AshigrainColour reversal · Natural
Agfa Agfachrome RSX II 100
Clean whites, quiet greens: Agfa's late slide film.
Agfa slide colour: dense greens and deep shadows. Original vs Ashigrain.
At a glance
- Exposure index
- 100
- Daylight
- Introduced
- 1998
- Discontinued
- Process
- E-6
- Prints on
- Reversal, viewed directly
About the film
When Shutterbug tested Agfachrome RSX II 100 Professional, Peter K. Burian found its whites pure and free of any cast, its greens subtle rather than striking, and its reds, yellows and blues vivid without losing detail.
It was Agfa's improved successor to Agfachrome RSX 100 Professional, which had already won a European award as colour slide film of the year. Agfa presented it at photokina in 1998, after introducing a consumer counterpart, CT Precisa 100, at the PMA show that February; Agfa claimed a higher maximum density, more linear colour curves, cleaner greys and an inhibitor system that sharpened definition and colour in greens and blues. Agfa's professional guide of September 1998 lists it beside RSX II 50 and 200, for its AP 44 process or E-6, and says its colour neutrality holds in full when pushed or pulled by one stop. Burian found its contrast moderate and its latitude wide enough to hold shadows and highlights in harsh midday light, and the magazine's editor, Bob Shell, praised its skin tones. The film was still in Agfa-Gevaert's professional range in August 2004, the year Agfa-Gevaert sold its photo business to an investor group; the new AgfaPhoto GmbH filed for insolvency in May 2005. Amateur Photographer reported that Agfa-Gevaert was still making the discontinued RSX 200 emulsion as an aerial film, and that Lomography sold it in 120 as a slide film.
Sources for this history
- Agfa Professional Films, Technical Data PF, Agfa-Gevaert AG
- Agfachrome RSX II 100 And CT Precisa 100, Shutterbug
- Technical Data: Agfa Professional Films (F-PF-E4, 08/2004), Agfa-Gevaert AG
- Technische Daten: Agfa Professional Filmsortiment (F-PF-D4, 07/2003), Agfa-Gevaert AG
- Insolvenz-Poker um AgfaPhoto, photoscala
- Vor sieben Jahren gingen bei Agfa die Lichter aus, dpa (newsroom.de)
- Colour film not dead as Agfa's RSX 200 medium-format emulsion reborn, Amateur Photographer
- photokina '98: Agfachrome RSX II for precision down to the last detail, Agfa-Gevaert AG
- photokina '98: Press Lounge, Agfa-Gevaert AG
- Agfachrome Professional Reversal Films (product page, May 1998 capture), Agfa-Gevaert AG
- Agfa at PMA '98: Agfa introduces Agfachrome CTprecisa, Agfa-Gevaert AG
The look
A daylight ISO 100 slide film from Agfa's last professional range, viewed directly with no print. Shutterbug's test found pure, cast-free whites, restrained greens and vivid reds, yellows and blues that kept their detail, with moderate contrast and wide latitude.
Agfachrome colour in hard daylight.
Dense greens and warm light on a slide film.
Best for
- Flowers and autumn foliage
- Snow scenes and white architecture
- Portraits in harsh midday sun
Among the films
Science & sources
A daylight colour reversal film with an exposure index of 100. Its positive image is shown directly, without a print stage. Agfa printed separate dye curves and a visual neutral for it.
Response curves and the evidence behind the model
Compare manufacturer data with the Ashigrain model on the same axes. This shows the calibration to source curves; comparison with photographed film is a separate question.
Characteristic response
RMS granularity
Density variation (σD) measured through a 48 µm aperture. Where the datasheet gives a single grain value, the response away from that point is an approximation.
| Channel | Density | Datasheet-based σD | Model σD |
|---|---|---|---|
| R | 0.3 | 0.005479 | 0.0057 |
| G | 0.3 | 0.003551 | 0.003702 |
| B | 0.3 | 0.006656 | 0.006901 |
| R | 0.6 | 0.010865 | 0.011302 |
| G | 0.6 | 0.007092 | 0.007393 |
| B | 0.6 | 0.016018 | 0.016609 |
| R | 1 | 0.016794 | 0.01747 |
| G | 1 | 0.011294 | 0.011773 |
| B | 1 | 0.026698 | 0.027683 |
| R | 1.5 | 0.024479 | 0.025464 |
| G | 1.5 | 0.01798 | 0.018743 |
| B | 1.5 | 0.041597 | 0.043131 |
| R | 2 | 0.029164 | 0.030338 |
| G | 2 | 0.025078 | 0.026142 |
| B | 2 | 0.059021 | 0.061198 |
Model limits
These images show the film model in use. Spectral response, lighting and viewing conditions include approximations, while halation, bloom, grain size, weave and flicker are not fully measured for each film. A real film capture also depends on development and print timing.
- Custom lighting spectra, camera metering and the spectral reflectance inferred from fixed-white-balance footage are modeled assumptions, not measurements of this film.
- The source prints one visual MTF curve, not separate red, green and blue curves. The model applies it to all three layers.
- The source publishes one RMS granularity value, 10.0 × 10⁻³, without saying whether it is read at gross or net density. Grain is proxied from Kodak Ektachrome 100D (5294), so the granularity values shown are that film's, not measurements of RSX II 100.
- The source prints separate cyan, magenta and yellow dye curves and a visual neutral; dye amounts are derived from that neutral.
- No minimum-density spectrum is printed, so the reversal base-density spectrum is approximated. Reversal push and pull have no published curves and use a generic model.
- No antihalation layer is printed for this film; an undercoat is assumed. Halation strength, radius, layer weights and bloom are not measured.
- Individual dye amounts, layer interactions and push/pull behaviour are approximated where the datasheet provides no calibration. Grain size is assumed; published RMS granularity does not specify dye-cloud size.
- Characteristic response outside the published exposure range is an extrapolation, not measured film data.
- Veiling projection flare is not measured in the available sources. Its modeled contribution lifts screen blacks; it is not a measured projection-contrast claim.
Film guide: assumptions and practical choices
Sources
- Process: Agfa Professional Films, Technical Data PF, Technical Data PF, 09/1998, 1st edition, p. 4
- Characteristic curves: Agfa Professional Films, Technical Data PF, Technical Data PF, 09/1998, 1st edition, p. 9
- Diffuse RMS granularity: Agfa Professional Films, Technical Data PF, Technical Data PF, 09/1998, 1st edition, p. 9
- Exposure index: Agfa Professional Films, Technical Data PF, Technical Data PF, 09/1998, 1st edition, p. 9