Fomapan 100

[77seriesiii]

I've been using foma 100 for the past few months and have developed close to 100 sheets all in pyrocat HD in semi-stand, sorry no rotary. I have heard that there are some contrast issues but I have not seen that, at least in the way I am processing. I am still narrowing in on my personal EI, but again at stock 100 and semi-stand, everything seems to come out very nice. I have even shot into the Schwarzwald area and have had initial good luck.

Have also shot and developed the 120 version and cannot get the stuff to lay flat to save my life. No where near as bad as Rollei Retro 100 but still curls. I am trying to figure out if the curling is something I am doing or just the film. So far I have only developed the 120 in HD, I will mix up some ID-11 and rodinal and see what happens.

Overall, love the film and deal with the 120 curling and you cant beat the price.

./e

[Vlad Soare]

I've been using foma 100 for the past few months and have developed close to 100 sheets all in pyrocat HD in semi-stand, sorry no rotary. I have heard that there are some contrast issues but I have not seen that, at least in the way I am processing. I am still narrowing in on my personal EI, but again at stock 100 and semi-stand, everything seems to come out very nice. I have even shot into the Schwarzwald area and have had initial good luck.

Indeed, it responds very well to stand development and shows a strong compensating effect.
Here is an example shot at f/8 for 56 seconds (metered 8 seconds). Despite the high contrast scene, and despite the Schwarzschild effect, the negative was printed on normal grade paper. This is a scan of the print.

Have also shot and developed the 120 version and cannot get the stuff to lay flat to save my life.

That's strange. I have never had any curling problem with it. It dries perfectly flat. I use a 6x7 glassless carrier in my enlarger, and I have absolutely no flatness problem.
I have heard that a few years ago they had a curling problem, and that they solved it by changing the base. But I can't certify that it's true, as I've been using the film for less than two years and had no problems with it. I've never seen an older Foma, and I'm not even sure whether the supposed problem used to affect 120, or 35mm, or both. It's just something I remember having read on the internet some time ago, so take it with a pinch of salt.
Unless you happen to have an old batch of film, I suspect there may be something about the processing or drying stage that causes this curling.

[jb7]

Vlad, that is a very good summary-

I've only used the Fomapan 200,
and would be interested to hear if you've used it yourself,
and if you have any thoughts about the comparison-

Particularly regarding reciprocity and grain-

Thank you-

joseph

[Helcio J Tagliolatto]

Isn't Arista Edu Ultra 100, in sheets, exactly a repacked Foma 100?
I think so, because I got very similar results with both, all pleasant to my taste.
Hélcio

[Vlad Soare]

Joseph, I've only used a few rolls of Fomapan 200, in 120 only. As far as I can tell from this limited experience, it has the same tendency of building up density very quickly, and the grain is noticeably coarser.
I don't know about reciprocity. I haven't tried it.

I've read that the Arista.EDU Ultra is Fomapan, while the plain Arista.EDU was Fortepan. I don't know for sure; we have no Arista here.

[jb7]

Thanks Vlad-
I think I'll be giving the 100 a go...

[gevalia]

Isn't Arista Edu Ultra 100, in sheets, exactly a repacked Foma 100?
I think so, because I got very similar results with both, all pleasant to my taste.
Hélcio

Yes.

[Pete Watkins]

Hi Vlad,
Have you ever dealt with the Foma factory in The Czech Republic.
I'm thinking about it but I really need to know if the service is reliable.
Best wishes,
Pete

[Vlad Soare]

With the factory, no. I'm not that important. I'm just an amateur who uses on average two or three films a month. I buy their products either from the official Romanian dealer, or on-line from Maco, depending on availability.

[Jiri Vasina]

I've tried communication with the factory, and also through a dedicated local shop (when I was thinking about 5x12 camera to find out if they would be willing to provide film), but my tries were unsuccessful. Completely. No answers to direct questions - emails. Declining answers (no it could not be done. it is not possible) through the shop. They had even problems providing Fomapan 200 sheet film (although it's available abroad, they seem extremely reluctant to sell it in the Czech Republic), also imperial sized Fomapan 100 sheets are a bit difficult to obtain (they only sell metric sizes here).

But like Vlad, I'm not that important, just and amateur, so noone interesting to that factory...