Foma Variant III FB paper

John Wiegerink · Jan 20, 2024

I just printed a couple of quick test prints on the Varian III "glossy" paper from Foma and it seems like a very nice paper. I used ID-78 for the developer, and it took on a "warm toned" look, but not overly warm tone. The surface of the glossy is fairly glossy. I usually prefer a Semi-matte surface, but this glossy isn't all that bad. I could live with it, but I'm curious as to what others think of Foma's Variant III "glossy" and "matte" surfaces. I'm ready to order some more and think I'll try the "matte" surface to see which I prefer.

miha · Jan 20, 2024

Foma 112 (matte) surface has no shine to it, it's similar to Ilford 5K.

GregY · Jan 20, 2024

John Wiegerink said:
I just printed a couple of quick test prints on the Varian III "glossy" paper from Foma and it seems like a very nice paper. I used ID-78 for the developer, and it took on a "warm toned" look, but not overly warm tone. The surface of the glossy is fairly glossy. I usually prefer a Semi-matte surface, but this glossy isn't all that bad. I could live with it, but I'm curious as to what others think of Foma's Variant III "glossy" and "matte" surfaces. I'm ready to order some more and think I'll try the "matte" surface to see which I prefer.

JW the only matte surface paper i use is occasionally Art 300, but I've used lots of Foma Variant and it's a paper i love. Unfortunately it is often out of stock at B&H.

MTGseattle · Jan 20, 2024

I am a recent new user of the Foma paper and I too really like it. @GregY I'm not sure what it would do to your shipping costs, but Freestyle usually has a good selection in stock.

GregY · Jan 20, 2024

MTGseattle said:
I am a recent new user of the Foma paper and I too really like it. @GregY I'm not sure what it would do to your shipping costs, but Freestyle usually has a good selection in stock.

I use a lot of big paper and Freestyle has proven to be extremely expensive for shipping 16x20 and 20x24"....we'll see what the future brings as far a stock for Foma.....

John Wiegerink · Jan 20, 2024

GregY said:
I use a lot of big paper and Freestyle has proven to be extremely expensive for shipping 16x20 and 20x24"....we'll see what the future brings as far a stock for Foma.....

Well, I would have liked to have ordered from B&H, but of course they were "out of stock" on the paper and sizes I wanted. Since I needed this paper like yesterday, I sent my order off to Freestyle and got stabbed with a $22.00 shipping cost on a pretty small order. That sucks and probably explains why B&H is "out of stock" since they are pretty easy to none on shipping cost.

GregY · Jan 20, 2024

John Wiegerink said:
Well, I would have liked to have ordered from B&H, but of course they were "out of stock" on the paper and sizes I wanted. Since I needed this paper like yesterday, I sent my order off to Freestyle and got stabbed with a $22.00 shipping cost on a pretty small order. That sucks and probably explains why B&H is "out of stock" since they are pretty easy to none on shipping cost.

I feel for you JW. The costs to ship from Freestyle to Canada were high and have sky rocketed. I have on occasion bitten the bullet and special ordered from B&H & that has been nighmarish...since it took 8weeks to get something that was advertised as 2 week delivery time & the fine print from B&H..... the customer pays shipping on special orders...... lose....lose situation. I now print on what i can get....particularly since 16x20 is no longer $200 but $335 ish USD.....before the more than 30% exchange rate difference... c'est la vie!

MTGseattle · Jan 20, 2024

I always forget about currency exchange rates. Sorry.

GregY · Jan 20, 2024

MTGseattle said:
I always forget about currency exchange rates. Sorry.

Out of interest, I went to the Freestyle website. Two packages Foma 132 warmtone 16x20" $420.... shipping priority USPS $97 USD.... keeps me as a client of B&H. Shipping cost is pretty much 25% of the item price.

revdoc · Jan 20, 2024

I've used the matt paper and it's perfectly fine, but it's very matt, and I prefer the glossy surface.

In both cases the paper base isn't excessively loaded with OBA. The only downside I've found is that the gelatin layer is prone to chipping and peeling a little at the edges.

I usually develop in E72. Doubling the bromide warms the tone noticeably.

