I have been shooting Forte 200 lately in 4x5 and processing on stainless steel film hangers in a 3.5 gallon tank of HC-110b with good results.
I got some Arista.edu.ultra (Fomapan 200) IN 5X7 and tried in HC-100b, same technique as Forte 200 and I found the negatives were too contrasty at 5 minutes development, and I hesitate to go less because of possible processing inconsistencies.
So..I mixed up a 3.5 gallon tank of my old standby D-76, which seems to work well with almost anything, and have now processed 2 runs (of 14 sheets each), and while the negatives have good tonality, I seem to be getting some "mottling" in the even toned sky areas. Between the first batch of processing, and the second batch of 14 sheets (on 5x7 stainless steel hangers), I modified my agitation technique to see if that would make a difference, it did not. The mottling looks "somewhat" like the streaks one can get from the holes on the film hangers, but I have never got them on other film sizes processed in identical design (but different size) film hangers.
Is Fomapan 200 known for issues like this?
I need to use deep tank processing, because the projects I want to shoot 5x7 on require larger quantities of shots, and it would take forever to do 3 or 4 sheets at a time in a tray. I do not have a problem with 4x5 or 8x10 deep tank processing, I have been doing this for almost 30 years.
I always use a 4 minute water presoak, and for the Fomapan 200 I have been developing for 5 to 6 minutes in D-76 at about 72 degrees. (room temp). Then into a acid stop bath, then into Kodak rapid-fix with hardener, lights on after one minute in fix. Film is clear when I turn lights on.
Any advice would be helpful. I suspect it is just the budget priced filmstock, but I hope I can resolve the issue.
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