Agfa Structurix D5

D5 is the workhorse of the Structurix range. It is the film most welding inspectors and aerospace QA labs reach for first, because it sits at the speed point where you can still shoot through a moderate amount of steel and pick up the defect tolerances BAM certification demands. Among Agfa types still in production today through Waygate Technologies, D5 is the one you are most likely to find in a working radiography shop.

Like the rest of the Structurix line, D5 is coated on both sides of the polyester base, which is what every still photographer who shoots X-ray film has to plan around. Focus runs through two emulsion layers separated by the base, and pinhole or contact-print work reads both superimposed. The effect is a slight halo around point sources that some pinhole photographers like. For visible-light still photography that creates a complication: focus runs through two emulsion layers separated by the base, and pinhole or contact-print work read both superimposed. The effect is a slight halo around point sources that some pinhole photographers like.

The brief lists D5 at ISO 160 in visible light, which lines up with the forum consensus that D5 reads about a stop and a half faster than D3 in Rodinal. Treat it as a starting rating and bracket the first sheet of a new box. Photographers who shoot D5 for landscape or architectural work typically rate it between 100 and 200.

Against Fomapan 100 in sheet, D5 is contrastier and sharper but loses any romantic European tonal character. Against Ilford FP4+ in 4x5, D5 resolves more line pairs per millimeter but with a steeper curve that punishes highlights. This is technical film. Rodinal 1:50 at conservative times works. D-76 stock works. Agfa's G135 X-ray chemistry is fast, contrasty, and not what most pictorial shooters want.

Format is sheet only, in the usual NDT metric and imperial sizes. No 35mm, no 120.

Reciprocity exponent is 1.31. Zone Light Meter applies the correction past one second. A metered 30-second exposure runs around 90 seconds at the negative; a two-minute reading extends past five. For pinhole work at f/256 in mid-afternoon shade, that math adds up fast across a contact sheet of brackets.