fschifano said:3: Arista.EDU - Made in Hungary. Most likely rebadged Forte films.
4: Arista.EDU Ultra - Manufactured in Czech Republic. Reported to be rebadged Foma films.
fschifano said:1: Arista Professional - These are most likely what's left of their rebranded Ilford films. All of them by now must be either short dated or past expiration.
LKT said:Thank you all for your prompt and informative replies.
The reason I brought up this topic is that in my part of the world (Hong Kong) B/W film and paper are getting increasingly difficult to get. Since I plan to travel to LA later this year, I thought I might get a big lot of film and paper. Arista is very attractive in terms of price, and I am glad to hear that the quality is also good. I shoot mostly 120 roll film nowadays (6x12), blowing up to 16x20 max. So grain is not a big issue. But contrast and gradation are.
I do plan to do some tests before I commit myself to a big order, but I should just like to know from the group their experience with the 2 films. How does Foma compare with Forte?
Also, what about Arista paper. I have been using Ilford Multigrade exclusively all these years. How does Foma or Forte papers compare with Ilford?
I can of course ask Freestyle, but their reply will hardly be objective.
Thanks again for your help.
Ka Tai
I do all my printing on the Arista.edu and J&C classic Forte paper. I use both the warm and neutral tone papers. I absolutely love both, but they do have a bit fussier character than Ilford. I find that the neutral Forte needs a light selenium tone or I don't like the color. It tends toward a green/blue cast. You have to be careful with the selenium, however, if you are not looking for a strong eggplant tone, since it takes the toner very readily. The warm paper comes in an ivory base or white, I only use the white. It also tones very well in selenium but does not seem to need it as badly in my experience. Both tend to have a yellow base until they are thoroughly washed, but in my experience it washes out well.LKT said:Also, what about Arista paper. I have been using Ilford Multigrade exclusively all these years. How does Foma or Forte papers compare with Ilford?
Paul Sorensen said:I have used only the RC Foma paper (Arista.edu ultra) and it was really flat. I couldn't get enough contrast no matter what I did. I gave up on it and have not tried the fiber paper. Hopefully someone else has some better experiences than I do.
Donald Qualls said:I've had no trouble getting enough, even too much contrast with this paper.
Well, whatever it is, t-grain or not, it's excellent film. I think we may be talking about two different films though- perhaps Foma makes T200 and Fomapan 200, as distinct emulsions. I scanned through their website and can find no mention of T200, only Fomapan Creative 200, and no mention in their literature of t-grain technology in the film. It's very confusing.
I have used only the RC Foma paper (Arista.edu ultra) and it was really flat. I couldn't get enough contrast no matter what I did. I gave up on it and have not tried the fiber paper. Hopefully someone else has some better experiences than I do.
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