Foma stops DX coding on 35mm canisters

Jessestr · Jan 23, 2016

News from end of 2015 but hasn't been placed on APUG yet.

So foma stops with dx coding on 35mm canisters from trusted sources And with trusted sources I mean Foma.

Thank you for your email.

Yes, it is true, step by step we are replacing the cartridges with DX code with the black ones.

According to our investigation, only a few photographers are using DX code now. Moreover, as photographic industry is getting more marginal, it is more difficult for us to find suitable suppliers of material for production, so we were forced to change the packing of films. The black cartridges are also more convenient for us in respect to optimization of production.

So, in the future all the Foma films will be in the black cartridges without the DX code.

Thank you for your kind understanding.

With best regards

Jana

Jana Křemenáková (lechtová)

Export dpt.

BetterSense · Jan 23, 2016

I always said it would never catch on.

AgX · Jan 23, 2016

I can see their cost saving issues.

But a hint at alternatives from them would have been nice.

These are:

-) refilling into coded cassettes (reused ones or reloadable ones if still available)
-) labelling with bought DX stickers
-) making stickers oneself
-) modifying (Foma) cassettes directly
-) modifying the camera (contacts)

AgX · Jan 23, 2016

Otherwise a great number of cameras would be excluded, including much hailed ones.

Jessestr · Jan 23, 2016

AgX said:
Otherwise a great number of cameras would be excluded, including much hailed ones.

Mostly compact users, but as you said, there are options to overcome this !

AgX · Jan 23, 2016

Another reason for bulk film. Why paying for a cassette that one cannot use directly?

Sirius Glass · Jan 23, 2016

No problem I use Kodak, Ilford and Fuji films. I also shoot more 120 and 4"x5" film than 135.

ambaker · Jan 23, 2016

The stickers are hard to find. The option that seems to the most promise for me, is aluminum foil tape that can be found at hardware stores. More effort to cut but it works.

-More cameras than brains... Sadly it didn't take very many.

NB23 · Jan 23, 2016

What serious camera cannot have its ISO set manually?

AgX · Jan 23, 2016

This is not about "serious" cameras (whatever that is), but about cameras that are used.
For instance a Olympus µ-II. A camera that regularly shows up at Apug.

Jessestr · Jan 23, 2016

AgX said:
This is not about "serious" cameras (whatever that is), but about cameras that are used.
For instance a Olympus µ-II. A camera that regularly shows up at Apug.

I'd like to add Contax T2/T3 etc... Serious user compacts which require DX coding.

ADOX Fotoimpex · Jan 24, 2016

Don´t these cameras automatically fall back to the 100 ASA seting if no code is present?
In this case this would "only" affect Fomapan 400.
Reloading of cassetes I would not consider an option because of the risk of scratches and the different core-types which need dedicated machines to load.

AgX · Jan 24, 2016

Good point! Yes, as far as I know these all have a default setting. Though I'm not sure whether that is ISO 100 in all cases. There are just too much models around with too many peculiarities...

Concerning reloading and cores one can take a used cassette and stick that Foma film to a resting end of the old film. (But that would mean two additional runs through the Velvet seal, in case that is what you are anxious about too.)

bence8810 · Jan 24, 2016

I have a Ricoh GR1s which relies on DX coding so I just hack the cassettes myself. I bulk load so I bought 10 DX coded empty cassettes that were ISO100 and I scratched off the part that makes the cassette 1600 instead of a 100 and use a piece of green tape over the portion that makes it ISO400 when I need it. Great as to push the film to 1600 all I do is peel the tape and move it aside.

blockend · Jan 24, 2016

ADOX Fotoimpex said:
Don´t these cameras automatically fall back to the 100 ASA seting if no code is present?

Mostly, yes, which is no use if the film is 400 ASA and the camera doesn't offer exposure compensation, or is beyond its range. Lots of 90s and early noughties cameras fit that picture, including cult compacts and SLRs.

