a service that a lot of consumers probably don’t want to do themselves, or maybe even aren’t always able to. That being said, they certainly should be super forthcoming that that is what they are doing, emphasize it on the box or on the website so that the consumer knows exactly what they’re buying
Great video as always dude! I think this film is right up my alley because I really love the contrasty look and I love shooting in midday which the 80 ISO would be helpful for
I learn more from your videos than from analog lessons at school. Thank you!
First of all thank you for this channel, I really enjoy watching your videos. I'm new and I'm a film amateur photographer. I would like to point out something, I think that to talk only of rebranding could be misleading. According to my information, Maco bought AGFA's recipes when AGFA was closed. While still exist an AGFA (Belgium) they do not own the AGFA's recipes, but only the brand's name and the products name. At the same time Maco posses the brand Rollei so they are effectively creating AGFA film by the name Rollei... but the recipes didn't change. The films are AGFA's. Maybe I got wrong what you told in your video but I thought was important to point this out.
Again I'm very happy I discover your channel!!!
I love the kind of contrast B&W photos showed in Life magazine in the 60s and 70s. Putting aside that this was also a result of directional light to emphasise surface textures and darkroom techniques, I am interested in films that are suitable strong contrast but at a good quality. Keep up the good work! 🤗
Cool video as always! I'm very interested in watching your future video on rebranded films!
The song "Who Made Who" comes to mind with products like this. It's the same with cars. People bought up the original Cadillac Escalade like crazy but it was nothing more than a Chevy Tahoe.
I very much like contrasty b&w films and I have been very happy with the results I got from Rollei 400s. It may very well be a rebrand, but for me the fact is I get a film I'm satisfied with with like 2/3 price of Ilford and kodak b&w films. Competition is usually good for the consumers :)
Can't wait to see rebranding video! Good luck in doing research :)))
I really like Rollei Retro 80S for street photography type stuff. The excellent detail and sharpness is a great fit for city scenes/architecture and that sort of thing. It reminds me a little bit of Ferrania P30, but you can of course get it in medium format, which is great!
I don't really have a problem with this rebrand, since Agfa branded films aren't sold anymore (at least not where I live). I hear you on the Lomography stuff though. The colour films are good for being so cheap, but the Kino stuff has a pretty crazy mark-up.
Btw the Rollei RPX films are great for push processing. RPX400 looks really good at 3200 imo.
Looking forward to the film manufacturers and rebranding video!
I'm interested in the dynamics of B&W infrared film. It seems to be overshadowed by Aerochrome but I don't see that many people shooting it. All I know is that you need a special filter for it or else it'll just look like regular B&W film
Infrared black and white is definitely on my mind!
Quite like Super panchromatic films ( Rollei Superpan 200, Ilford SFX 200 and some of the Silberra films amongst others) shot with a normal red filter. you get a bit of IR without the confusion of trying to work out how many stops to compensate with a 720nm filter, usually somewhere between 5 and 7 depending on IR levels which you can only really guess at.
I am also really interested in rebrands. Keep the videos coming!
I love your intro. Gives me those 80s vibes
We need more new color film stocks. Not overpriced Kodak Vision 3 adapted to C41 processors but a real new color emulsions like it used to be some thousands days ago
great video! any plans on doing a walk-about around town and taking photos? would like to see your thought process and composition preferences when taking a photo! thanks!
Great suggestion for when the weather is a little warmer and more foliage is out -- *NOAH* -- get ahold of Kasey Stern from Camera Conspiracies and have him do the video while you take the photos with film -- I bet that the results would be very entertaining!!!!!
I used to use AGFA BW Films, and found them to be of High Quality, and welcome Re-Brands using the AGFA Formula, rendering rich BW Negatives, and Prints!
I’ve discovered Maco when I got a Rollie Baby Gray, They where one of the few places re-branding fresh 127
I love the look of this film.
I wouldnt knock Rollei/Maco too much for rebranding... its not really different from what FPP does. They have some technical films I wanted to try.
Fun idea for roll reviews: an episode just on pre-exposed special effects rolls. Can maybe cover Dubblefilm options in a video and Revolog rolls in another.
So regarding rebrands as me from a hobbyist perspective, rebrands are just a very common thing in every single Industry, it's nothing even worthy complaining about. However the price increases are a good note to make tho
For sure! I’m interested in rebranding for film because it’s such a niche hobby and it’s interesting to know who exactly is actually making film to shoot and where most of this is coming from
Do you happen to know if this film(or any rollei film from this era) is dx coded? I just put some in my point and shoot and realized too late to check for the DX Code….
