Rollei launches black-and-white rescue package
With Ilford's future still hanging in the balance, the outlook for black-and-white film production never looked so unsure. But, reports Simon Bainbridge, a newcomer to the market promises a longterm future
It sounds like the most improbable story of the year, but it's true - a major camera manufacturer previously unassociated with film production is about to launch a new range of black-and-white products.
Bucking the trend towards a rapidly declining market for traditional black-and-white materials, Rollei has stepped into the breach with R3, a negative film designed for professionals.
Explaining the move, the German company explained: 'As a world-renowned pioneering camera manufacturer, it is one of Rollei's major concerns to make sure that discriminating photographers can rely on an uninterrupted, long-term supply of high quality monochrome film.'
Rollei added: 'In order to create a film that lives up to these expectations, we decided to enter into a joint venture with MACO, the Hamburg black-and-white specialist.'
One of Rollei's requirements for the film was that it should be able to handle a wide range of sensitivity - and indeed, R3 is said to cover the range from ISO25 to ISO1600. Citing a process similar to colour film manufacture, Rollei says the new introduction is coated with three thin emulsions of different sensitivities.
The super-panchromatic film is highly responsive to specific developer properties, the selection of which determines the film's equivalent sensitivity.
Its extreme sensitivity to daylight means that exposed film needs to be kept in specially designed black cartridges, as traditional 35mm cassettes, for example, will show 'grey lateral stripes', while 'roll film will be exposed through the film leader'.
R3 also employs an 'antihalation' layer that is coated directly onto the transparent film base, resulting, says Rollei, in greater sharpness, as 'reflections are not allowed to penetrate the film support before being reduced, but are eliminated even before they can enter the base'. The film's polyester film support is also said to guarantee the highest levels of archive stability.
The film will be available in sizes from 35mm up to 8x10 inch sheet film, along with a roll 20 inch wide and 50m long version.
Pricing and availability is not yet available, but further information is available online at www.rollei.de. The Studio Workshop plans to handle UK distribution through its Manchester premises. Call 0870 443 7986 for details.
