Kahlfilm UT18 - Surprisingly good!

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Muckymuck
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Kahlfilm UT18 - Surprisingly good!

Post by Muckymuck »

I've just got a roll of Kahlfilm UT18 reversal film back (surprisingly quickly- 8 days Germany to UK) and the results are surprisingly good.

I am almost certain now that it is an Agfa slide film (RSX II- 50 ISO?). It is definately daylight balanced as it was exposed in a 40/160 camera with the filter out and had no magenta colour shift as the previous example shown on this site did. If it is old stock, it isn't too old.

It is not quite as grainy as Ektachrome 64T and has colours similar to, but not quite as saturated as Velvia, maybe a shade warmer.

I tend to project most of my films but I will attempt either to use a film scanner to post some shots, or do a DIY telecine so you can get the gist. Watch this space!

I was sceptical after the poor reviews I had read of Kahlfilm (both stock and processing) but will certainly be buying this stock again when I want that look.
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Post by Carlos 8mm »

Pretty good news!

If there´s no magenta coloration on the film and the grain is very fine, then that film could be Agfachrome 50 RSX II. As far as I know, RMS granularity of this film stock is 10 instead 11 of Ekt 64T.
Carlos.
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Post by Angus »

I tried 2 carts and posted them back to Kahl 8 days ago today...so if I am lucky they will return before too long...and I'll let y'all know how they look.
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Post by super8france »

yes , it's true
Muckymuck
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Post by Muckymuck »

Sorry, forgot to mention the grain. It's not as fine as Velvia or Kodachrome but less grainy than Ektachrome 64T. I'd place it between 64T and 100D, nearer to 100D, but then I was shooting in cloudy conditions. In bright sunlight it may well be very fine grain.
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Post by Angus »

Mine was waiting when I got home from work, 8 days since I posted it. Very impressive.

OK first impressions, it was packed well, the black reels are similar to those formerly used by Kodak and still used by Andec. Plenty of leader, cut correctly and stuck down with a label bearing Kahl's logo to stop it coming adrift in the mail. My two reels were also taped together to prevent jostling, the whole returned to me in the same padded bag I sent them to Germany in. A serial number is stuck to each reel.

No problems apparent with the processing, its even and there's very few black marks. No tramlines. The images don't often stand out as special, though high contrast scenes (a zebra on grass) do standout. Colours seem accurately reproduced (no filter of course). Grain about the same as 64T I would say - as good as the best 64T.

When I was inserting the film into the camera it seemed well lubed, almost as if the film was wet. There were no transport issues and no significant jitter in the finished product.

All in all a nice film. I'd recommend it for somebody looking for a different look, its got a slight speed advantage in daylight compared to 64T and the colours are perhaps more natural especially reds. Its less contrasty than 100D, fits somewhere between those two. I would also recommend to people with 40/160 cams as it ought to be OK exposed as 40D...or to those who don't trust their internal filter.

Better than I expected, I may well use it again. My two films were bought from super8france, I returned the films with the provided coupon direct to Kahl via airmail.
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Post by Muckymuck »

Yes, I'll be using it again too. It's nice stuff and certainly isn't Velvia, nor is it out of date Orwo stock.

I would imagine that the earlier posted stuff here might have been old Orwo stock as it was clearly out of date and looked just like some Orwo UK-17 from the 1980s I had seen before, but this stuff does indeed resemble Agfa RSX II. Can anyone confirm whether it is in fact this stock?

Only one complaint really- the cartridge is a Kodak cart (with the Kahl label embossed in place of the Kodak embossing) but it is not glued shut- it is held shut by 3 pieces of sellotape in the middle of the 3 non-film plane sides. I found that on the 2 corners opposite to the film-plane side, the cart felt a bit loose, so I added tape to these corners to prevent any possible light leakage.
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Post by Angus »

I got the impression my cart might have been glued in addition to the tape.

Yes you're right that Kahl have embossed their logo over the Kodak logo on the cart, I am not sure what Big K think of that!

I haven't used the Agfa RSX so I can't comment, but the stock certainly looks fresh and not in any way out of date or an old formula.

After reading Juergen's editorial in the latest Small Format I wasn't sure what to expect, he suggests that unreliable compaines like Kahl should not be welcomed as we need companies that will give newcomers a positive super 8 experience.

I know people have had problems with Kahl in the recent past, but to be honest on the basis of my experience I shall be dealing with them again.

Whatever UT-18 is, it is not out-dated nor is it an old-fashioned emulsion it is quite modern in its look.

As long as Kahl continue to have a steady supply of the film and are able to turn it around in the lab in reasonable time, this would be an excellent stock for newbies. It is compatible with all cameras, it responds OK to slight over/under exposure so it's fairly forgiving. And it looks pretty good.
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Rollef
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Post by Rollef »

Angus wrote: Better than I expected, I may well use it again. My two films were bought from super8france, I returned the films with the provided coupon direct to Kahl via airmail.
Angus, what was your total cost for one film?

Fréddy, Your web page seems very good. Do you have any plans for a web page with english text?

Regards
Knut
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Post by Angus »

Umm...I bought some on Freddy's special offer.

He's selling it for 30 euros including processing now, I think I bought it for 26 euros inclusive.

Not a bad price, not a bad stock at all.

My concerns now would be, can Kahl keep up the good work? We've all heard the horror stories of 3 months wait for a poorly processed film.
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Muckymuck
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Post by Muckymuck »

Maybe Kahl have cleaned up their act, realising there's a gap in the market for something 100% compatible with all cameras, and that their UT18 fills that gap.

Problem is, Agfa RSX II won't be around forever as it is amongst the stocks that Agfaphoto have axed, though there should be enough in-date stock for a couple of years.

Looking at the Agfaphoto website, Sagem who now own Agfaphoto do only Vista (colour neg), CT Precisia (colour slide) and APX (B&W neg).
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Post by downix »

If Kahl's cleaned up, hats off to them.

That leaves only Pro8 to get their acts together and the SUper8 community will be unbeatable! muahaha!
super8france
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Post by super8france »

Kahl works with the preparation or the manufacture of a new film, it's possible. I think that I should receive a new film to test but I don't know when.
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Post by Muckymuck »

Freddy, is it possible you will sell "KAHL Dokument 12 - Umkehrfilm" and other Kahl films soon?
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Post by super8france »

For the moment I sell the UT18.
Soon perhaps a new Kahl film.

Also soon a HR2 but for the moment I wait the authorization of Kodak and I seek and test a good laboratory (the best price/quality). But I think that the future super 8 film will be 100% compatible with all super 8 camera (40/160ASA)
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