Foma Pan 100 120 Negs are Blue, 135 Negs Are Clear?

marcmarc · Jul 25, 2011

Hi Everyone,
I just hung up my first roll of 120 Foma Pan 100 to dry. To my surprise the negs have a bright blue tint to them. I've seen slight pink tints on some of my other films (Pan F+ I believe) but not like this. Did I mess up the processing? I pre-soaked for a minute (the water poured out blue-green) Rodinal 1+100 for 7 minutes, two one minute rinses in plain water for stop, then 6 minutes in fresh TF-4 fix. Then a hour long soak for five minutes, dump, and refill for the wash. Negs look nice otherwise. What's really odd is that about a month ago, I shot a 135 roll of Arista Edu 100 which is supposed to be the same film, but it did not have the blue tint. I processes this roll the same as the 120 roll. Any idea or suggestions?
Thanks,
Marc

trexx · Jul 25, 2011

normal, this is the film base.

Juri · Jul 25, 2011

Strong colour cast on film base may indicate underfixing.

BetterSense · Jul 25, 2011

I used to shoot a lot of Foma and the base is always blue. I have no idea why but it's normal as far as I can tell.

Rick A · Jul 25, 2011

Correct, the 120 is blue, and 135 is clear. I have both, and was disappointed the 35mm wasn't blue.

ntenny · Jul 25, 2011

They need to put a warning on the box or something; I think everyone who's ever shot Fomapan in 120 has had this same "WTF?" moment.

It's clear in sheet sizes too. I don't know what's different about 120 that leads them to use this rather odd base.

-NT

arealitystudios · Jul 25, 2011

ntenny said:
They need to put a warning on the box or something; I think everyone who's ever shot Fomapan in 120 has had this same "WTF?" moment.

It's clear in sheet sizes too. I don't know what's different about 120 that leads them to use this rather odd base.

-NT

Totally agree.

The first time I developed Foma in 120 I thought I did something really wrong and jumped on the internet looking for help.

I wonder how many people go through this, assume there is a defect in the film, and never use Foma again as a result.

Now days I love the blue color. I think it's rather nice looking

mhcfires · Jul 25, 2011

Good to know. I have 10 rolls of the stuff and would have been a bit concerned with the first roll.

Jeff Kubach · Jul 25, 2011

At one time I tought about getting a 220 back for my RB67, now I'm glad I didn't!

Jeff

Gerald C Koch · Jul 25, 2011

There is no guarantee that just because the name of the films are identical that the film is actually the same across the different formats. It is not suprising that the bases are different considering the different mechanical considerations required for the different formats.

Not only the film base may be different but the emulsions may also be different. Note the emphasis on the word may. As an example Kodak Tri-X and Tri-X Professional. This was discussed on an old thread.

ntenny · Jul 25, 2011

Gerald C Koch said:
There is no guarantee that just because the name of the films are identical that the film is actually the same across the different formats. It is not suprising that the bases are different considering the different mechanical considerations required for the different formats.

Sure. But where does the funny color come in? Was there a big sale on 70mm strips of blue polyester?

Not only the film base may be different but the emulsions may also be different. Note the emphasis on the word may.

It's always possible. Foma publishes a single datasheet covering all formats, though, so if there are differences they must not have much functional effect.

-NT

brianmquinn · Jul 25, 2011

Yes, it is blue. Take the time to print it. It makes lovely final prints.
That is all the matters.

marcmarc · Jul 26, 2011

Thanks for the replies. I have read that a color cast on the negs can indicate under-fixing. I hope this isn't the case since I have numerous rolls of Pan F+ have come out with the pinkish cast. I am using TF-4 for six minutes, agitation every 30 seconds and discarding after three rolls so I hope that I'm well within the safety zone of my fixer not anywhere near loaded up with silver. Being a rapid fixer, I would also think that my time of six minutes is also safe. After all, my film usually clears within 15 seconds.

Gerald C Koch · Jul 26, 2011

To determine whether the color is in the film base or in the emulsion take a scrap of film and soak it in full strength Clorox. This will strip off the emulsion. Rinse the film and if it is colored then you know that the color is in the base.

Роберт · Jul 26, 2011

Fomapan in 35mm: Tri-Acetate base.
in 120 roll film: Blue Polyester base.
In sheet film: Clear Polyester base.

But these things you can find yourself back in the Fomapan film data sheets.

erikg · Jul 26, 2011

6 minutes is a long fix time. Twice clearing time is all you need. Don't let any color cast be your guide. It may be just the color of the base as in Foma or just some AH dye as with Tmax. Both harmless. Consider using a fix remover instead of an hour long wash, that will clear any dye and save water. Ilford's wash sequence works great as a guide.

chriscrawfordphoto · Oct 15, 2012

I just bought some Fomapan 100 in 120 size from freestyle. I had used a couple rolls of it a few years ago, and because I was shooting new stuff faster than I had time to print it, I didn't get around to doing anything with them until a couple weeks ago. I finally scanned some of the old negs, and was very pleased with the tonality, and so I bought more. I just developed one of the new rolls, and was surprised to see the base is now clear...no more blue. When did that change?

Darkroom317 · Oct 15, 2012

The change in 120 base has already been discussed here: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Роберт · Oct 15, 2012

Foma started with the Fomapan Creative 200 in April this year. The rest of their 120 roll films followed later. On their website (http://www.foma.cz) there are also the new data sheets.

chriscrawfordphoto · Oct 15, 2012

Darkroom317 said:
The change in 120 base has already been discussed here: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Thanks for the info, I hadn't seen that thread.

chriscrawfordphoto · Oct 15, 2012

Роберт said:
Foma started with the Fomapan Creative 200 in April this year. The rest of their 120 roll films followed later. On their website (http://www.foma.cz) there are also the new data sheets.

Thanks Robert (I can read Russian!), I just downloaded the new data sheets.

Foma Pan 100 120 Negs are Blue, 135 Negs Are Clear?

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