Rollei Retro 80S Black and White Negative Film (120 Roll Film)

2025-03-03T02:07:12

I've only shot one 35mm roll of this so far from the 100' bulk roll purchased. It's a very high contrast film that, so far, in my opinion, is not well-suited to bright sunlight with heavy shadows. The shadows lose detail very quickly. The dynamic range of the film does not seem as wide as regular panchromatic films. As long as you keep this in mind, you should be OK. I have not experimented much so far with various ISOs or developing times. I developed in HC-110 "H". Based on the results of my first roll, I think it would be a great film in overcast conditions where there are no harsh shadows. I also thing pre-washing is mandatory prior to developing to rinse away the backing on the film.

DAVID M.

2024-05-15T04:20:12

I fell in love with this film after shooting a roll of 35mm. I loved the stark contrast, the high sharpness, the smooth grain, its extended red sensitivity that makes it a good film for infrared and portraiture, and the reasonable price. I was chuffed with the results so naturally I had to shoot it in 120, of course. So you can imagine my disappointment when I pulled out the film from the tank to hang up to dry and noticed visible spots all over the negatives that I could see with my naked eye (cropped picture attached). At first I thought it was a case of the film not reacting well with my developer (Legacy Pro LMAX, a Kodak T-Max clone) but then remembered this was the same developer that I developed the 35mm roll with that had no problems at all so it couldn't be that. The roll was well within expiry so that's ruled out too. After some online research it seems this spotting or "mottling" is a pretty common problem with Rollei films in 120 size and no one really knows for sure what causes it. But 35mm film seems to be completely unaffected by this anomaly so my best guess is it's some weird reaction to the 120 backing paper? Anyway, further reading about this issue implies that the manufacturer (Agfa) clearly has no intention on resolving the issue since posts about this problem go back years, which is perhaps more frustrating than the spotted negs themselves. At least if they acknowledged it and were making attempts to resolve it, I'd have hope that I would one day be able to shoot this in 120 but they clearly don't care. It's a real shame too because it's a great film otherwise. But it looks like I will be only shooting this film exclusively in 35mm for the foreseeable future.

matthew a.

2022-06-26T08:53:28

Good purchase.

Jerry S.

2020-09-01T08:10:56

I e shit low it’s film before and was really happy with the outcome. It’s been awhile, but the Rollei 80 film was no exception.

MICHAEL G.