A WEEK WITH FOMAPAN 400 experimenting with various Rodinal developments. 

ha ha cheers

Thanks Vincent.

I've not tried 4x5 yet Geoff. Not even sure if I have tried it in 120!

Please do, thanks!

I love the Foma paper for printing!

You know I was walking about waiting for Emma to come out of a shop and stumbled across an old mill down a side street. Never knew it was there. It was sitting on private property. A Business.

I just find an angle James. I think we also see someone else's photos as interesting. I do.

Cheers Ken

FX39 is awesome.

Enjoy Martin!

Pushed to 1600! I imagine deep contrast and bigger grain?

@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss exactly, especially bigger grain. You will love it for some types of scenes. Also i think that F400 need to be developed in more contrasty way, because otherwise it will give you ... let say ... dull negatives.

I shot Foma 400@250 and developed it in XTOL and got great results as well. I prefer Kentmere 100 for a cheap-and-cheerful b&w film, but I have no major complaints with Foma film.

Kentmere 100 is s good film also. Not too keen on the 400 though.

I'be not seen it on WEX. Siilverprint seem too be the cheapest I found.

@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss Not heard of them, thanks for the tip

It's hit and miss so when I am shooting I make sure (as well as I can) not to shoot anything decent around the halfway mark. I then cut the leader away and fold the film in half and make the cut. Usually I hit a frame.

I've used the pancro film a number of times. It's nice.

I had same issues with it at the beginning, it seems that using a lower dilution (1:63 or 1:50) would help to control the highlights. If I tray development my film I will be using hc110 at 1:50.

Try HC110 and (semi) stand dev.

I've never noticed that Brian. Something to watch out for!

Yes try another developer away from Rodinal if you don't want the grain.

Link?

I just got a 400’ roll of XX from B&H a few weeks ago, for $293.50. If you unroll 100’ at a time, & get 18.5 rolls per 100’ from your Watson loader, it comes out to $4/36.

@@MrPetermc199 easy to find at online retailers or on Kodak's website. That maybe we should be supporting foma as they are producing all types of analog photographic supplies and the last thing we want is less players in this game.

@@emilyadams3228 how are you liking the xx so far? Sounds like a quality film from what I've seen.

@@davyboyo I only just got it two weeks ago, so haven’t processed any yet. My usual massive research indicates that XX in Rodinal is what I’ve been looking for. I’m running it through two Nikons: a 1964 F at 400, to be developed in Rodinal 1:50/11 minutes, & a 1980 F2 at 1600, in 1:25/16 minutes (it goes to 1/2000, so I can shoot in full daylight, for nightmarish contrast & pregnant snowball grains). There was no way I was gonna buy Cinestill XX @$12/36 when I could chop up 400’s for a third of that, so I jumped head-first into the Ant Nest. It definitely is a quality film. After all, it’s made for professional cinematographers for use on film productions where millions are at stake. They have to know that they’ll nail the shot every time, since they burn it at 90 feet/minute (by contrast, I burn 90 feet in about six months). That’s why it’s not as pushable as Tri-X or HP5, it doesn’t have to be. Need more light? Have the crew set up more lights. Is the shadow side of that girl too dark? Have a grip hold a white card on her. And they don’t even know what reciprocity is, since they work at only one shutter speed, 1/48. Still shooters can use that narrower latitude to make shadows fall off nicely, just like in 1959. Another fun thing: In the last two years, a 400’ of XX has gone from $280 to $293 (B&H) = $73.37/100’, but a 100’ of Tri-X has gone from $100 to $150. And unlike TX, EK hasn’t screwed w/XX. It’s still Pure, Uncut 1959. Apologies for the huge screed. Have a lovely day!

Double the price? Wow, here in Finland they cost almost the same, something like 5 euros/roll for Fomapan and 5.50-6 for Ilford.

@@Murgoh here in Portugal if I buy hp5 in bulk 30,5m cost me between 90€ and 110€ in some places. If i buy a single roll cost between 7€ and 8,50€. In other hand fomapan in bulk 30,5m cost about 60€ and I buy from Germany, I can't find here anywhere. And a single roll 4,80€ in Portugal. It's not the double the price but it's almost there.

Cheers Peds! Hope you and your family are well :)

If that works for you and your development and you don't need the speed Murgoh

I enjoy buying 100ft tins, only the cheaper stuff though.

