Newbie chooses Foma 200- which chemicals?

[zack kl]

Hi, My eyes are falling out after reading all the discussions ( but am really really thankful for this site and everybody involved). Since I'm just starting in 4x5 I arbitrarily picked Fomapan 200 or Arista edu ultra 200 ( my understanding is that they are the same) to learn on as they are relatively inexpensive and I have to start somewhere.
My question now is- what chemicals to develop with? I understand that different chemicals produce various effects but at this beginning point I just need some easy to get and fairly straight forward ones that work well with this film and if possible would work with other films as I expand out, probably toward lower iso.
As of today I don't know what developing system I will end up using.
While I'm asking.... could you also recommend an inexpensive paper and corresponding chemistry for making contact sheets. Any advice- at least good advice will very much be appreciated. Thanks , Zack

[Ron Marshall]

XTOL, D76 or HC-110 all do a fine job, are cheap and easy to get a good image with.

[jasonjoo]

I just developed a few sheets of Arista.EDU Ultra 100 (which is supposedly Foma 100) in HC-110 dil. 1:50 with very good results. The tones are beautiful and I did not notice anything unusual. The development times are bit a short, but seeing as I really don't know what I'm doing in the darkroom, this is not a huge issue for me. I just agitate the tray for 30 seconds, then for 2 seconds at each 30 second interval.

[Bjorn Nilsson]

Again, Ron's advice is good advice. Do yourself a favour and stay with one developer for quite some time. Once you get to know it, you will find that it serves you well.
You can stay with the Arista line with both the papers and chemicals. What really differs here is the papers. The chemicals are fairly standard regardless of brand. Do start up with a box of Variable Contrast Glossy RC paper and go from there.
Also, most of us would probably expose the Foma 200 at 100 or so.
Once you get started, see to that you develop the film in "exactly" the same way every time. (Same agitation pattern, exactly the same temperature.) If the contrast is too high or too low, change the developing time, nothing else. Then it's easier to find out what is wrong.

What may confuse you from reading all the info on this site is us playing with a lot of variables, trying to squeeze out something extra out of something that is normally very good to begin with. There are often many ways of doing it, but find one way and stick to that until you feel comfortable with what you're doing. Once there, you will be able to shoot a scene and get the print that you expect from it without great effort in the darkroom. If at this time you want to try something new, you are prepared for it. Also, at that time you will know enough to be able to choose paths for yourself given all that info which now puzzels you.

//Björn

[CG]

XTOL, D76 or HC-110 are great - they're pretty much the standards because they are as effective, straightforward and as dependable as are available. Stick with the standards for a while till you start finding your way.

After you get to where you can go through the basic routines in your sleep, should you want a non standard result, you'll be ready to try new stuff, and will be able to see the differences you will get.

C

[BradS]

I love HC-110 but, it is not very kind to Foma 200. I'd stay with D-76 with this film.

[zack kl]

Hi, and thanks to all.
I was settling in on the HC-110 but now wonder in what way it is unkind (nasty, abusive-VIOLENT?) to Foma 200. Any recommendations for fixer- and does one need a hardener for foma, and stop?. ( I want to order all this stuff together and maybe even shoot some film someday)
Have been following jasonjoo's adventures in the darkroom and wonder how he is finding using the tray method for developing 4x5? thanks again, Zack

[zack kl]

Have just been reading the tech. reports on Kodaks site for HC-110 and D-76. Does anybody have dilution and time recommendations for either of these developers with Foma 200 (Arista edu ultra 200) ? Thanks

[Tim Povlick]

Have just been reading the tech. reports on Kodaks site for HC-110 and D-76. Does anybody have dilution and time recommendations for either of these developers with Foma 200 (Arista edu ultra 200) ? Thanks

Hi Zack,

Welcome to the world of LF.

The development times are here:

http://www.foma.cz/Upload/foma/prilohy/F_pan_200_en.pdf

For developer I would give products from Formulatory a very close study. I used Kodak for many years with some good success some not so good. My biggest problem seemed to be when XTOL throws in the towel, it does so without much warning.

D-76 is nice stuff, especially 1:1. I would go this route:
http://www.photoformulary.com/Deskto...x?productID=71

as it's a two part developer and it lets you control contrast depending on the mix. I know it may seem to complicate things early on, but one can always use the normal mix and then step into the fancy stuff after a couple of tries.

I use their BW-2 for Tmax film, very good results and again two part developer so one can adjust contrast. Lucky for me, they have developer for TechPan film, which I have a stock of, and the Yelow K quit making the film and developer (Tekdol). They also have fixer etc you can check out. To blur your vision more, check the technical info page for many choices of developers and other chemicals.

One piece of advice I read out here was to use a water stop bath and not the acid stop. I also run developers in one shot mode, and that makes for consistent results.

Have Fun!

_ .. --
TiM

[jasonjoo]

I love HC-110 but, it is not very kind to Foma 200. I'd stay with D-76 with this film.

Hey Brad, could you please explain a bit more on this? I bought both Arista.EDU Ultra 100 and 400 in 4x5 and have had very pleasant results with the ISO 100 film with HC-110. However, I have to admit that my eye is not trained to see tones/contrast/sharpness and such as keenly as others. But my first few sheets of Arista.EDU Ultra 100 developed in HC-110 turned out great (IMO).

Is there something different with the ISO 200 film? I only have HC-110 as my developer, but I've been looking into WD2D+ for my next developer.

Thanks,

Jason