Aerial Pictures: Lambro and Certosa

Aerial Photographs taken with Nikon F90s.

Film used Rollei Retro 80S in Rollei SuperGrain 1+15 developed for 11 minutes, a combination I never tried but which definitely looks interesting.

Nikon F90S - Nikkor 100/2 FC and 180/2.8 ED

Aerial view of the Realdino Bridge over the Lambro river. The old mill Krumm and the Bernini factory (with chimney) - Nikkor 100/2 AF Defocus Control

But the best success is the Gratiarum Cartusia, the latin name of "Certosa di Pavia".

Gratiarum Cartusia - Nikkor 180/2.8 ED

R80S Stand

My first experiment about Stand development with normal film rolls. Previously, I did it only with sheet film and alternating results.

Film: R80S, 35mm. Exposed 50/18° ISO
Development technique: Rodinal 1+100, agitation for the first 30", then 1hour full stand
Subjects: Shots in sun and shadows of a bright, sunny day with strong contrasts

The results seem very promising!

Bergamo, Santa maria Maggiore. Rollei SL35, Distagon 35/2.8

I think the image speaks by itself when I speak about highlight detail (sky) and shadow detail (framing arch). Rollei R80S is a difficult film in the shadows, so it a good test.

You can buy this image as fine art print on Fine Art America; available also framed, as home-decor and even bags and pouches!

Rollei R80S - Studional agitation experiments

Development in Rodinal Special or Studional, 1+30, 8'30"

First 30 seconds, continuous. Then agitate (3 inversions) every second minute, with the other minute giving just a slight swirl to the tank. Except the first minute, where I agitate.


In other words:
Then at 1', agitate
At 2', agitate
then, the next minute, just give a slight swirl at 3', then agitate again at 4' and so on.


I think the results are less harsh and show better depth in the shadows, it looks quite promising. Eposed, as usual at 50/18° ISO

Lovere, Zeiss pre-war Super-Ikonta Tessar 80/2.8

Also when the clouds covered the sun, the Film retains a remarkable depth in tones. Look at how well the clouds retained texture (no filters, no post-processing) and the shadows retain detail: look at the windows and arches.

Lovere, Zeiss pre-war Super-Ikonta Tessar 80/2.8 

Rollei R80S

The Rollei R80S is a very interesting and promising film, however I found also that it is a difficult film, especially in the shadows. I have seen many articles on the internet, however they  accounted mostly for very artsy results. My interest however is to be able to use this film as a high-fidelity film, since it appears to have potential for excellent tonal rendition and separation coupled with an incredible resolution and grain structure.

Current attempts use Karl Bielser suggestion to use Studional, alias Rodinal Special, alias R09 Special diluted 1+30 and developed 8 minutes in tank.

This combination improves the shadows a lot, I rate the exposure at 50/18° ISO.

Here an example from a 35mm frame, Leica M6, Elmar 50/2.8

The tonal range looks exemplar to me. More to come.