Film Ferrania - Developments from October 2023 onward

[BAC1967]

Question pertinent to this topic:

What kind of film cassettes is Ferrania currently using? If I buy some P30 from Adorama/B&H/Freestyle/etc. now in the US, are the Ferrania cassettes still the reloadable ones with end caps that are easy to remove? Or have they switched to something else?

They did use reloadable early on but once they got their own cassette machine working that ended. I’m still using some of the early ones I got.

 

[cmacd123]

the Last batch of P30 and ORTO was in a revival of the sort of Cassettes that Ferrana USED to use way back when. formed tin plate removable and resuable caps, with litho printed labeling and DX coding. the film was in typical Ferrania Plastic Cans, like Arista Color film came in. of course, since they are using old equipment, their is no assurance that that will continue.

I recall them saying at the time that reusable cassettes was one of the more frequent requests that they had received.

the Bar Code origin system (who am I ) did not work on the film from that batch.

 

[mshchem]

the Last batch of P30 and ORTO was in a revival of the sort of Cassettes that Ferrana USED to use way back when. formed tin plate removable and resuable caps, with litho printed labeling and DX coding. the film was in typical Ferrania Plastic Cans, like Arista Color film came in. of course, since they are using old equipment, their is no assurance that that will continue.

I recall them saying at the time that reusable cassettes was one of the more frequent requests that they had received.

the Bar Code origin system (who am I ) did not work on the film from that batch.

I would welcome nice reusable cassettes.

 

[dhkirby]

I bought a batch of P30 in December from B and H that's in reusable metal cassettes (same as all the non-alpha P30 I've used). Has that changed?

I also saw a rumor that NEW P30 was slightly higher ISO. I've previously had a lot of success with it shooting at 64 ISO and developing as on their best practices sheet for 80 ISO. Heard the P30 in the redesigned boxes is "closer to 100 iso." Haven't been shipped any in the new boxes. Can anyone confirm? Thanks

 

[Philippe-Georges]

I would welcome nice reusable cassettes.

If you are in disparate need for 135 cassettes, FOMA has them for sale: https://fomaobchod.cz/en/photograph...ded/kazetakovovatyp135plast.doza8ksbal[00017]

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I loved the refillable cartridges that P30 and Orto came in. It would be great if Ferrania continued offering them. In regards to the newer P30, if it has a slightly higher ISO, that good news. Not fond of hand holding at EI 32

 

[loccdor]

From the limited examples I have seen online, P33 looks like a medium-contrast film compared to P30's high contrast. So far I've preferred P30's look more, but might give P33 a try if it is not too expensive. It is kind of in the overlap zone with Double-X though, so I'm questioning if they're different enough to warrant having both. Will be interesting to see the further examples from others, not sure if I will be in the first wave of buyers.

 

[mshchem]

If you are in disparate need for 135 cassettes, FOMA has them for sale: https://fomaobchod.cz/en/photograph...ded/kazetakovovatyp135plast.doza8ksbal[00017]

That's great.

 

[kitspics]

the Bar Code origin system (who am I ) did not work on the film from that batch.

oh interesting, what was the number if you don't mind me asking? I haven't gotten one in a while but from their form it seems like they haven't updated it past about 00007A00

 

[CMoore]

I would welcome nice reusable cassettes.

Was that ever common.?
I am 65 and do not remember seeing that from Kodak or GAF in the usa.
I suppose i might not have realized that they were reloadable, perhaps.?

 

[mshchem]

Was that ever common.?
I am 65 and do not remember seeing that from Kodak or GAF in the usa.
I suppose i might not have realized that they were reloadable, perhaps.?

I think it predated me too. I have some Kodak reloadable cassettes from 50s early 60's. Super XX and Plus X.

 

[CMoore]

I think it predated me too. I have some Kodak reloadable cassettes from 50s early 60's. Super XX and Plus X.

10-4
Thank You

 

[cmacd123]

Was that ever common.?
I am 65 and do not remember seeing that from Kodak or GAF in the usa.
I suppose i might not have realized that they were reloadable, perhaps.?

Ansco was always reloadedable. Kodak started the crimped ends in the mid 1960s in North America, but I did get a few non crimped "grey Market" ones from Kodak Limited in teh early 1970s.

one of the go arounds for starting photographers was that Ansco sold an "easy Loader" with 8 lenths of 20 exp anscochrome, and they sold a package ot 8 empty cassettes to go with it. (when I was selling cameras one poor lad had used one to load some tri-x but just labeled it with DYMO tape. the lab of course ran it through the Anscochrome line with predictable (blank) results.)

Ilford at one time used aluminum cassettes - but in the 1960s switched to the same cassettes used by AGFA, which were simalar to the ones sold by AP for reloading. the older ones have the film slot coming out radially to the cassette, so are not good after the cameras started having a window to show the film type.

Fuji and Konica were also reloadable beofre the advent of DX.

once DX came out almost every brand came out as crimped.

 

[CMoore]

Ansco was always reloadedable. Kodak started the crimped ends in the mid 1960s in North America, but I did get a few non crimped "grey Market" ones from Kodak Limited in teh early 1970s.

one of the go arounds for starting photographers was that Ansco sold an "easy Loader" with 8 lenths of 20 exp anscochrome, and they sold a package ot 8 empty cassettes to go with it. (when I was selling cameras one poor lad had used one to load some tri-x but just labeled it with DYMO tape. the lab of course ran it through the Anscochrome line with predictable (blank) results.)

