Fortepan 200 reciprocity

[John Kasaian]

I've got a box of the stuff that I'd like to use up as it is short-dated. This wednesday I might have the opportunity to shoot some nocturnals and I'd like to know if anyone has used Fortepan 200 for night photography and how it would compare, exposure-wise to FP-4+?
Thanks!:)

[David Karp]

Hi John,

I have not used it in a situation where reciprocity failure is an issue, but I have come across this in the past: www.apug.org/forums/forum37/49341-fomapan-reciprocity-failure.html

Lots of information there. Some find that it has poor reciprocity characteristics, others find it not so bad. Some say the data sheets are correct (bad characteristics) others say incorrect. I have not gotten around to experimenting.

Hope this helps.

[uhner]

I recently bought a few packs of the film in 4x5 and 8x10 and did some BTZS testing. I have not done any nighttime photography, but I frequently find myself in reciprocity territory.

I have used the generic compensation for reciprocity effects provided by Phil Davies in Beyond the zone system (p173) and I find that it works quite well, at least up to exposure times of a minute or so. Given that that recommendation is, well, generic - I think that you can use the same exposure compensation you used for fp4 as a starting point.

That said, I’m not sure that Fortepan 200 is well suited for night photography since it builds contrast very fast.

[IanG]

Back in the Spring I tested some Fomapan 200 in my Yashicamat at low light levels, my findings are on page 3 of the link David Karp posted.

The Foma figures are way off and the reciprociy isn't much different to films like FP4.

As far as contrast's concerned some people use it at 80 EI for normal use to rtame the contrast, my own test were 80 EI for normal use and thats what I used for the reciprocity test as well, dev times with both Fomapan 100 & 200 need to be about 2/3 to 3/4 those of other films.

Once you tame the contrast it behaves much like any other film.

Ian

[Drew Wiley]

Fomapan and Fortepan are completely different. Wouldn't recommend either for very
long exposures. Neopan Acros has the best recip characteristics.

[uhner]

I recently bought a few packs of the film in 4x5 and 8x10 and did some BTZS testing. I have not done any nighttime photography, but I frequently find myself in reciprocity territory.

I have used the generic compensation for reciprocity effects provided by Phil Davies in Beyond the zone system (p173) and I find that it works quite well, at least up to exposure times of a minute or so. Given that that recommendation is, well, generic - I think that you can use the same exposure compensation you used for fp4 as a starting point.

That said, I’m not sure that Fortepan 200 is well suited for night photography since it builds contrast very fast.

I managed to mess this up, disregard everything I wrote. The film I tested is not Fortepan 200 but Fomapan 200…

[John Kasaian]

Thanks for the info guys! I think I'll load FP-4+ or TMY for this one. It is rare that I get the chance to practice night photography in the snow so I'll stick with emulsions I know something about and save the Fortepan for more basic stuff.