Fomapan 100 classic. Is it good?

MattKing

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Traditionally, 120 film substrate was usually different from 35mm film substrate. The differences include(d) differences in thickness and associated anti-halation measures. That is one of the reasons that it isn't a simple or easy matter to migrate the emulsions designed on and for 35mm on to 120.
 

Agulliver

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Weird. I shot three 120 rolls of 120 last year and had no such issues. Perhaps it's in the drying method?
 

Rolleiflexible

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koraks said:
Have you noticed any defects to it lately? Just wondering if the problems are finally going away.
Click to expand...

I can’t say. I shot Tri-X in 120 and Foma 200 in 35mm almost exclusively until I stopped maybe a decade ago — I discounted Foma back then as a viable 120 film because of the curl. I am only now finding my way back to film and am shooting mostly Kentmere 100 and Foma 200. I have not experienced the Foma product defects that others have noted.
 

Rolleiflexible

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Agulliver said:
Weird. I shot three 120 rolls of 120 last year and had no such issues. Perhaps it's in the drying method?
Click to expand...

My Foma experience is limited to Foma 200. In roll film, it has always curled like crazy. I hang my film to dry in a bathroom, with a weight clipped at the bottom. Temperature and humidity make no difference.
 

Rolleiflexible

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While Foma 200 is a complete PITA to wrangle onto a flatbed, I love the tones it renders. Here is a kallitype I printed this morning from a negative I shot last night:



I know this is a digression from the Foma 100 discussion. I am not sure what the defects are that others have raised so I offer the print FWIW.
 

Paul Howell

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Not sure if already mentioned, my understanding is that Foma 200 is a hybrid of traditionally and t grain, like others my experience is does not curl as much as 100 or 400. I had used Foma for many years as my shoot around film, switched to Ultrafine 100 and 400. But without an anti halogen layer shooting into the sun even with MC lens got too much flare and I switched back to Foma. I do use Kentmere 100 and 400 for my point and shot with fixed DX coding as Foma is not DX coded.
 

Agulliver

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Strange....I hang my films in the bathroom off the shower rail with a weighted clip. Fomapan 200 in 120 doesn't curl. At least the three I shot last year didn't. 400 curls a little but it's no problem. I understand that 400 used to curl a lot more but I've only been using it in the last seven years.
 

SilverShutter

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Perhaps like others have said, it's weather dependant. I also hang to dry with a weighted clip at the bottom but I am currently in central Spain where the weather is very dry and hot. Certainly doesn't seem to affect Ilford films.
 

frost242

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Thanks for creating this thread. I have a batch of 9x12 Foma 100 this show pinholes in the emulsion and even experienced it with a 120 roll of Foma 100. It's very frustrating. Now I bought a pack of FP4+ in 9x12 and will see how it comes out.
I've sent a mail to Foma to ask if they know any problem with the batch of sheet film. I'll let you know of their reply.
 

koraks

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If you coat a gelatin layer on a film of any kind (or paper), and then allow it to dry, it will contract and hence it will always bend/curl into itself. On 35mm film this is countered by using a fairly heavy/thick substrate and the relatively narrow width of the film strip furthermore limits the issue. Still, also 35mm tends to curl a bit, depending on various factors.

With 120 and sheet film formats, this curling is countered by coating an anti-curl layer on the opposite side of the film. If this anti-curl layer exhibits the exact same drying and contraction behavior as the actual emulsion, the film will always dry perfectly flat, regardless of the conditions. The slights difference between the drying behavior of both layers will result in a curl into either direction. The problem is the worst with 120 film since it's coated unto a really thin substrate, other than sheet film (and 35mm).

It seems that Foma's anti curl layer is a little less effective than e.g. Ilford's; they're just a little less proficient at matching the curl rates/extents of both sides of the film. The result will that Foma's films will curl more, and that this curling will depend to a significant extent on the drying conditions and the final moisture content of the emulsion. A little moisture left in the emulsion will leave it more supple and less curly, so drying film under higher humidity conditions will pose less of a curling problem. Drying film in a very low humidity environment, and drying it for a long time, will result in a very low remaining moisture content and a very curly (and somewhat 'crispy') film.

To what extent manufacturers include plasticizers or even humectants in their emulsions, I don't know. It's perfectly possible (even likely) that they employ plasticizers to reduce curling issues.
 

