Foma 100 in 120.............which developer?

John Wiegerink

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Just a quick question. I just bought several rolls of Foma in 120 since I want to use a “conventional” older style film in my old Kodak Medalist II. My two main developers are Pyrocat HDC (similar to Pyrocat-HD) and Xtol-R. I do have others like Rodinal and D-76, but I prefer using the first two. I'm leaning toward Pyrocat since it seems to tame contrast a little better. Any suggestions?
 

Ian Grant

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Either Pyrocat or Xtol replenished will give excellent results, personally After 16 years of use I prefer Pyrocat HD, as you say HDC is very similar.

Ian
 

GregY

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Pyrocat HD is my standard developer and i've gotten good results w Foma 120....
 
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John Wiegerink

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Ian Grant said:
Either Pyrocat or Xtol replenished will give excellent results, personally After 16 years of use I prefer Pyrocat HD, as you say HDC is very similar.

Ian
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Ian,
I always trust your advice and your knowledge of chemistry, since you have never steered me wrong yet. I'm just thinking Pyrocat HDC would give me what I'm looking for, and it seems to scan like a dream. Wet printing is out of the question at the moment since my darkroom is dismantled and ready to move to my northern Michigan cottage. Scanning is it for now at least.
 

Ian Grant

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John, I mostly wet print, however I find Pyrocat negatives scan as easily as they print, and I've committed to Fomapan 200 for 7x5 and 10x8. Overall I find with Foma and Ilford films Pyrocatb just has a slight edge in terms of easy of printing and scanning.

Ian
 
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John Wiegerink

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Ian,
I find the same thing with my Pyrocat negatives when it comes to scanning. I really like the looks of Foma 200, but I stopped using it in 120 and haven't tried it in 4X5 yet. Foma 200 in 35mm is nice, but I think I prefer Ilford Delta 100 in 35mm. I'm going to run a practice roll of Foma 100 in Pyrocat tonight, and I'll post the results a little later.
 

npl

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Speaking for 35mm, but fomapan 100 @100 in XTOL-R was gorgeous and easy to print.
F100 and rodinal is a popular combo that has a great "classic" look. I like it, but you need a bit of trial and error to find an EI and a developement time that work well.
 

aparat

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I find Fomapan 100 to be a terrific film. I have been using it since the early 1990s, and it has never let me down. It responds to exposure and development really nicely, giving photographers virtually limitless creative choices. Here are some recent curves in a few different developers. I have a few more, but haven't finished the analysis yet. In my experience, ID-11 (or D-76) for that classic look and Pyrocat HD semi-stand for increased acutance and a beautiful tonality.

fomapan100_id68 by Nick Mazur, on Flickr

fomapan100_hc11049 by Nick Mazur, on Flickr

aristaEU100RCombined by Nick Mazur, on Flickr

fomapan100_AdoxRodinal100 by Nick Mazur, on Flickr

fomapan100_hc110N by Nick Mazur, on Flickr

fomapan100_pyrocathd60 by Nick Mazur, on Flickr
 
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John Wiegerink

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Aparat,
I think I'm going to sacrifice two rolls through my Hasselblad first, then develop one in D76 and the other in Pyrocat. I'll shoot the same scenes with two different backs and see which combination I like best. I'll then use that combo in the old Kodak Medalist. Oh, and thanks for all your hard work.
 

Buzz-01

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Personally I'm a big fan of Fomapan 100 in Rodinal for its sharpness (and I do like a good amount of contrast too), but in all honesty I haven't tried any other developers than Rodinal and D-76 with this film and I've never used Pyrocat HD(C) at all. X-Tol would be my second choice probably but I've never tried that combination.

But don't overthink it too much, in your shoes I'd just pick a developer of which I think it would give good results and have a go at it!
That will tell you more than all our opinions all together.
 
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John Wiegerink

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relistan said:
@aparat love how you can always bring the graphs. So helpful!

@John Wiegerink like @aparat I suggest D-76, or XTOL. Both work really well with this film. I have shot a lot of it.
Click to expand...

Well, I couldn't do much shooting since we're experiencing an ice storm right now. I'm going to see if I can get out tomorrow, but who knows? Still going to run one roll in D-76 1+1 and the other in Pyrocat HDC. I have developed Foma 100 35mm in Xtol-R and it seemed fine, but want to give the other two developers a go at it.
 

IMetodiev

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I've had problems taming the contrast on the Foma, so I gravitate towards stand development with Rodinal 1:100
 
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