Cheap but worth it? Fomapan 400 Review (Black and White) 

I love that picture of the dude with the record. Nice work man.

Hey man GREAT review.You did a super job and I walked away very informed. Keep up the good work.

Wow, I do like your videos, great content, moves quickly through without missing "points" and shows examples. Yes I shoot Fomapan in 35, 120 and 4x5. Not a total lover of the 400 more an iso 100 @ iso 50/80 person and have a few nice images made using an R72 with 120 film. Love what you are doing keep up the great work

Really good review. I purchased this film while traveling and just haven't got around to using it yet. I def will be soon.

Big fan of Foma 400 and Foma 100. Being shooting Foma 400 a lot for my ongoing 52-Roll project. Usually, I rate it between 320 and 200 but have shot it at 400. At the full box speed, I usually develop in DD-X/TMax Developer also Acufine and Atomal 49 with excellent results. Great review of this excellent film that gives a great 1970s Tri-X look.

Great video man. Just listened to the pod w/ Chris and heard your interest in the economic side of US/Kodak and Japan/Fuji imports. Studying international trade law & it was a MASSIVE deal back in 1998. Interestingly the WTO’s first big case as Kodak/the US were unhappy about their access to Japan’s market (protecting Fuji) interesting stuff...

Blue Note vinyl! A bonus in a very informative video. Thanks.

Thanks for the review! I'm going to try a roll in my FM2n next week; there's a great camera shop near me that sells it.

Thanks for your insight. I love the look of the Fomapan films for many shots, but have never tried the 400 at 200. Definitely need to give that a go because I like what I see in your comparison. Thanks!

Hey Ribsy! Could you do a video on the differences between Foma 100 - 200 - 400?

love the results here, especially the portrait with the record

Was my very first roll of film. I am not much a B&W guy but I agree, I liked how highlights kind of glow with some over exposure and the grain is very nice to look at

Great video. I bought some fomapan, but haven't shot it yet. Now I'm really anxious to try it.

Great review man. Love me some Foma film 🔥

Great review been looking at this film for a while results look great better go and order some and give it a shot 👍🏻📷

Good review, I’m picking up a 10pack today to try it out!

Great review Ribsy. I love shooting with Fomapan 400 because it reminds me of 1970s vintge Kodak Tri-X 400. My sweet spot with Foma 400, is exposing it around 200-250 ISO and processing in HC110 Dilution B. Now, you can shoot closer to 400 if you process in Tmax or Iflotec DDX. developer. I would call a character film, you want to have an old school look Fomapan 400 is your jam, you want perfection, grab Tmax 400 or Ilford Delta 400. I have 200' in my fridge which should say it all.

Great video mate. I've just been introduced to this film, hoping to pick up a few rolls today, Love the portraits!

Hi Risby, I fell in love with Fomapan but unlike what I've seen from a lot of people, I like it for its distinctive look, which I have not seen in your pictures. It's a look that has a vintage feel to it and where the grey is more prominent. Now, every once in a while my shots will come out like looking any other B&W shots, i.e. with quite a bit of contrast where the black or white really stand out, but for the most part I am "able" to achieve a look that I have come to associate with this film and love it for.

Gotta love that Blue Note label. But I feel bad for the record being out in those conditions. Great photos!

Nice, will def try this film

The Lomography Lady Grey is rebranded Fomapan 400, which I found interesting. I'm glad you did an in-depth video on the Foma! On another note, I never really found those darker shadows, which was a bit disappointing. No matter, it's a fun stock to shoot.

Never tried Foma 400, but I do like both their 100 & 200 films, having seen your examples I think I'll give it ago in 120! (I’ll give your podcast a listen too)

I'll probably never use that film, but props on those prints, they look tough homie!

love the biggie in the background.. fomapan is fine for pushing and pulling as well, certainly for it's price it gives stunning results. nice video, thanks

Currently shooting a roll of this, and considering the things I've shot so far the look I'm seeing here is good news. It means I am going to get the look I am after. The price btw is awesome!

Hi Rib, Love the channel. Its refreshing to hear a blogger actually say they make mistakes! Hit me with a B/W film to try plz. I usually shoot 120 Rollei 400s, delta, Panncro etc..so a lot of the usual stuff.

Interesting that you mention that bloom. I have just put a roll of Fomapan 400 through a freshly serviced camera using an uncoated lens, which tend to flare anyway and I noticed what I can only describe as a flare on a few frames but not others, I was beginning to wonder if the camera had a light leak!