I'm with you on this. It's not the idea of rebranding that bothers me, if they put somewhere (even in small print) what the original film was, it would be helpful. In fact I would be more on board to support them for making these available. But the idea of them trying to imply they have come up with a new film or that they are directly linked to camera manufactures, it is a bit confusing. Though I don't think Williams F1 team are making car cleaning products, the brand is licensed to Williams waterless wash n wax, we're made clear in advance that they endorse it but don't make it themselves. They don't hide it.
What is lomo 800? As a huge fan of it, I wonder if I can go a cheaper route. Thanks in advance and great video as always.
Dude your content is awesome! Very informative.
I don't understand how you don't have 10 times more subscribers! You deserve it more than some beanie-wearing hipsters out there that dont know what they're talking about but have 100k subs
Someday!
I’m curious what is the video that you’re mentioning here about the spider web of film rebranding? This video is decently old enough, do you have the finished video about film rebranding out by now?
Sadly that’s a video idea that I was working on for a bit but never came together in a way that I was going to be happy with.
But, Rollei Film is basically revived AGFA Film, that's great, in my opinion. Maybe they could just be more confident and use a different name.
Compliment and question! Your videos are so easy to understand, thank you for that! Do you happen to have one video that explains the workings of iso, shutter speed and aperture all together? If so, what is it called!? Thanks in advance!
I tackled the topics individually, but did not get to do something combining them all. I’m hoping soon to do something concerning the basics of exposure and working with 35!
You can preflash and pull process slightly to relieve contrast.
Retro 80s/Agfa Aviphot 80 is ultra high resolution. It even challenges TMax 100 and Delta 100.
What you totally missed is that:
*It’s also one of the only true infrared films left* apart from SFX.
It has real IR range up to about 750nm.
So it responds well to deep red and real IR filtering and flash.
So plenty of Woods effect and Rayleigh scattering filtering.
All of the Aviphot films have IR range.
There is only two films on the market from the line: 80 and 200.
The rest is different confectioning and branding.
The silver packages are confectioned by Foma, and has slightly worse quality check (scratches, pinholes etc. nothing I ever experienced though).
The black packages are confectioned by Ilford.
The difference is also mirrored in slightly different price.
It would be far cooler to sell the film under the Agfa brand. But it’s probably impossible.
The brand has been whored out left and right to all kinds of non Agfa films. It’s very probable that some other company has the rights to use it for consumer film right now.
Nice review like always 🙏🙏
My 1. choice for architecture on cloudy days and long distance tele pictures.
2. choice is RR 400S.
I actually quite like this film and strongly suspect that this retro 80s and the RPX 25 are in deed the same film stock. It makes sence that shooting it +2 stops and developing it as 25 ISO might produce less contrast and finer grain. This was a good video, looks like lots of these shots are taken around Toronto. 😎👍
Thanks for the review! :)
What's up with P30 / Ferrania, anyway? No new news on their site since July 2020
I didn't realise this film had a clear base. It seems like with that level of contrast it would also make a really good stock to develop as monochrome reversal. I will have to get a few rolls and try it out sometime.
Is that the old HTV ident music over your new opening titles?
I think you missed a big part of the frustration surrounding film rebranding here. It's not so much the brand connection, its that when I hear of a new film/brand, I'm hoping for a newly-formulated emulsion. I want to see someone actually putting R&D money into keeping film fresh and moving forward technologically. I'm disappointed every time when I find out it's just recut/reboxed technical film.
We usually don't include arerial film into the category of tehnical film. For a reason.
We usually understand technical films as not having midtones, whereas aerial film does. (Also for a reason, in fact the reason being the same as for our normal photographic film. Aerial photographs want to present an image, not a graphic.)
But completly agree with you about rebranding. Unfortunately you can not do much against it, not for the fault of teh rebranders but for the fact that hypster photographer find it easier chasing the silver bullet instead to learn the trade. (Lomography even is about ignoring the trade.)
I'm a suspicious person. I always investigate. Film, what it is and where it comes from is never something I question....because I've already done the research. So I don't mind the rebrands. I've got some Retro 80S in the refrigerator ready to use soon.
