Bulk order Kodak Double-X (5222)

[xwhatsit]

Hi guys,

I've been quite keen to try some Kodak Double-X for a while. There was a big thread over on Rangefinder Forum with examples... really gorgeous film, quite a distinctive old-fashioned look.

These days it seems it's a motion picture film only, you can get it in 400ft lengths only. Of course it's unavailable in New Zealand. I contacted Kodak but got quoted $350 or so for a 400ft length, which works out a little over $5 a 36-exposure roll. The big part of that was shipping.

Film Emporium sells 400ft rolls for $US150 each. Shipping to New Zealand works out at $US86 for that. It will really only make sense to order a few 400ft rolls at once, shipping-wise. It'll take me way to long to polish off 400ft as it is (that's about 70 rolls), so I was wondering if there was anybody else who was keen to try Double-X and wanted to make an order at the same time to reduce shipping costs?

I'm new here, so if you lot are already doing the occasional bulk order of film/paper etc. then please point me in the right direction

Cheers.

[Hikingman]

I'd like some input since I recently was given 14 rolls of Double-X (36 Exp). It is listed on the Massive Dev. Chart, here.

-John

[PhotoJim]

It's nice film. I'm still working on my first 400' of it. I process mine in D-76 1:1 for now but before long I'm going to experiment with it in PMK.

[xwhatsit]

Lucky fellows getting easy access to it over in North America!

Here's the thread over on RFF which got me inspired, lots of neat pics: http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=52426

Some intriguing ideas on developers too in that thread. I'm boring and just soup any film I can get my hands on in Microphen (it's cheap in NZ, about a dollar more than ID11/D76, nice grain, I often push).

[PhotoJim]

I had to pick it up from a fellow photographer in Vancouver, but I do concede that I can get there pretty easily relative to you.

[bowzart]

It's a wonderful film, but I hate respooling really long rolls! I'm waiting for some shorter rolls to appear. In general, I'd much rather use films that are readily available and use my choice of developer to give me what I want. I also don't care to hand number my frames. There are no preprinted numbers. After all, what good are frame numbers on movie film? XX was always a movie film. Super XX, another of my favorite distant memories, was not the same film at all. It was designed for entirely different purposes.

I tested xx using Germain's formula, which is really just a variant of Edwal 12. Subsequently, I converted to a more standard version of E12, and then promptly ran out of xx. So, unable to obtain more convenient sizes, I've turned my attention elsewhere. However, the results I got were really great. E12 is a great developer, and one that works particularly well with films of this era and type. It is particularly good when you need greater contrast; Edmund Lowe designed it for rather bright but very flat light. It is a true fine grain developer. That is, it does not use high solvent concentrations to dissolve the edges and corners of the grains. Instead, it retains stupendous edge definition. I suspect that anyone wishing to use this film would find the combination very interesting if they can put up with making the developer, since it is not something that you're likely to find. Photographer's Formulary may have a kit for it, but I mix from scratch.

A while back, we had a fairly long thread on Edwal 12, so if you are interested, you can look it up. There is a lot of information in it.

My notes say that next time, I should try 8.5 minutes as a target for a normal time. Ten minutes is pretty good for heavily overcast Puget Sound light conditions.

[patrickjames]

5222 is a nice film, but it is a drag having to transfer it onto 100' spools then into cassettes. It is a flat film, but I found it to work well with Pyrocat. Quite a long tonal range. I was getting it in short ends (400') from film emporium for about 12-18¢/ft., then everyone started to find out about it (yay internet! not!) and it is nearly impossible to get it that way now. Actually I gave up trying. When Freestyle started selling Tri-X as Arista for $2 a roll, I saw no point to using 5222 any more with the hassles of it. I probably still have a couple of rolls, somewhere. There was a guy selling it loaded into cassettes a couple of years ago. If you are just looking to try it, maybe that would be a way to go.

By the way, Edwal 12 is a great developer. I could see 5222 and E-12 being a great combo. I probably even used it myself with 5222, but I don't remember off the top of my head. It is a bit of a pain to mix and use, but it is nice. It has a definite personality. The thread that bowzart mentions above is one of my favorite on APUG. Highly recommended reading.

[Metroman]

Hi guys,

These days it seems it's a motion picture film only, you can get it in 400ft lengths only. Of course it's unavailable in New Zealand. I contacted Kodak but got quoted $350 or so for a 400ft length, which works out a little over $5 a 36-exposure roll. The big part of that was shipping.

Was that Kodak in NZ you contacted? The NZ office is at:

Kodak New Zealand Ltd.
20 MacKelvie Street
Grey Lynn 1021
Auckland
New Zealand
Ph: 64 9 360 8665

You can also try these guys for advice on sourcing:

Film New Zealand

ORWO also make two 35mm MP films - 100 & 400 - but can supply in 100ft cans. You need to contact them for local suppliers

ORWO MP Film

I need to find the time to update the Project-X web site with a list of suppliers.

[patrickjames]

I tried the ORWO route a few years ago, but got no where. The best I could do was get the headquarters to say I could buy the film from them, but they never responded with how much or how to go about it. I gave up. They also directed me to a US distributor IIRC but no one answered any emails. If you make any headway on this I would be interested to find out.

[Metroman]

Patrick - I had the same problem with ORWO but things have changed - especially since Kodak discontinued 5231 (Plus-X MP) last month - I have had no problems dealing with them and getting cans over the last couple of months.