Anything missing from my survey of 4x5 pan neg films?

[James Venis]

Now that Agfa has discontinued the manufacture of APX100 in 4x5 (confirmed for me by Agfa's John Auer earlier this week), I did a quick survey of the black & white pan films still available in 4x5. I checked B+H, Calumet, and Freestyle. I did not include ortho or reversal films:

- Arista: Arista Pro 125 (25- and 100-count boxes), Arista Pro 400 (25- and 100-count boxes). [Arista products are available in U.S. through Freestyle Photo. They are widely believed to be made by Ilford and equivalent to FP4 and HP5.]

- Bergger: BPF-200 (25-count boxes).

- Forte: Fortepan-200 (25-count boxes), Fortepan-400 (25-count boxes).

- Fujifilm: Neopan Acros-100 Quickload (20-count boxes).

- Ilford: Delta 100 (25- and 100-count boxes), FP4 Plus (25- and 100-count boxes), HP5 Plus (25- and 100-count boxes).

- Kodak: 125PXP (100-count boxes), 100TMX (50-count boxes and ReadyLoads in 20-count boxes), 400TMY (50-count boxes), TP (50-count boxes), 320TXP (25- and 50-count boxes), EKP (100-count boxes).

- Maco/Cachet: Macophot Aura IR820c infrared (25-count boxes), Macophot IR820c infrared (25-count boxes).

- Polaroid: Type 55 P/N (20-count boxes).

Okay, what have I missed? Are there any other panchromatic negative films available to us 4x5 users? --James

[James Driscoll]

1. PXP in sheet film is discontinued as well as Ektapan.....

2.Foma, Gigibit, J and C Classic, Adox, and Efke all available in sizes from 6x9 cm to 20x24 inches at www.jandcphotography.com

[clay harmon]

The Efke films being imported by J and C.

Here:

http://www.jandcphotography.com/

[David A. Goldfarb]

PXP discontinued, but you can stock your freezer at half price here:

http://filmart.com/cgi-bin/filmart/item_list/cat149/Sheet_Film_B_W.html

[John Kasaian]

Ulrafine from Photowarehouse, reputed to be Ilford FP-4(not FP-4+) plus, if you've got a paper trimmer, several Kodak aerial films available on 5" rolls, one being an incarnation of Kodak Panatomic.

[John Kasaian]

Sorry, thats Ultrafine!

[Walter Glover]

Fuji Acros 100 in boxes of 20 sheets and 20 Quick Load for 4x5 and boxes of 20 for 8x10. Available View Camera Store and Badger.

[James Venis]

Thanks so much for your responses! I had a sneaking suspicion that I had overlooked some smaller producers.

I could not verify the availability of Ultrafine, Foma, or ADOX films in 4x5. (I don't know how my post ended up under the "Films, roll" category, which is not what I selected. Sorry for any confusion.) I took another look at Kodak's site, which appears not to be fully up-to-date. And yes, Fuji does package Neopan for use in regular holders--it's just hard to find, and I needed to cast a wider net for suppliers. [By the way, isn't "Gigabitfilm" about the worst--or at least the wierdest--name you could give a film in this period of photographic history?!]

Anyhow, for the record, here's a revised list of 4x5 black & white panchromatic films now in production, as packaged in boxes of ready-cut sheet film. I checked B+H, Calumet, Freestyle, JandC, the View Camera Store, and Photowarehouse. I did not include ortho or reversal films:

BLACK & WHITE PANCHROMATIC NEGATIVE FILMS IN PRODUCTION AS OF NOVEMBER 2003, PACKAGED AS BOXES OF 4X5 SHEETS

- Arista: Arista Pro 125 (25- and 100-count boxes), Arista Pro 400 (25- and 100-count boxes).

- Bergger: BPF-200 (25-count boxes).

- Efke: PL25 (25-count boxes), PL100 (25-count boxes).

- Forte: Fortepan-200 (25-count boxes), Fortepan-400 (25-count boxes).

- Fujifilm: Neopan Acros-100 (20-count boxes and Quickloads in 20-count boxes).

- Gigabitfilm: Gigabitfilm (25-count boxes).

- Ilford: Delta 100 (25- and 100-count boxes), FP4 Plus (25- and 100-count boxes), HP5 Plus (25- and 100-count boxes).

- JandC: JandC Classic 200 (25-count boxes).

- Kodak: 100TMX (50-count boxes and ReadyLoads in 20-count boxes), 400TMY (50-count boxes), TP (50-count boxes), 320TXP (25- and 50-count boxes). [Box quantities may have changed with the recent re-labeling.]

- Maco/Cachet: Macophot Aura IR820c infrared (25-count boxes), Macophot IR820c infrared (25-count boxes).

- Polaroid: Type 55 P/N (20-count boxes).

Anything else? --James

[David A. Goldfarb]

You might want to double check your info from J&C or fotoimpex.de. I recently purchased Efke PL100 from J&C, and it came in 50-sheet boxes in 4x5". Also, there is J&C classic in 400 speed. Maybe some of the films you were looking at were out of stock. You might want to follow the links back to the original websites. J&C Classic and ClassicPan from fotoimpex.de are relabeled Fortepan.

[David F. Stein]

Helpful to show the varied emulsions still available. Another way of looking at it is to identify where sheet film is still being made: Kodak (US), Ilford (UK), Fuji (Japan?), FOMA (Czech Republic), Efke (Croatia) and Forte (Hungary). My guess is that Maco is made at one of the above? Are there any sheet film factories in India or China? As others have mentioned, certain brands are (obviously) made at one of the above and repackaged, like the generics in our grocery or drug stores. There was a plant in East Germany-ORWO-but I don't know if it is still active? Corrections and elaborations welcome? BTW: Fomapan 100 is a superb film and worth a try. CHEERS.......

[John Kasaian]

James, you can verify the availability of the 125 ISO Ultrafine of which I write by emailing www.photowarehouse.biz Its available in 25 and 100 sheet boxes.--cheers!

[David A. Goldfarb]

Maco is a separate company in Germany. I haven't used the film, but their Expo graded enlarging paper is excellent.

Orwo, I think, underwent some reorganization and is producing some films again, but I think only color, and I don't think they make any sheet film.

[Ole Tjugen]

It may interest youu to know that while the production of AGFA APX 100 in 4x5" has been stopped, it is still available in 9x12cm - the European equivalent.

Also: The MACO IR films are not panchromatic - they are insensitive to green. Efke PL25 has severely reduced red sensitivity, barely escaping being classified as Orthochromatic.

[Arne Croell]

Orwo stopped film production already in the early nineties. They cut and repacked film made elsewhere for a while after they stopped making their own, but that was only 35mm and maybe 120.

[tim atherton]

"It may interest youu to know that while the production of AGFA APX 100 in 4x5" has been stopped, it is still available in 9x12cm - the European equivalent."

It may be available for now. But they recently did their last production run of APX 100, includign 4x5. It's still in the system, and available while stocks last, but that's it. Agfa has now said they are ceasing production of all sheet films (they have specified APX100 and RSX, but haven't specifically mentioned Scarla).