You can still see Agfa Aviphot for "sale" on evil bay, but thanks to Crazy Ivan (or, is that Vlad the Invader) you can't buy it and all the Boris's shop sites says they're on holidays until 31 Dec 2030. So, unless you can find tins of the stuff lying around, you're out of luck. Unless, someone else is cutting and packaging it.
It's my favorite B&W! THE best B&W for landscapes and especially clouds because it has less blue sensitivity so it cuts through haze. It's also IR-sensitive so slap a filter on there and get those white trees. I've gotten great results developing in both Ilfosol 3 and Rodinal.
I don't understand why the "rebranding" is an issue, AFAIK you can't buy anything like this anywhere else. Lots of companies are just trademarked names and their products are made by a company with a different name (Voigtlander comes to mind, made by Cosina.) It has no bearing on the user experience.
I hope there's a reference to Pepe Silvia in your web of film companies video
Highly recommend developing in FX39 (1:19) - box speed.
Any chance of getting a review od the new Agfa film? Like AgfaPhoto APX 200/400? I know that they are made by whoever else and are not based on the original Agfa film, but I would like to hear your opinion on it. Its also one of the cheapest films available around these parts.
I hope to pick some of that up for a video in the future!
2 years on, what's the title of the film brands video I should be searching for???
My thoughts on rebranding: it's sorta like ordering Chinese food when the guy taking the order is Indian, the cook is Mexican, and the server is British... If it tastes good...👍
I am gtateful to Maco for delivering/releasing a wide range of B&W film stocks.
Have you shot any of this in its infrared band? I think that's where this film really shines!
I haven’t just yet, but I really want to do some stuff talking about and shooting infrared!
@@AnalogResurgence Oh nice! yea, I guess it's kind of the wrong season for infrared anyhow. Love the content, can't wait to see what you do next.
@@AnalogResurgence YA NOAH ! JEEZ
Hello Can you do a review of Ilford Pan 400? Thank you
Dod you know The Big Film Database for rebranding info? A person who made it has already walked much of that Film Manufacturing path you speak of.
Love 80s specially but also 400s
Thanks for info. What is most similar to Plus X that was discontinued about 20 years.Fortunately Kodak still makes TriX. No theories please direct experience or research. Thanks Joe
Retro 80 actually looks similar to a 1950's newspaper film to me with the strong contrast. ...though even Birmingham News had very punchy photos during the late 1990s and 2000s.
I dig the fact that there are so many rebranded films ... I really do like the lomagraphy color stuff, never had good success with their B&W stuff ... also all their negs have WAY too much curl!!!
Seems like a good choice for aerial photography 🤔
Do I have to use Rollei films in my Rolleiflex TLR? :)
If you are interested in re-spooling and re-branding, you should have been around in the 1980's. Freestyle had so many film types and brands that you may or may not have recognized. The fall of East Germany opened up the Orwo and other lines.
The ultimate rebranding bargain was about 2010. Kodak made a special run of Plus-X and Tri-X for Freestyle, who sold it under the Arista name.......for $2 a roll! And there was no question that it wasn't Kodak. Every user and store employee knew this. I still have a few frozen rolls of this. I just hate the idea of using it because it's the last. I know, I know.....
Well-presented
Did you ever get around to making that video about rebranding??
Wow very punchy.
Looking forward to your vid on breaking down who makes which films. reminds me of the pepe silvia meme
The film is ok used as a standard film but it really shines with an R72 filter for infrared. Absolutely gorgeous.
Not sure why you’re so hung up on the name.
Definitely interested in the infrared stuff! Not hung up on the name, just interested in who makes what, where things come from, and how much film is really out there that makes this hobby possible in a world where it's now very nice.
@@AnalogResurgence most of Maco/Rollei’s films are actually IR sensitive not just the IR400. I used an R72 filter and polarizer for the 80S and metered at iso 1.5. Absolutely epic. I suggest it to everyone.
The main problem with people like Rollei or Adox rebranding other people's films, which in most cases are no longer in production, is that the availability of stock is not stable. They are here today and gone tomorrow. Just have a look at the list of ' No Longer Available ' films from Adox and Rollei. I use quite a bit of this Rollei 80s, which is the old Agfa Aviphot. It is by no means an ISO 80 emulsion for ' normal ' pictorial purposes. It is at best iso 32 and more often than not iso 25. It requires particular care with the choice of the developer and time and agitation, requiring the use of highly compensating developers or very dilute HC 110 or Pyro. Get these right and it does reward the photographer with extremely fine grain, superb sharpness and near IR spectral sensitivity. It is by no means a general purpose film and neither is it a plug and play emulsion, even in the film world.
