Adox Silvermax 100

Adox markets Silvermax 100 as a fourteen-stop dynamic range film, and the claim is specifically tied to development in Silvermax developer. That combination is real: the silver-rich emulsion paired with the proprietary developer produces a tonal scale that is measurably wider than CHS 100 II or most competitors at ISO 100. Whether fourteen stops is a number you'll use depends on your subject matter, but if you're shooting high-contrast architectural scenes or landscapes with deep shadow and bright sky in the same frame, the latitude is noticeable.

In conventional developers the film behaves like a well-made ISO 100 emulsion built on a mix of cubic and tabular crystals: clean grain, good sharpness, predictable results. You do not have to use Silvermax developer; it's a choice, not a requirement. But if you're buying this film specifically for the wide tonal range claim, using ID-11 instead of Silvermax will not give you the full benefit. The developer appears to work through a solvent-silver mechanism that holds back highlight density while preserving shadow detail.

The grain is fine and the sharpness is good without reaching the resolution levels of CMS 20 II or HR-50. It is a pictorial film, not a technical film. For portrait, documentary, and street work in difficult light it performs at the top of the ISO 100 class.

Available in 35mm only. Adox has said the per-square-metre coating cost rules out 120 or sheet for this emulsion.

Reciprocity exponent is 1.31. Zone Light Meter applies the correction past one second on the standard curve: a metered 30-second reading becomes about 90 seconds at the negative. For interior architectural work with a tripod, where the wide dynamic range claim is most valuable, the correction is routine.