Foma 120 and rodinal

[rmolson]

Foma film

Just finished shooting up a roll of Foma 100 in the calumet rollback for my Busch 4x5’ Processed in Rodinal 1:50 The sharpness blew me away. Now I remember why I loved those old Raptars on our Speed Graphics! We would describe sharpness as so sharp you could cut your self on it . The only thing about Foma is besides the glue on the sealing wrapper which sucks, is the tendency of roll film to walk off the reel if the lead edge is not secured by the clamp in the center of the reel It has happened twice. I open the lid of the tank to check fixing and the film is all lined against the side of the tank. Perfectly developed and fixed no mottle or uneven development just not in the reel. Only film I have ever had that happen with. Guess I’ll have to start anchoring the film in the center of the reel..

 

[brianmquinn]

I agree, in Rodinal it is super sharp but has high grain. In stock Xtol the grain is low but the sharpness is much less. Unless you have tried this yourself you do not know how dramatic the difference is. You can get fine grain or high sharpness by choosing Xtol or R09 or etc.... TRY IT!!!!

 

[Rick A]

I like to use either Rodinal 1+50 or Pyrocat-HD depending on subject matter. They both print exceptionally well with the edge going to Pyro.

 

[georg16nik]

Man, Rodinal and Xtol are different beasts...
Pyrocat-HD and Rodinal share some character similarities, although the Pyro stains the negative a bit, so it might eat a slice of the effective printing density..
IMHO, for slow/medium speed emulsions.., I would dare say that Tetenal Neofin Blue completely murders Rodinal in many regards.
I am talking from experience in the 135 format, so 120 should be ok
There have been so many versions of Rodinal over the years, that it is even not funny All of them works., but its real identity was, somehow lost in transition...
Tetenal Neofin Blue has been pretty much the same product over the years and at least in Europe, Tetenal has always been the wizard perfectionist.

 

[brianmquinn]

When people try out XYZ film they often test only a roll or two. They also usually only use one developer. Then they say, “I don’t like XYZ film”. My point is to get to know a film you have to shoot several rolls under different lighting conditions, with different subjects and with different developers to really know where it works for you. So if you tried Fomapan and did not like the grain try Xtol. If you love sharpness and I do for SOME but not ALL subjects try Rodinal.