Wow, yeah it happens. Usually I find with old expired film or occasionally a film that has been loaded from the end of the manufacturers line. They generally flatten over time in your negative sleeve (if that sleeve is compacted eventually by other sleeves) or, put the sleeve in a heavy book for a few days.

No Andy. I chose Rodinal for the video as I notice more people use it with Foma. ID-11 would give less grain I imagine especially at stock! I used it yesterday on a new vlog coming soon.

I've only found Foma troubles with 120. I've got a tin of Kentmere 400. Can't get on with it t all lol

@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss that's interesting. Maybe it's because I shot kentmere exclusively for about 2 years, so got used to it. The only time I prefer the Foma is when pulling it.

Hi Kevin. That video was some months ago and without watching it back myself I don't have the answer. If I shot it at 100 (2 stops over) I would have dropped time off the development. Usually I'd drop 15% per stop so 30% of the MDC time. Or there about. Same with D76. From there you can fine tune your IE and Dev time

@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss Thank you for your reply! Very helpful.

No I didn't try other temps Ingo. I can only imagine a longer development time or higher dilutions.

Never heard of Holga 400 film. I think the Foma 400 can be a bit bloomy in the highlights.

I've had a bottle for well over a year in the past. My experience so far, but from what I've heard from others it can exceed that.

@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss I read various stories on the internet, but at least not the mighty longevity of the past. but nice to know that 1 year and even longer the Adox Rodinal still works. Do you leave the Rodinal in its original packaging? Are you injecting some, like Protecan gas or something? Thank you! 👍

@@nicknick099 No, I just leave it in it's original bottle until its gone.

Hi Harald. I buy it from a UK stockist in tins of 100ft. ORWO UK. BUT...... You can buy it as Lomography Potsdam 100 or Silberra 54UN. Both readily available.

@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss Hello Roger, Thank you very much for your Info. Go on with your Great work. Harald

I think there are many that prefer to shoot it at 320, 250 or 200. You've really got to experiment yourself with your own development and see how it suits you. Rodinal is fine at 1:25. About the best ratio I'd say. 16ml of Rodinal for a 35mm film (400ml soup). 1:50 would be even less at 8ml.

I did a video a few months back Scott on Foma, Kentmere and HP5.

@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss That you did. Silly me.

Hmmmm. Makes sense. I'm gonna have to try that Julien. What about 24 exposures compared to 36? You'd still stand the same. But I wonder if the results would differ because of the surface area. Interesting

@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss yeah I plan on trying that with 1,5 rolls of foma 100 (cheap fo test). Both filled with the same shot of an indoor scene so that the shots are all exposed the same. Then develop 1 of the 36 films fully in 5ml rodinal (for 500ml water). 2nd film I'll shoot just half of it and develop it with same quantities and see how it goes.

I had the same experience with 1h. I tried 40 min with one agitation in the middle and the results were very good. May be you can try next time!

@@michelk5 Thanks, with more experiment in stand dev, I tend to agree with you. The result feels more time related than "film surface to develop" related. My own conclusion is that the slower the box speed of the film is, the shorter the stand development should be.

@@stratocactus ok that's a good point. Did you experience the same with other film brands? Did you try fomapan 400 stand dev in rodinal? I have some 120 format rolls and I wonder if 1h is too much time also with 400 iso film.

I have not Emil. Was it some kind of paracetamol formula ?

@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss its a version of Rodinal made by Tetenal. It have some extended times for most films but in exchange you get huge amount of sharpness and a good speed from the film. Cheers.

@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss definitely not among the most used developers but definitely worth a try

I don't mind Rodinal but not so much for portraits or scapes as you say. I think the love for Rodinal comes from the beginners inquisitiveness to try stand development. Thats how I came across it. And then play with other dilutions. Always a pleasure to read your comments lensman, cheers. I also felt I could have gone to 200 and developed normally.

I can't see they are. If so possibly me still getting used to the Leica MP rangefinder. Can you give me a couple of examples please. Cheers.

@Dane M, I use D-76 on HP5 like this but I'm considering to try the same with Foma. Do you use stock solution or dilute it 1+1?

@john murch Stock, with times provided by the Massive Dev Chart. Good luck!