Renato Tonelli · Jan 20, 2024

I use Foma fiber paper in both Glossy and Matte; I generally prefer glossy for most of my work. I like the paper very much and develop it in Ethol LPD 1+3. The warm tone is very pleasing (not too warm).

awty · Jan 20, 2024

I really like the gloss, has great tonal range from deep black to nice vivid whites. Tones really well to.
Matte on the other hand doesn't have as much tonal range. It is difficult not to block up the shadows and has much more noticeable dry down darkening. Actually gloss doesn't seem to change at all from wet to dry.

Richard Jepsen · Jan 20, 2024

“I feel for you JW. The costs to ship from Freestyle to Canada were high and have sky rocketed. I have on occasion bitten the bullet and special ordered from B&H & that has been nighmarish...since it took 8weeks to get something that was advertised as 2 week delivery time & the fine print from B&H.”

its too bad the postal exchange between the two countries takes so long. I live in the the Oklahoma City area and can get a shipment from either coast in 4 weekdays.

I use some Foma 131 and find its range is not as long as Ilford WT. Thats OK. One paper is not better than the other….just different.

GregY · Jan 20, 2024

Richard Jepsen said:
“I feel for you JW. The costs to ship from Freestyle to Canada were high and have sky rocketed. I have on occasion bitten the bullet and special ordered from B&H & that has been nighmarish...since it took 8weeks to get something that was advertised as 2 week delivery time & the fine print from B&H.”

its too bad the postal exchange between the two countries takes so long. I live in the the Oklahoma City area and can get a shipment from either coast in 4 weekdays.

I use some Foma 131 and find its range is not as long as Ilford WT. Thats OK. One paper is not better than the other….just different.

Richard... the 8 weeks wasn't the postal service.....B&H didn't get it from Foma for that long.....i usually get B&H delivery in 4/5 days. Their time estimate on obtaining special order paper was way off.

chuckroast · Jan 21, 2024

John Wiegerink said:
I just printed a couple of quick test prints on the Varian III "glossy" paper from Foma and it seems like a very nice paper. I used ID-78 for the developer, and it took on a "warm toned" look, but not overly warm tone. The surface of the glossy is fairly glossy. I usually prefer a Semi-matte surface, but this glossy isn't all that bad. I could live with it, but I'm curious as to what others think of Foma's Variant III "glossy" and "matte" surfaces. I'm ready to order some more and think I'll try the "matte" surface to see which I prefer.

It's all I use to print anything I really care about.

John Wiegerink · Jan 21, 2024

GregY said:
Richard... the 8 weeks wasn't the postal service.....B&H didn't get it from Foma for that long.....i usually get B&H delivery in 4/5 days. Their time estimate on obtaining special order paper was way off.

Yes, B&H is very speedy on shipping and shipping costs from them are more on the normal side. It seems Freestyle is charging customers a packing fee attached to the shipping fees. I buy everything I can from B&H and Adorama just because of this, but sometimes I have no choice.

Philippe-Georges · Jan 21, 2024

When AGFA demised in 2005, I went for a quest to replace Agfa's MCC 111 FB. I finally found that FomaBohemia's FOMABROM 111 FB was what came the closest and, thereafter, I didn't look back, so FOMA it is for me.
I develop it in home brewed E-72 which is Chis Patton's human friendly version of DEKTOL (and is close to Agfa's Neutol Plus).
The 24x30,5 cm is my favorite format.
I buy it directly at the Czech based factory (shipping €18,-)...

GregY · Jan 21, 2024

Philippe-Georges said:
When AGFA demised in 2005, I went for a quest to replace Agfa's MCC 111 FB. I finally found that FomaBohemia's FOMABROM 111 FB was what came the closest and, thereafter, I didn't look back, so FOMA it is for me.
I develop it in home brewed E-72 which is Chis Patton's human friendly version of DEKTOL (and is close to Agfa's Neutol Plus).
The 24x30,5 cm is my favorite format.
I buy it directly at the Czech based factory (shipping €18,-)...