This highlights “blooming “ is interesting. Maybe do a follow up video focusing on developing times and see how this is affected. As highlights are controlled by development time mostly, it would be great to understand how to control this effect. I guess it could be something to do with the emulsion but that would show up on the “test” if it is still present despite say, reducing development time by30%. Anyway thanks for the content

Love this film with rodinal, the grain is just unique and dense

I use the 100/120 on my Rolleiflex for 2 reasons: it's cheap and good. But it's also somewhat ordinary: the base is weird, curls more than curly hair, and is also somewhat foggy (the film is new, not expired). By curling so much it sometimes risk sccratching itself. The emulsion has one or another dot/defect here or there. Before developing you better do at least three pre soaks or your developer will get an interesting color cast :) BUT it develops well, prints well, I liked the results! I they cared a bit more on quality control and base characteristics, this would be an amazing film. I liked it and will use it more, but not for serious work. It seems you didn't faced these problems with the 35, which is great. I'm gonna try it on this size. Thanks!

I thought I had just finished my first roll of Fomapan 400 last week when I discovered that the film had not advanced in the camera. So I took it out of the camera after a very short rewind and managed to pull the film tab out of the canister with a trick that I found here on RU-vid. So the film is now waiting on the shelf to be loaded in a camera for the second time. 🎉

I love Foma film. I shoot the rebranded version called Arista EDU. It has an old fashioned look that I like. The only problem with the film that it has poor reciprocity. Any exposure over a few seconds you have to compensate the exposure time. It's great processed with HC-110 semi-stand development 1:100 for 1 hour. I agitate for the first minute, let it stand for 30 minutes, agitate for 30 seconds then finish the development for 30 minutes. It also helps to develop the shadows when the film is shot at box speed.

Great review! AFAIK Foma 400 and 100 are old formulas, that's why the highlights have that glow. I recommend you giving Foma 200 a try as it's a modern T-grain emulsion and has a lovely yet sharp look to it.

Really like how you tested both 120 and 35mm

My daily film. I got all the Foma range in my fridge. FOMA 100 is the most interesting for me. But others are great too when light is not great. I expose it with Sunny 16 rules and (semi) stand develop it. Nice results. But i don't have the same gloomy effect on my pictures. Even in snowy condition with very hard light reflecting its good. When i use My XA, i overexpose a little bit. For example i use Foma100 at 80.

the real gem is Foma paper. it's that rare case where you pay less and get more. really good paper with rich and dark black.

I love the way it looks! Going to order some rn

I shot Foma 100 for a while in medium and large format 4x5 and 8x10 by its cheap. I found the medium format had flaws in the emulsion that turned me off. Nice grain if you like that. Some images demand it. In large format you tend to have long exposure times when shooting small apertures. The reciprocity was crazy long. It wasn't hard to get to minutes. I found it contrasty as well but I think that can be controlled with honing the development. Great films for a budget. Gives an older look which his cool.

Fomapan is one of my favourite film stocks . I tend to overexpose them one stop and underdevelop them. Especially the 100 iso one gives amazing results at 50 and the 200 looks great at 125. Develop with Xtol or Atomal 49. Amazing films.

ohhhhh man.....FOMA FOREVER. I know a lot of people love this ir that ilford or bla bla bla, but to be honest, Foma was the reason i started to fall in love with the whole analoge process. I live in Oslo, Norway, and there is a person here who imports Foma products. I bought 3 bulks and it was amazing. I think 100 holds better the push/pull than the 400. Right now, the project of my new 5x7 is taking shape...and foma of course is there. Now the part with experimenting with old barrel lenses will take away it all...but i havent tried yet the 200, which, its supposed to hold better the push specially, than the rest. also, i have developed the foma 100 with kodak hc-110 Dil. B....and if the light was stronger (norwegian spring and summer) i liked better the roughness. But also tried foma 100 at 200, with rodinal 1+50 for 21,5 minutes....way smoother. keep up the great work!!! a big hug.

Because of the price, it is a film stock I always use as a first film when I test a new camera that could be defect (shutter times, light leaks etc.). At the moment I use one in my new Zenit Horizont Panorama camera... and I already had to open the back after the film got stuck.. But this use is more kind of a ritual (new camera -> fomapan 400), and as you also say, it is a pretty good film!

Enjoyed your video but I have to disagree on Foma films. I just finished a 100ft roll of 35mm Fomapan 400. It was absolutely the worst film I ever used. It is rated at 400 but is closer to 200 (if that). I feel the images are muddy and have no "pop" to them. I fired up my darkroom after years of non-use and was looking forward to having fun again taking and developing my own B & W prints in both 35mm and 4x5. Boy, for months I was so frustrated with Fomapan 400. My negatives were either under or overexposed. Plus, the film dried spotty and scratched very easily. Thankfully, I finally ran out of the 100ft roll and decided to try Kentmere 400. It was a very pleasant revelation. The negatives were so much better. Better latitude and better grain. The results are consistently good, unlike Fomapan 400. Kentmere 400 really isn't too far off the gold standard of Tri-X but around half the price or less. The fun was back in photography. I am still shooting Fomapan 200 in 4x5, but again the firm LIED (no other word to use) about the film speed. It is 100 on a good day. It is about 1/3 or 1/2 the price of other 4x5 films so it fits my budget, but I sure wish Kentmere made 4x5 film!

