Foma films in 135 format are fun until you make 30x40cm (11" x 15") size enlargements and find out how scratched the negatives really are. No other film has this level scratching problems..
I have not seen this issue - and my favorite printing paper is 30x40cm. Are you using Fomapan from 17m/30m rolls?
99% of scratching issues on films are end user handling error - which is one of the reasons Ilford etc have gone to much stronger hardening for their BW materials.
I have made 20/16 exhibition prints from Fomapan 200 and 400, not recently, and no scratches or other problems, this from 35mm negatives,
Yes. I've had the scratches on pre-rolled films and on sheet films too. Actually not that much on 120 if I recall!
Of course those are user caused scratches. But somehow other films doesn't have scratches at all. Makes me wonder. I'm very careful with films, no squeegee, no any kind of touching on wet emulsion etc. I know I have caused the scratches (or many of my cameras) but still .. it is just ridicilous.
When making 30x40 enlargements the scratches dont need to be even big ones. Just those "hair" scratches which you can see only by examining carefully.
I've been using the Foma 200 (as sold by Freestyle under the Arista.EDU Ultra label) in large format. Of course, in 5x7 or bigger, grain is a non-issue. I process the Fomapan 200 in Pyrocat HD 1:1:100, 8 minutes at 75F (23.8C) and expose it at ISO 100. All of the Fomapan films are borderline orthochromatic - they're marginally sensitive in the red portion of the spectrum, so throwing a red filter on them will seriously affect your exposure compensation. Foma makes(made?) a T-grain 200 speed film but it had a distinct name - I think it was T200 Creative or somesuch. From what I've seen of the 400, if you like grain, you'll love it. If you don't like grain, you'll hate it.
I too have had a lot of scratch problems with the 400. Last three rolls all had a long scratch/serpentine line going almost all the film length along the emulsion side. All were shot on different cameras. Last time I developed it I made sure the film did not touch anything while loading to dev reel etc, still it had such line. Interestingly, I tried re-washing the negatives carefully between my fingers and managed to rub the scratch/line away from 90% of the frames
they had two different films - one a semi-T-Grain film, one a traditional grain film. Fomapan 200/Arista.EDU Ultra 200 are the non-T-grain film.T200 and Fomapan 200 are one & the same.
From the Foma site:they had two different films - one a semi-T-Grain film, one a traditional grain film. Fomapan 200/Arista.EDU Ultra 200 are the non-T-grain film.
What you're describing is not dissimilar to what you'll often see on even well processed professional films from the 1950s/ 60s from Kodak, Ilford etc when subjected to high quality scanning - I think the problem is that different people have very variable qualitative definitions - and what someone who grew up with a generation of films susceptible to marking might regard as acceptable may be rather different from those of us who started with the current highly hardened films from Ilford etc. ... .
From the Foma site:
“It is the film of new generation, making full use of outstanding properties of hexagonal core/shell tabular silver halide grains.”
Same with Ilfords Delta, which is really flattish triangular grain with epitaxial crystals on the vertices.
It hasn't changed over the years in fundamental structure - it's still a high aspect ratio grain structure made by controlled crystal growth methods - indeed Foma's own edge marking template seems to still sometimes call it T200. Removal of the 'T' from the name seems to have been a marketing choice after some other companies weren't terribly happy about it seemingly calling itself 'T-grain' to customers in a hurry.
Same with Ilfords Delta, which is really flattish triangular grain with epitaxial crystals on the vertices.
Both distinct enough from Kodak’s T grain to not trigger lawsuits?
Fomapan 200/Arista.EDU Ultra 200 are the non-T-grain film.
Borderline orthochromatic? Foma's published data do not support this assertion at all. 100, 200 and 400 drop off between 650-700 nm, same as other panchromatic films. In fact the 200 sheet films and the 400 film go nearly to 700.I've been using the Foma 200 (as sold by Freestyle under the Arista.EDU Ultra label) in large format. Of course, in 5x7 or bigger, grain is a non-issue. I process the Fomapan 200 in Pyrocat HD 1:1:100, 8 minutes at 75F (23.8C) and expose it at ISO 100. All of the Fomapan films are borderline orthochromatic - they're marginally sensitive in the red portion of the spectrum, so throwing a red filter on them will seriously affect your exposure compensation. Foma makes(made?) a T-grain 200 speed film but it had a distinct name - I think it was T200 Creative or somesuch. From what I've seen of the 400, if you like grain, you'll love it. If you don't like grain, you'll hate it.
When you washed the film between your fingers, was this a plain water wash? If so, then can you say how 90% of the scratch lines were rubbed away? I had always thought that a scratch line is in fact a gouge in the emulsion which can be filled( nose grease is often quoted as the best filler) but was not one that could simply be rubbed away by fingers and plain water?
To rub away a scratch/gouge don't you have to be able to rub enough of the higher surface either side of the scratch to bring it level with the scratc? Can fingers do this and if they can, then can it be done without affecting the undamaged emulsion such that a genuine repair takes place?
pentaxuser
does not mean that all the grains are tabular, but rather a mix of tabular and traditional grain.
I have found over ythe years that with Foma 120 just a final rinse in wetting agent solution, shake the reel and just hang the film up to dry, with 35mm again a wetting agent final rinse, shake the reel, then hang the film up, take a sheet of kitchen towel, and wipe the back of the film only down with the pad of kitchen towel, but on no account touch the wet emulsion side with anything, it is very soft and will damage easily
Richard
Only shot 120. No problems so far.What prevented me from shooting FOMA in 120 yet, was images I saw where the backing paper frame numbers where shown on the film after development. I don't know if this was only a batch or occurs occasionally.
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