Rollei Retro 400S Review + Photos (35mm B&W Film)(RR400S)

Rollei Retro 400S review after buying my first roll of 35mm RR 400S.  I shot the film in my Leica M3 and share some of the results

Common traits of Rollei Retro 400S film

I recently bought my first roll of 35mm Rollei Retro 400 S film to try.  RR 400S is a modern black and white film from Agfa Gevaert, Belgium and is said to be fine grain and have good exposure lattitude.  From reviewing example images taken by others on Flickr my only expectation was high contrast portraits with blown highlight detail on face. As such I planned to develop my film to reduce the contrast and retain highlight detail where possible in normal lighting.

35mm Rollei Retro 400S + Leica M3

I shot the roll of RR 400S in my 1950s Leica M3 and used a Leica Elmar 50mm f2.8 Collapsible lens for the first part of the roll and the Leica Noctilux 50mm f1.0 v2 for the rest of it shot at f1.

Rollei Retro 400S Developing

I metered and developed the film at box speed in 1:100 Rodinal, semi stand developed for 45 minute at 21 degrees.  Negatives were scanned with my new Epson v800 scanner at 2400dpi using an Epson v600 35mm film insert (placed on the glass).

Rollei Retro 400S Flickr Portraits & Photos

Leica M3 + 35mm Rollei Retro 400S + Elmar 50mm f2.8

Leica M3 + Rollei Retro 400S  35mm film + Noctilux 50mm f1.0 lens

I was really pleased with the look of the Rollei Retro 400 S negative scans and might even prefer it to Kodak Tri-X 400.  I need to shoot more Rollei 400 to be sure but it looks very promising.  I also need to try developing 35mm Tri-X with the same 1:100 dilution rather than the usual Rodinal 1:150.

Rollei Retro 400s vs 80s!?

After trying RR400s I bought a roll of 35mm Rollei Retro 80S to try!

• Rollei Retro 80S

More Film Photography Articles

• How to Process Film through to Digital (Develop, Scan, Edit)
• How to Develop Film at Home (Step by Step Guide)
• Rodinal Stand Development / Semi-Stand Development (Guide)

You may also like… What Gear I Use for Portraits!

• See full details of my portrait photography lighting kit – HERE
• See full details of my portrait photography equipment kit – HERE