I don't feel swindled because a company rebrands a film that would otherwise be unavailable to me and other consumers, such as Rollei 80S
I'm never sure what to make of film rebranding - let's say I buy custom 36" rolls of kodak gold 200 from kodak for $15,000 and slice it into 4x5 sheets... I can't sell it as Kodak gold, that's trademarked, and it certainly won't be as cheap per square inch as actual kodak gold (because kodak sold it to me at some mark up) so I have to come up with a new name, and sell it as something else - some companies don't even want you to say you bought their product to use white label so now I have to take heat for providing a product kodak had no interest in selling and complying with their purchasing agreement?
Unrelated to that in the 60s Rollei sold rollei branded film that said what it was right on it. I've seen Rollei plus x pan, rollei double x, and rollei ilford pan f all in rollei boxes with quite a mark up. So rollei film not being made by rollei isn't new at all.
Interesting -- I like Retro 80s, but my results have definitely not been as contrasty as yours -- must be the developing or the scanning -- I have always sent my film to The Darkroom in California for developing and scanning. To me the results do have a "retro" feel -- like the family photos from my parents youth -- like 1930s/1940s. Especially the 120 film when shot in vintage box/pseudo-TLR cameras. As far as rebranding -- it's good that I found out that the Arista EDU BW films are rebranded Fomapan films for a few cents less -- in fact the color band on the Fomapan boxes is an exact match of the color corner tag on the Arista EDU boxes for each different speed. And I am pretty sure that Kentmere film is rebranded Ilford film -- tho it may be different emulsions than those sold as Ilford film stocks. But if you want to save a little money, the rebranded films offer a good choice -- especially if you know the lineage of the film. Ilford films are rock solid in terms or the results, and I have found the same with Kentmere -- yet I can save a little money. And of course even an inexpensive film is not worth it if the results are not what you are looking for. Try another brand/emulsion and see if you like it, then hunt out the bargains. But I must admit -- I have felt "suckered" by Lomography into paying premium prices for expired film! The Metropolis film is interesting, but it very obviously is one specific brand -- but expired. And I really could get the same results by shooting regular color film and tweaking the colors when digitally editing -- for less money.... Thanks for the testing and info Noah!!!!!
Well, Kentmere and Ilford are owned and made by the same company (Harman) so it's no secret they're very close. Some suggest that Kentmere could be rebranded Ilford Pan 100 and 400 (stocks only available on certain markets) but it's not anything certain. And Rollei RPX 100 and 400 is made by the same company as well so we can count these in for the possibilities.
what about rollei infrared?
I'm hoping to explore the various infrared black and white film this year! It is also an Agfa produced film.
My medium format results aren’t quite as dark but it *is* contrasty. One thing I detest about it is it’s malicious curl; pure hell to scan with.
Do people pay more for the Rollei name, or would they pay more for the AGFA name?
i like the old intro
It’s gone now!
I would call this a rebranding if this "Rollei" film was available under other names cutting the middle man, but... is it? 🤔 are the currently available Polaroid films "rebranded" because The Impossible Project is behind them? 🤔 I am not sure.... 🤔
Rollei has really nice film stocks, but they're *very* curly.
Makes it more difficult to load into the spirals, as well as archiving and scanning. A bit of a headache.
The brand is read in their original language more like "Rho-lie" like in "Lie". Go figure.
Yeah a ton of film rebranding happens without anyone knowing. I only use retro 80s for testing Soviet cameras since soviet lenses are very contrasting I use it for portraits. I love finding out where big and small film companies make their film and where lomography’s stuff comes from. All I know my large format film is made in a x ray emulsion factory in China
Love your videos, hate the new intro. Please bring back the previous one.
Who makes what and us rebranded by whoever else .. yep.
I would rather buy it under its original name, or at least read its history in fine print on the final packing.
What the hell is your problem with rebranding? Just be damn glad there's film available. Jeez man, running out of video topics??
Do I aks to much from somebody making a (claimed) documentation about something to speak out correctly the name of that something? Point in case: Rollei.
II hate how the film curves when dries
Call it what you will but Rollei Retro 80S is a brilliant film, whether processed in Rodinal, Rollei Supergrain, or my favourite, Rollei RLS Low Speed. Superb as 35mm, but absolutely stunning as 120 roll film.