Foma vs Efke

[olaf]

Hi!

I'm thinking of trying out some 'new' film. It's either Fomapan Classic 100 or Efke PL100. Any thoughts? Has anyone compared these films?

Thank you,

Ola

 

[JPD]

I haven't tried Fomapan, but Efke PL100 is very nice. Long smooth gray scale, and very forgiving. It handles over- and under exposures much better than APX 100 for example.

 

[Mark Antony]

I have tried both and like/use both.
Fomapan 100
and
EFKE/Adox 100
I think Foma is like APX 100 in a lot of ways I actually think the grain is slightly finer with the Foma, but the Adox has slightly more accutance.
I'd try a roll of both in your favourite dev and see which one you like, they are both fine emulsions.
Mark

 

[Paul Verizzo]

Hi!

I'm thinking of trying out some 'new' film. It's either Fomapan Classic 100 or Efke PL100. Any thoughts? Has anyone compared these films?

Thank you,

Ola

I use Fomapan 100 for a knock about film and testing concoctions. At $23 a 100' roll there ain't none cheaper out there.

However, it most certainly is grainier than current films like Plus-X. The latter has an RMS granularity of 10, Foma 100 is 13.5, half way to Tri-X. The Foma 200 is 14, so you might consider that and gain a stop of speed. I've not shot it, but it seems to be highly respected out on the net.

I've not shot Efke 100, only 25, so I can't make any legitimate comment there.

 

[Ian Grant]

There's another similar thread, in it I mentioned I use EFKE (Adox) PL25 at 50 ISO, which is the same ISO I use for Fomapan 100. So I'd prefer to compare these

The EFKE film gives excellent results, is extremely sharp and virtually grain free, I've been using the 35mm & 120 versions occasionally since the 70's.

Ian

 

[Jerevan]

I haven't used Efke in sheets (you wrote PL100 and I guess that it is what you're asking about) but the 135 film has been fraught with some difficulties, mainly with scratches on the soft emulsion after developing. The Foma on the contrary I have only used in sheets and it works good thus far. Nice tonality in both. If you do sheets, grain will probably not be a problem. Careful processing and shooting an extra frame or sheet will get you a long way towards avoiding the problems I did encounter.