Any preference between Fomapan 100 and Fomapan 200?

[Gene McCluney]

Just wondering which of these two films many of you prefer in sheet film sizes?
This question would also include the Freestyle "ARISTA" brand of the same films.

[IanG]

I've just bought both, 20 rolls of each in 120 and a couple of boxes of the 200 in 5x4.

Couldn't find a review and comparison of these films anywhere.

Ian

[Gene McCluney]

So far, for me, I have found that Fomapan 200 really needs to be rated at ISO 100, or a little less to get the shadow detail I want. I wonder if the Fomapan 100 is more true to published ISO?

[Scott Whitford]

My experience with the Arista brand of Fomapan 100 is similar. Even if I rate it at 50, I need to place shadows at zone IV to preserve detail. This is for 4x5 sheets developed in Pyrocat M 1+1+100 with rotary development. If I were relying on a simple incident reading or in-camera meter, I would rate the film at 25 to be safe.

Scott

[j.e.simmons]

My BTZS tests show an EFS of 86 with an SBR 7 (N) negative for the Arista/Foma 200 film. I have not tried the 100, but I think the difference is that the 200 is a more modern, perhaps T-grain film. I find that it develops very, very quickly in Pyrocat. I haven't yet decided whether to accept the short times, or to dilute the developer more.
juan

[Scott Davis]

I've put a lot of the Arista.EDU Ultra 200 through my 5x7- maybe 150+ sheets now. It is best shot at 100, as Gene noted above. It is definitely NOT a T-grain film. It processes wonderfully in Pyrocat - I do mine in a Jobo Expert drum 1:1:100, for 12 mins @ 75F (75 is about the coldest I can get my water in the summertime, and the coldest I can get the heater in my CPA2 to stay in the winter). This yields good negatives for Pt/Pd printing. If my goal were a grade 2 print on silver paper, I'd cut the dev time back to around 9 - 9 1/2 mins.

[Walter Foscari]

In 4x5 I rate fomapan 100 @ 64 and the 200 @ 125.
Develop in pyrocat - jobo expert drum for 81/2 min the 100 and 71/2 the 200 both at 20C, this for silver printing or scanning.
Fine films both of them. Only drawback I've found the 100 is prone to uneven dev. unless I invert the rotation occasionally during the process (I roll the drum on a uniroller base that rotates one way only)

[IanG]

Walter, are you using Pyrocat at 1:1:100, I ask because your times seem shorter than I'd expect.

[Gene McCluney]

Only drawback I've found the 100 is prone to uneven dev. unless I invert the rotation occasionally during the process (I roll the drum on a uniroller base that rotates one way only)

Interesting. I have found the Fomapan 200 to be prone to uneven developing, so it seems both are prone to this problem.

[Walter Foscari]

Yep, pyrocat at 1:1:100. I don't find the times too short (rotary process), originally I was using longer times and the contrast was way too high.
As far as problems with uneven dev I guess I was spoilt by years of FP4+, which as you know is harder to screw-up than get it right.

[Jiri Vasina]

There is and interesting thread about Fomapan 200 over at APUG (http://www.apug.org/forums/forum37/40375-foma-t200.html) - especially post #39 from Roger Hicks regarding the film being T-grain. I've not used that film (yet), because here in the Czech Republic - the country of its production - it's not available in sheet form, only in rolls. And yes, it's speed is claimed by most to be around 100-125.

When using Fomapan 100, I rate it at 80, but have yet to do my precise testing.

[IanG]

Jiri, Fomafoto (http://www.fomafoto.com/) in Norway are European distributors and carry various sheet film sizes, as do Fotoimpex in Berlin & Silverprint in London.

All three companies will ship worldwide, and most definitely to the Czech Republic.

[Jiri Vasina]

Ian, that would be very funny (and expensive) for me to order from Norway - the film would have to be shipped from the Czech Republic to Norway and then back again. And the same with Fotoimpex and Silverprint. No way :)

If I decide I really need to try the 200 variant in sheets, I'll try contacting the factory by email/phone and arranging it this way. It may work; although as I have emailed them twice in the past and got no reply, it might turn the other way too... (I was asking about the availability of inch-sized Foma 100 here in CZ, as they offer only metric variants)