In an Instagram post on the 2nd of March, 2021, Adox, a German film manufacturer, announced it would be discontinuing its Silvermax film production. The discontinuation is that they have run out of the specialised sensitiser used in the film production. Initially acquired in 2004, Fotoimpex (the parent company) purchased machines, materials, and formulas from a closing Agfa factory. The materials lasted sixteen years. While often out of stock, Adox Silvermax became a favourite among photographers due to the sharpness and ortho-panchromatic sensitivity.
Founded in 1992, Fotoimpex began to import Eastern European films and stocks into Western Europe after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 destroyed and disrupted many existing supply lines. They would focus on films from Fotokemika and Forte. After acquiring the Adox name in 2003, Fotoimpex began reselling Efke films under the original Adox name. Adox being the oldest brand of photographic supplies, having been founded originally in 1860. In 2004 they acquired machines, materials, and formulas from Agfa and began making films based on the original Agfa line. To aid in this, they opened a new factory, Adox Fotowerks GmbH, in Bad Sarrow outside of Berlin in 2009 and expanded on that factory between 2017-19.
Silvermax unique because it has a higher silver content than your average black & white film. Resulting in a wide tonal range and high contrast. This also created a film that has a sharpness close to what you get from a tabular grained film despite having a cubic grain. This sharpness is due to the anti-halation layer being placed between the film base and emulsion. To help get this fantastic performance, Adox recommends pairing the film with their Silvermax Developer, which helps achieve a full fourteen zones of tonal range and allows that higher silver content to accomplish a DMAX greater than 3.0. The clear film base also allows Silvermax to be developed in the Adox Scala reversal process with similar results. In traditional developers, you will get similar results as you did with the original Agfa APX 100. The final run of Silvermax is available now through Fotoimpex and their partner retail sources and features a dark orange/Blue two-tone appearance. However, supplies are running out quickly. So if you haven’t shot Silvermax, now is the time and be sure to get that developer at the same time. Below is a sample of Adox Silvermax developed in Adox HR-50 developer.
Alex Luyckx
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