[Leica] Bergger BRF 200 First Impressions

["Mike Durling" <durling@widomaker.com>]

First let me thank everyone who responded to my inquiries about Efke film.
I hope to try some of this in the near future.

I recently got a brick of Bergger BRF 200 film.  (I seem to have developed a
fetish for exotic European films lately!)  Since no one else has commented
on it I thought I would post some first impressions.  This emulsion has been
available for a while in sheet form and has recently been released in 35mm
and 120 formats.  It is supposed to be like the discontinued Kodak Super-XX
sheet film.

Developed in D-76 1:1 the grain is quite apparent.  What really caught my
eye is that the film is extraordinarily sharp!  Every license plate is
readable in street shots.  When I compare it to my recent Tri-X work the
Tri-X prints look like the enlarger is out of focus.  Details are softer and
the grain is much less apparent.

It reminds me of what I think Tri-X used to look like.  Whether that film is
any different than it was in the 60s and 70s I can't swear.  Back then I
started using D-76 but switched to Microdol-X because I didn't like the
grain.  Now the Tri-X looks very fine-grained even in the D-76.  (Of course
my technique has improved in the subsequent years)  The BRF-200 almost looks
like it was developed in Rodinal.  The BRF-200 has that old high-speed film
look.  It does indeed look like some old Super-XX prints that I have seen.

I do think a softer working developer might be in order.  I'm going to try
some Xtol next because I would like to preserve the sharpness.

Mike Durling