Arista EDU Ultra B&W 200

[lfgary]

I am new to large format and saw this film on Freestyle. At almost 50 cents a sheet I am wondering how bad this really is (if it is indeed bad at all). i am getting ready to get in to the field this weekend and start using the camera with a much more expensive film, and thought this might be a more economical way for me to learn. your opinions are highly appreciated.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

It is a perfectly good film. Things to be aware of: it develops and builds contrast very quickly, and it is much slower than rated. I use 50 ISO in both Xtol and D-76.

[BradS]

It is pretty good film but as Jason points out, it is not a true ISO100 film and it builds contrast wickedly fast. I found it nearly impossible to use and gave up after only 100 sheets. I definitely would not recommend starting out with this film - unless you live someplace with very drab lighting. Even if that were the case, I'd still recommend starting with Kodak Tri-X or Kodak TMY-2 or just about anything from Ilford.

Compared to all the time and effort you put into the process, film is cheap. Don't try to pinch pennies too far.

[eddie]

i use foma 100 or arista.edu.ultra (same stuff) and i love it. matter of fact i am listing some kodak stuff for sale so i can buy more foma!

i rate the 100 at 100 and shoot using both silver paper and VDB.

eddie

[David Karp]

I just developed some 5x7 Arista.EDU Ultra 200 for the first time. I am an HP5+ and FP4+ user and very happy with it. I am also very happy with the Arista. The look is very different. It is hard to explain. Perhaps someone who can describe wine would be able to explain the look. I would try it.

[Drew Wiley]

As noted by others, this film is a bit different and builds contrast quickly. Just takes
some getting used; but since you're new to the game, you won't have preconceptions.
And it is slower than the box speed. But quality-wise there's nothing wrong with it at
all. In fact, it's a very handy film when you need a significant build of contrast in the
lower values, something which most "modern" films have a problem with.

[Philippe Grunchec]

The three Foma films (100, 200, 400) are great! I use them in 135, 120, 4x5 and 8x10 (of course not the 400, which doesn't exist in LF) with Pyrocat HD: excellent results, and better QC compared to Efke/Adox stuff.

[IanG]

Another comment, the reciprocity is nowhere nearly as bad as Foma's Data-sheets state.

I did some practical test and found the reciprocity was nothing like as bad as the datasheet. This is what I wrote in a previous post

"At 1 second it only only needed around half a stop (recommendation is 1.5 stops) and at lower light levels 10 seconds it was about a stop (not the 3 stops recommended). These test were made in poor daylight 1 second @ f8 100 EI and very low interior lighting 10 seconds @ f8. These are the conditions the film will be used in.

While the tests were with 120 film I found that the sheet film behaved quite similarly.

Fomapan 100 seems to have very similar reciprocity chracteristics from the two frames I've shot at low light levels so far.

Ian

[kmack]

My first experiences with 5x7 were with the Arista EDU 200 and was very happy with my results in Pyrocat-MC when rotary processed. So far the only film I like better in 5x7 is the Efke PL25.

[Jiri Vasina]

As others have noted, Arista.EDU Ultra (both 100 and 200) are very good films - they are relabeled Fomapan 100 and 200 respectively. Both of them are slower than box speed for most people - I shoot Fomapan 100 @ EI 64 and develop in Rodinal 1:50 for 10:30minutes - and I don't have a problem with excessive contrast - scans well. In fact, it's my most used film - you can have a look here. I have only one (minor) issue with this film - the reciprocity is quite bad - you need to bear this in mind. If you do, then it's no problem at all, it's just not suitable for long night exposures.

Fomapan 200 I shoot at EI 125 and also develop in Rodinal 1:50, the time is shorter, but I don't have my notes at hand (and I only shoot this one in rolls).

Buy it, try it, there are quite a lot of people who like it, chances are you'll too...

Jiri