Enjoyed this. Someone told m me they could develop as a C41, but I'm guessing that's not the case. I would be interested to know what the outlay would be for chemicals.etc to process and develop this. Loving the channel no thanks for your hard work.

The blooming is a bit much for me in 135, but I love Foma films in 120. Great classic look for an affordable price. The 400 also pushes to 800 easily, even in something like Rodinal.

Even Foma's own Tech info doesn't give the film more than 200-300 ASA. It is worth some experimentation to see what speed works in your soup. At the moment I am using Fomadon LQN/Ilfosol. So clips at 8 and 9 min at 20C. I thought the film was much like Agfapan APX400S as I finished a can of the Agfapan and shot some Foma 400. Grainy in Rodinal of course, but so was the Agfa. I think the star of Foma's offerings is Fomapan 200. It is the one Foma offering I bought a bulk roll of in 35mm Speed is 100-160 ASA. The big pain is Foma's poor reciprocity performance, more relevant if you plan shooting large format or cityscapes at night. In a perfect world I would have loaders full of Kodak T Max 100 and 400, but that ain't happening with Kodak's crazy prices.

I love this film

Haven’t used the 35mm but 120 iso 100 and like it. Think 🤔 I need to get some bulk, I have bulk Kentmere 400 at the moment which is good too.

I like this film and use it a lot. Being less expensive than other films I find myself taking more shots and having more fun. When I'm shooting a £15 a roll film, I'm more reserved as I don't want to 'waste' a frame. Weird? Yes I know...

While I just love Fomapan 100 for it's "classic look" I was very disappointed with Fomapan 400. Massive grain, low shadow detail while exposed at box speed, random artifacts on emulsion... I used it mostly for checking the cameras after repair, because I bought 17m roll for a bargain price. I'm more camera collector and weekend camera-repair-tech than a photographer. Thanks for this video, maybe I'll give Fomapan 400 a second look.

I just discovered your channel. I am an old fart and have been shooting film pictures since the '60s, printing, and processing B&W film since the '70s, and color since the mid '80s. I've seen a lot of changes. At one time I owned a Custom Photo Lab and also did the minilab work (machine processing & printing that was so popular in the early and mid '90s). Thank you so very much for this channel. I know you have probably mentioned it in previous or even subsequent videos, but what does your darkroom look like, and what chemicals have the most duplicatable results these days? (I have fresh batteries in all 8 of my 35MM cameras, and I'm shooting film pictures again.) Thank you, Thank you Thank you!

If you’re not looking for a sharp image regarding grain and cleanliness I think it’s a good film. I shoot lots of it. Very cost effective for those starting out in film. Personally like the look of 200 .

What developer did you use? I love it and use it together with Agfaphoto 400. Both are quite cheap in EU.

Have you ever tried the Italian Ferrania P30 film? is the same used for the movies of the 50's italian "neorealismo" ....magical

What camera did you use for the medium format portraits in the beginning?

I love foma 100 more then 400, there are definitely better films like delta 100 but as the price is almost half for double the amount of film (4x5) in a box you get from foma, I mostly shoot that. I also use it as a summer film as it does not push well at all, its also cheaper than buying individual rolls and bulk loading it as you said

Hey Ribsy I shoot foma 400 a lot, I don't know where you developed your foma in but Foma 400 really shines if you develop it in Fomadon LQN developer.

I'm curios about that roll of Street Candy. Have you tried it yet and how grainy it is and does it preform well when pushed or pulled.

Thanks for doing some prints Ribsy, really helpful to gain a preview of how the Foampan should render when printing. In this video you talk about bulk loading and reference Foampan and Ilford, can you do a video on "Bulk Loading"? #Londonlovesyou

Foma is rebranded from a few people I think -- Arista and there is a Holga 400 film which is essentially this as well .. they can be had for pretty cheap in 120 at the moment from B&H

I love that film, as much as Ilford HP5. I shoot with a 6x6 Yashica, and with a Rodinal developpement + Vuescan + Lightroom, my pictures are very nice. Great possibilities for exposition, you can use Sunny 16 without issues ! I had a bad experience at the beggining when I used Cinestill DF96 developper: the skies where almost always weird and unnatural. No problem on the other hand with HP5, so the problem was with the Foma. Otherwise, I will go away with it, but I will try for example Bergger or Washi films, which are quite inexpensive. Kodak? Never ! Their films are outrageously expensive for a non-professionnal use ! All the best from France.

I've only used foma retropan 400... It has visible grain... But that's not really a big problem... I've developed it with Ilford ilfosol 3... And rated it at iso 100... But still it came out very low in contrast... Anyway I made only one print and it looks okay... I guess it's a matter of taste... And maybe with a different developer I would get different grain...