P-G... I agree, FOMA is a fabulous paper and took the sting away somewhat when Forte disappeared from the market.

logan2z · Jan 21, 2024

I've heard a lot about Foma papers but have never tried them. My current standard paper is Ilford Multigrade Classic Glossy. Can anyone who has used both papers describe the differences/advantages of one over the other?

chuckroast · Jan 21, 2024

Philippe-Georges said:
When AGFA demised in 2005, I went for a quest to replace Agfa's MCC 111 FB. I finally found that FomaBohemia's FOMABROM 111 FB was what came the closest and, thereafter, I didn't look back, so FOMA it is for me.
I develop it in home brewed E-72 which is Chis Patton's human friendly version of DEKTOL (and is close to Agfa's Neutol Plus).
The 24x30,5 cm is my favorite format.
I buy it directly at the Czech based factory (shipping €18,-)...

It's probably one of the 2 most beautiful papers I've ever printed on. it does have an unpleasant tendency for emulsion chipping at the edges of the paper if you print edge-to-edge but this is pretty minor in the scheme of things.

The only thing that would make it better is if it had the weight and surface texture of the original Brilliant graded papers that were made in France by Guilleminot & Boesflung for Zone VI.

Philippe-Georges · Jan 21, 2024

chuckroast said:
It's probably one of the 2 most beautiful papers I've ever printed on. it does have an unpleasant tendency for emulsion chipping at the edges of the paper if you print edge-to-edge but this is pretty minor in the scheme of things.

The only thing that would make it better is if it had the weight and surface texture of the original Brilliant graded papers that were made in France by Guilleminot & Boesflung for Zone VI.

One can always dream...

Elmarc · Jan 21, 2024

logan2z said:
I've heard a lot about Foma papers but have never tried them. My current standard paper is Ilford Multigrade Classic Glossy. Can anyone who has used both papers describe the differences/advantages of one over the other?

I always found Ilford FB glossy a little garish in comparison to the Foma equivalent. I have printed on almost every paper from Foma including the much missed 'Nature' and 'Chamois'. Same for Ilford. The only problem I have with Foma papers is that the dark red safelight that is needed to prevent fogging is a little uncomfortable to work in for long periods of time.

chuckroast · Jan 21, 2024

Elmarc said:
I always found Ilford FB glossy a little garish in comparison to the Foma equivalent. I have printed on almost every paper from Foma including the much missed 'Nature' and 'Chamois'. Same for Ilford. The only problem I have with Foma papers is that the dark red safelight that is needed to prevent fogging is a little uncomfortable to work in for long periods of time.

I so wanted to like Ilford VCFB Glossy, but I could never get the subtlety out of it I was used to from other papers. I split print and tone everything in Selenium Toner and the Ilford, though competent, never quite hit the mark like, say, Bergger VCNB (may it rest in peace). Then I found the Foma Variant 111 and all was well with the world again ...

Philippe-Georges · Jan 21, 2024

logan2z said:
I've heard a lot about Foma papers but have never tried them. My current standard paper is Ilford Multigrade Classic Glossy. Can anyone who has used both papers describe the differences/advantages of one over the other?

FOMA is slightly thinner/lighter but cheaper.
I haven't printed on ILFORD a lot, just during my quest for a new paper and FOMA's quality was far from as low as the price was, so the choice was easily made...

BTW, I selenium tone too: ADOX 1+9 for 2 min at 20°C, and the colour doesn't change into a reddish-brown as ADOX says. I wonder why, but the DMAX is wonderful and the image tone rather neutral-to-slightly-coldish then.
It reacts a bit to intense on Thiourea toning (too brown, perhaps I use the wrong formula), but in 1+100 VIRADON it looks nicely warm in the mid tones with intense and deep blacks, both after selenium toning ofcourse, so this is duo toning.
If you want a warm/white paper base, then soak it in some weak tea for a minute or two, at the end of the processing.

logan2z · Jan 21, 2024

Philippe-Georges said:
FOMA is slightly thinner/lighter but cheaper.
I haven't printed on ILFORD a lot, just during my quest for a new paper and FOMA's quality was far from as low as the price was, so the choice was easily made...

The 8x10 glossy Foma 111 FB seems to be the same price as the equivalent Ilford paper: $149/100 sheets for Foma vs. $147/100 sheets for Ilford (B&H pricing). Which of the Foma papers was a lower price?

Foma Variant III FB paper

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