NB23 · Jan 24, 2016

Default is always iso 100.

And as already been said, it would only affect foma 400, but not by much. Foma 100 is 100 and I would say that foma 200 is 64-80.

miha · Jan 24, 2016

NB23 said:
Default is always iso 100.

Not always, it's 25 with certain cameras.

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/chinon/genesis_iii/genesis_iii.htm

http://www.minox.com/fileadmin/down...n/kompakt_kameras/Minox_CD_112_lang_d_e_f.pdf

...

markbarendt · Jan 24, 2016

Jessestr said:
News from end of 2015 but hasn't been placed on APUG yet.

So foma stops with dx coding on 35mm canisters from trusted sources And with trusted sources I mean Foma.

Goo job of reporting.

Wallendo · Jan 24, 2016

Is this really new? Freestyle sent out a message early last year stating that its Arista EDU films would no longer be DX coded.

I normally shoot Foma/Arista in bulk loads. For the cameras that require DX coding, I save old DX coded cassettes for reloading.

I have 4 cameras that require DX coding (all Minolta, and none are my primary cameras), my waterproof camera defaults to 100 ISO, my point-and-shoot defaults to 200 ISO, and my point-and-shoot SLR's default to the last DX-coded roll's ISO setting.

As to why I own point-and-shoot SLR's ... they came attached to lenses I wanted. Frequently on fleaBay, a camera-lens combination will sell cheaper than the lens itself. Apparently many potential buyers don't investigate when a cheap camera is listed, and don't realize that people often bought good lenses for cheap cameras.

AgX · Jan 24, 2016

Amongst all these negative news/rumours we heard from the industry this weekend. I consider this the worst.

As it actually means a reduction in product quality.
Do you share this view?

NB23 · Jan 24, 2016

miha said:
Not always, it's 25 with certain cameras.

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/chinon/genesis_iii/genesis_iii.htm

http://www.minox.com/fileadmin/down...n/kompakt_kameras/Minox_CD_112_lang_d_e_f.pdf

...

100 was a convention for all manufacturers.

Iso 25? Wow, those camera makers were an isolated bunch for sure.

ME Super · Jan 24, 2016

My first serious camera, a Pentax ME Super, did not read the DX code. My second serious camera, a Pentax P30T, did. It did not have a control to manually set the speed, so if you shot non-DX film, it set the ISO to 100 and there was nothing you could do about it unless you gave it a DX code to read on the cassette.

When I bought my current camera, a Pentax PZ-20, I made sure that the EI could be set manually, if need be. Same for my kids' 35mm SLRs, both Pentax ZX-30s if I recall correctly.

A kickstarter campaign to make DX coding strips might be in order here. These can't be that hard to make.

ambaker · Jan 24, 2016

I would have to agree. It puts that much more effort on the individual to compensate. For those who want to keep their DX cams going, manual override or other techniques are available. For someone who may be looking into film, it is one more thing to deal with. One more thing to turn off potential newcomers.

-More cameras than brains... Sadly it didn't take very many.

Xmas · Jan 24, 2016

ME Super said:
My first serious camera, a Pentax ME Super, did not read the DX code. My second serious camera, a Pentax P30T, did. It did not have a control to manually set the speed, so if you shot non-DX film, it set the ISO to 100 and there was nothing you could do about it unless you gave it a DX code to read on the cassette.

When I bought my current camera, a Pentax PZ-20, I made sure that the EI could be set manually, if need be. Same for my kids' 35mm SLRs, both Pentax ZX-30s if I recall correctly.

A kickstarter campaign to make DX coding strips might be in order here. These can't be that hard to make.

Scissors, kitchen cooking foil, double sided pressure sensitive tape?

Ai Print · Jan 24, 2016

Xmas said:
Scissors, kitchen cooking foil, double sided pressure sensitive tape?

Just use aluminum HVAC tape.

Foma stops DX coding on 35mm canisters

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