SilverShutter

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From the roll of Foma 100 I shot on the Lubitel. Quite liked the results once scanned, I think it makes a good pair with the Lomo lens. Grain is noticeable but pleasant, much like Kentmere 100. Despite the curling scanning wasnt as much of a hassle as I thought it would be with the Valoi adapter I use.
 

dourbalistar

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I recently tried FOMAPAN 100 Classic for the first time and my results took a bit more wrangling than I'm used to. Not sure if it's related to the camera itself, but when I unloaded it from my Rolleicord V, I ended up with a loosely spooled "fat roll". Stressful, but thankfully there was only some minor fogging and leaks on the rebate near the end of the roll and nothing that impacted the image area itself. On drying, it was a more curly than other 120 films I've used. I dried the first roll at the same time as a roll of Kodak 400TX, so similar humidity conditions - the 400TX dried flat, but the Fomapan 100 had a pesky curl, even after leaving it spooled in the opposite direction on the developing reel and several days under a heavy book.

Anyway, here's an image from the first roll. Maybe bright midday sun in the Mojave Desert is not ideal conditions for my first time trying FOMAPAN 100 Classic. I had to wrestle with the bright highlights of the rocks in the lower right during post processing.

Rolleicord V, FOMA FOMAPAN 100 Classic, developed in LegacyPro L110 at 1:31 for 6 minutes.


2023.04.10 Roll #329-07786-Pano-positive.jpg by dourbalistar, on Flickr
 

chuckroast

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I've shot a fair bit of Foma 100 and 200 in a variety of formats. They've all been fine with one exception: Fomapan 200 120. The stuff had all manner of emulsion issues that manifested themselves as pinholes in the negative. Foma explained that this was due to the film being a combination of traditional to t-grain silver in the emulsion and they were having problems reliably getting to all stick together properly.

To their credit, Foma made good on my purchase of 10 rolls of the 120 (which I bought in the US) by sending me an equal value replacement box of sheet film. They also threw in a lovely calendar. So, nothing but praise from me for them as a manufacturer.

P.S. Kodak used to be that way too - they'd make good on bad product batches. A few years ago, when they outsourced their chemistry and turned Dektol into something resembling hot chocolate, they refused to even respond and I ended up tossing out several hundred dollars of Dektol packages. Now their out of the chems business entirely, or so I hear.


Here's something I just did with Fomapan 100 in 9x12cm sheet film (scan of silver print) ...
 

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frost242

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Let's revive this thread a bit. Despite a presoak, I've had problems with pinholes after development and was quite disappointed by it, until today. I've just tried to add one or two drop of PhotoFlo in the presoak bath, presoaked for 4 minutes and this time I've had no problems at all with the Foma 100 : perfect emulsion layer ! Two rolls were developped, so it seems that this solves the problem.
 

Paul Howell

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Many have reported pinholes and other defects with Foma films, I guess I can knock on wood, never had any issues with Foma in 35mm, 120 or 4X5. My only thought on pin holes is that I use a weak stop bath and when using a staining developer just water stop.
 

chuckroast

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I've only ever had problems with Foma 200 120
 

Kino

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Using a water stop, I have had no problems from 35mm up to 8x10.

I think the problems start to happen when using very high energy developers and/or acid stop baths.

Just my theory...

Curl on 35mm and 120 can be a pain, but the sheet film is great for remaining flat.
 

Andrew O'Neill

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Most likely the stop bath. Not Fomapan, but I was getting pinholes on Ektascan xray. Started using a very mild stop consisting of citric acid...5g/litre (stuck with 1 minute fix in Ilford Rapid). No pinholes. I've got a heaps of Fomapan in the freezer that I haven't gotten to yet... I'll use the same approach with that film.
 

Fatih Ayoglu

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Just curious, what is the weak stop bath? Or acidic stop bath? I have developed 5x 4x5 Foma 100 sheets and I think some of them have pinholes issue, tiny white dots on the negatives.

I use Fotospeed Odourless stop bath SB50 at 1+19, which is citric acid based.
 

Andrew O'Neill

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When you say white dots on the negatives, you mean clear, right? Try diluting the Fotospeed stop bath more. I would double it. Of course, it won't last as long, but if it eliminates the pinhole issue, then that's a win.
 

Fatih Ayoglu

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Andrew O'Neill said:
When you say white dots on the negatives, you mean clear, right? Try diluting the Fotospeed stop bath more. I would double it. Of course, it won't last as long, but if it eliminates the pinhole issue, then that's a win.
Click to expand...

Yes, precisely.

Should have a seperate working solution for Foma films or I can use that weak solution for all the films, like 30sec soaking?
 

Rolleiflexible

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Andrew O'Neill said:
Most likely the stop bath
Click to expand...

Interesting. For many years I've shot Foma 200 in 120 rolls and have never exerienced the problems that others report. I always use tap water as a stop. Could that be the controling variable here?
 

Andrew O'Neill

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Rolleiflexible said:
Interesting. For many years I've shot Foma 200 in 120 rolls and have never exerienced the problems that others report. I always use tap water as a stop. Could that be the controling variable here?
Click to expand...

It very well could be!
 
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