Ilford at one time used aluminum cassettes - but in the 1960s switched to the same cassettes used by AGFA, which were simalar to the ones sold by AP for reloading. the older ones have the film slot coming out radially to the cassette, so are not good after the cameras started having a window to show the film type.

Fuji and Konica were also reloadable beofre the advent of DX.

once DX came out almost every brand came out as crimped.

Holy Cow...... this info could be a "Sticky" all by itself
Thanks

 

[cmacd123]

Holy Cow...... this info could be a "Sticky" all by itself
Thanks

some of the cruft that lives in my messy brain. I did spend way too much for an eight pack of Anscochrome empty cassettes a few years ago as a collectable. I wonder where I stashed them..

 

[MattKing]

Kodak started the crimped ends in the mid 1960s in North America, but I did get a few non crimped "grey Market" ones from Kodak Limited in teh early 1970s.

Kodak also sold cassettes that were specifically designed for reloading.
This is what the boxes looked like:

These were in a batch of camera equipment given to me recently, and would have probably been from the late 1970s. Three unopened boxes - I opened one to check.
They are as I remember them from that time.

 

[cmacd123]

Kodak also sold cassettes that were specifically designed for reloading.

yes, the "snap cap", one end crimped and one end with a removable cap. before the 1960 era - the Kodak film came with both caps like the removable one on a snap-cap.

Back in those days I was on a tight budget for my Hobby. I don't know if anyone remembers that both AGFA and Ilford sold 17 Meter Bulk rolls. (about 56 feet) and Kodak sold the "402" roll of 50 feet of tri-x or Plus X. I could save my allowance faster to buy one of those, and the ilford was cheaper than the Kodak. I always felt slightly cheated by the crimped cassettes, so I tended to buy Ilford (or if I could find it - Agfa) if I was buying pre-loaded film.

(one of the european photo sellers still shows the 17 meter bulk rolls in europe., I have not seen them for decades in Canada, and I don't know if they would have bothered to sell them in the states.)

 

[loccdor]

Today's the day.

 

[cmacd123]

yes, I got an e-mail from Cine-Still saying P33 is _Back_ in stock...

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

yes, I got an e-mail from Cine-Still saying P33 is _Back_ in stock...

Thanks for the heads up! Just ordered a few rolls.

 

[kitspics]

Just got my rolls, lets see how long stock lasts. It's encouraging that the ferrania store is perpetually out of most stuff, looks like p30 in 135 and orto in 120 is all they can keep in stock

 

[pbromaghin]

These guys have an interesting review of P33 comparing it to Fp4 and Cinestill's Double X:

Ferrania P33 Review: A New B&W Film! - The Darkroom Photo Lab

Featured - Read more about Ferrania P33 Review: A New B&W Film! - The Darkroom photo lab has 40+ yrs of quality film developing & scanning.

thedarkroom.com

I gotta say that, in this test at least, it looks a bit better than my beloved Fp4.

 

[pentaxuser]

These guys have an interesting review of P33 comparing it to Fp4 and Cinestill's Double X:

Ferrania P33 Review: A New B&W Film! - The Darkroom Photo Lab

Featured - Read more about Ferrania P33 Review: A New B&W Film! - The Darkroom photo lab has 40+ yrs of quality film developing & scanning.

thedarkroom.com

I gotta say that, in this test at least, it looks a bit better than my beloved Fp4.

Thanks for the link I thought it looked better than Cinestill in all of the shots with the exception of the nearly full portrait of the lady where the extra contrast of Cinestill just shaded it for me. It was harder to decide between P33 and FP4 but P33 is clearly more orthopanchromatic than the FP4 based on the red filter shot but that may just be my taste as the sky looked better to me in the P33 as I prefer a darker sky

There are not comparable prices in the U.K. as far as I know but at $11.99 and translated into GBP I suspect it will be more expensive than FP4

However importation from Italy to the U.K. as opposed to Italy to the U.S. may bring the price differential down

That leaves the question: Is P33 a genuine 160? If it isn't then the real speed difference may be almost negligible for all practical purposes

pentaxuser

 

[pbromaghin]

Thanks for the link I thought it looked better than Cinestill in all of the shots with the exception of the nearly full portrait of the lady where the extra contrast of Cinestill just shaded it for me. It was harder to decide between P33 and FP4 but P33 is clearly more orthopanchromatic than the FP4 based on the red filter shot but that may just be my taste as the sky looked better to me in the P33 as I prefer a darker sky

There are not comparable prices in the U.K. as far as I know but at $11.99 and translated into GBP I suspect it will be more expensive than FP4

However importation from Italy to the U.K. as opposed to Italy to the U.S. may bring the price differential down

That leaves the question: Is P33 a genuine 160? If it isn't then the real speed difference may be almost negligible for all practical purposes

pentaxuser

That P33 red filter pic really shows the sky the way I like it.

In the US, at Freestyle, Fp4 rolls are $9.49 and P33 is $11.99. 100ft Fp4 comes out to under $7. I bulk roll so that $5 difference makes it hard for me to go with P33.

 

[loccdor]

Interesting comparison to Double-X and FP4+, they are quite close and I like all of the films. However the Ferrania is more expensive and that may be the factor between films that look quite similar.

On the other hand, I don't see anything as being very similar to P30, and I am hooked on that in stand development at box speed.