Fomapan 400 has a bit less red sensitivity, and a bit more halation, than the other 400 speed B&W films. It works nicely for portraits with a variety of skin tones! I think you used the film really well.

Hi Thanks for this I'm keen to have a go a developing this but feel daunted by the process. Could I use cinsestill monobath, or does it have some pitfalls? Thanks for all your hard work and I'm looking the podcasts.

How do you digitise your photos for your RU-vid videos and instagram? Do you scan the prints or the negative? Thanks Caula

The “blooming” is halation.

I use foma 400 as it's the cheapest you can buy. I think if you don't pixel peep it's a brilliant film. I have it on 4x5 too and it gets even better

How did you develop the film ? I have a roll of 120 freshly shot and I’m trying to figure if I use my hd110-id11 or rodinal?

I want to like this film. Been using it for a while across all formats from 35mm to 5x4. Unfortunately it's inconsistent. In 120 I've had the backing paper show up in the emulsion. Also white specular artifacts. That goes for the 100/200/400 . It's inexpensive when compared to other brands, but based on my experience, I can't recommend it.

I love Foma. Unfortunately it cost the same as Kodak in Canada (Vancouver at least). I was just browsing online to see if any local stores carry it, and no.

Never shot stills with it. Did a ton of movies though. 8mm

What developer have you used for the film? I´ve been shooting Ilford films for many years because I remember the images from Fomapan weren´t good. That´s why I switched years ago. However, I´ve recently done some testing of Fomapan 400 and the results are ok. Seems like the quality improved. Now, I just have to find how to work properly with the film to be satisfied.

I jst took up shooting film agian, after a 20 year break. Used to be a die hard Tri-X and Agfapan 100 user, but today I find Foma 400 and 100 just as good. Speaking about the quality of BW film is mostly very subjective, as nearly any problem can be solved, with proper development and printing, according to the chosen film speed. Is Foma 400 generally more grainy than Tri-X, maybe a bit, but in Atomal 49 it's less grainy than Tri-X in D76.

Hmm man.. i don't know. Not the best shadows and funky highlights. i wouldn't recommend this one for learning photography. You making something of this shows your skils.. Keep up the good work!

This is the same film as Arista Edu 400 from Freestyle, it's pretty good.

Your ez classic 😂🙌

I hated the first roll I shot in 35mm - but in 120 it's not bad. €3.70 per roll vs ~€5.50 for HP5? No brainer for casual shooting.

I'm testing this one on hard mode. 1916-ish Brownie.

Have you noticed that Fomapan 400 produces very thin negatives? In my experience, this seems to be worse on building-loaded film vs film in cassettes from the factory. Shooting bulk Fomapan at 200 helped, but not much.

Hey Ribsy! I'm new to film photography and i have a technical question. Let's say I want to take a picture iso200 - F4 and 1/50s however i need a faster shutter and don't want to decrease my aperature. Could I increase my iso to 400 and shutter to 1/100s at F4 ? Exposure should be equal but would the result be the same ? Thanks ! Great vid btw.

What I like the most is the halation it shows! Sort of Cinestill in BW!

I like the look of fomapan but you have to be really careful when handling it as the emulsion side is subjective to scratches.

How do you find the grain on 120 compared to 35mm?

would be good to see a comparison to HP5 vs Tri X 400 vs kenmore vs FOMA 400 - i read there’ lot less silver in this film compared to other say HP5, i get mix results using this film, where on HP5 its more consistent.

It's a good film. Just don't expect it to actually be a 400 iso film. Pulled to 250 in XTOL-r, it has really nice tonality, sharp enough, tight grain. Grain isn't great in Ilfotec hc and is God awful in Rodinal, even in 120. I buy it in bulk just like with foma 200. Not sure why the 400 only comes in 50ft rolls though.

Foma is definitely a film for having fun with.

If I overexpose a stop to iso 200. Should I tell the developer that I did it and develop the film at iso 200?

Check out Matt Osborne, he does fantastic portraits with this film.

2oo ISO foma pan is even more grungy .Enjoy .

120mm film pushed to 800 ASA?

try 100 in hc-110

Yeah, in my experience, all Foma films are over rated at their box speeds. Highlights are OK, shadows are dark and mushy. I like Foma 400 at 200 and developed a little less; better shadows, less grain. Same for the lower speed Foma films. One stop less speed and gentler, shorter development.

coffee

Is your film really just respooled and repackaged formapan? Or is it Owo film? There aren't many actual producers of film out there but a lot of rebranders. So, it would be interesting who manufactures your film.

I don't like how muddy the Foma is. You can name it as "look" of this film, but for me it's just lack of sharpness and details.

The b&w shots are over exposed and out of focus technically these photographs are not up to standard