Interesting and useful observation. I've certainly found that Fomapan 100 and 400 are quite picky with developers and times/temperatures. I didn't find FOmapan 200 to be as picky, but I haven't tried TMAX developer.
I'm nearing the finish line with a 100 foot roll of Arista.edu 200 (Foma creative 200) and here are my thoughts.
I really like the look developed with D76/ID11 at stock or 1:1 dilutions, at ei 160. Fairly medium contrast, somewhat grainy but with the right exposure it shines.
I do NOT, however, recommend TMAX developer with the recommended times. Highlights were blown, grass looks like snow, and the grain atrocious. I tried one last time with a 4:00 dev time at 68F with TMAX 1:5. Finally tamed the contrast but the brighter highlights still block. This stuff develops FAST. Fixes fast, too.
Thanks It was the link between temp and increase in speed that I was really interested in. Yes the shortening of dev time is clear and known but I hadn't heard of it improving speed. On the basis that 20C = 160 and 30C = 200 then that is quite a lot
It looks as if this is a Foma assertion but I'd have thought that for such a company to make such an assertion there had to be some form of science to back it up
pentaxuser
I'm nearing the finish line with a 100 foot roll of Arista.edu 200 (Foma creative 200) and here are my thoughts.
I really like the look developed with D76/ID11 at stock or 1:1 dilutions, at ei 160. Fairly medium contrast, somewhat grainy but with the right exposure it shines.
I do NOT, however, recommend TMAX developer with the recommended times. Highlights were blown, grass looks like snow, and the grain atrocious. I tried one last time with a 4:00 dev time at 68F with TMAX 1:5. Finally tamed the contrast but the brighter highlights still block. This stuff develops FAST. Fixes fast, too.
Yes, Foma films builds the contrast really fast. Nevertheless they are good films with usual recommended times minus 20-30%
Would you care to explain that a bit for me.. Ive been using foma/arista 400 in 135 and i havent gotten huge grain at all. No matter if i developed at home or sent them to a lab to do.
ive been using the straight film shot at 400 iso on the dial, and using the full times listed by massive development chart and they come out BETTER then commercially done tri x 400
Any thoughts here about stand development of 120 Fomapan 200 in Rodinal? I just bought a few bricks of the stuff and am planning to shoot it at maybe EI125.
Are you wet printing or digitizing? I've found that Foma 400 isn't too bad if you only enlarge 35mm to 8X10 or maybe up to 11X14 for some subjects, but go past that and grain can be very apparent. I don't know exactly how it comes out scanning wise since I've never really tried that. I'll gladly use HP5+, but I also know that film better. Foma 100 compared to FP4+? That's a different story.
Would you care to explain that a bit for me.. Ive been using foma/arista 400 in 135 and i havent gotten huge grain at all. No matter if i developed at home or sent them to a lab to do.
ive been using the straight film shot at 400 iso on the dial, and using the full times listed by massive development chart and they come out BETTER then commercially done tri x 400
Thanks It was the link between temp and increase in speed that I was really interested in. Yes the shortening of dev time is clear and known but I hadn't heard of it improving speed. On the basis that 20C = 160 and 30C = 200 then that is quite a lot
It looks as if this is a Foma assertion but I'd have thought that for such a company to make such an assertion there had to be some form of science to back it up
pentaxuser
The first time I shot Fomapan 400, I shot at 320 as I'd read it's really no faster than this and ended up with very grainy, unpleasant outdoor shots whereas the indoor shots where I'd actually set the meter to 400 to get a little faster shutter speed were great. Less grain too.
Something in your process is amiss. If you show us a pic of the negatives, we can help troubleshoot!fomapan seems to be better for my bird work then Ilford products, delta kentmere fp4 hp5 just nasty mud in comparison. And for some reason, even my worst fomapan 100 negativs that were developed wrong by a mail order lab, were able to create a print. the ilford ones that were processed wrong, even the same 100 iso were not able to generate more then multiple clouds of black on slighter lighter black background.
One third of a stop is “quite a lot?”
Foma 100 and 400 are entirely different products, and it can be misleading to combine them in the same thread unless carefully distinguished.
Well it may or may not be "quite a lot" but as I said before it is the scientific basis for the increase that stems from the increased temp that I am curious about and so far no-one has come up with what this basis is.
Would you care to explain that a bit for me.. Ive been using foma/arista 400 in 135 and i havent gotten huge grain at all. No matter if i developed at home or sent them to a lab to do.
ive been using the straight film shot at 400 iso on the dial, and using the full times listed by massive development chart and they come out BETTER then commercially done tri x 400
But frankly, the more scientific explanation I'd like to offer is that it happens to be a marginal difference that may just as well be an idiosyncrasy without any significance. Imagine, for instance, that the 160 ISO measurement was in fact 175 or so, while the 200 ISO measurement was 185, then the first might be rounded down to 160 and the latter rounded up to 200, while the difference between them was marginal at best. Keep in mind that a 1/3 stop difference is already quite marginal to begin with. Just saying that in reality the difference might have been even smaller, yet.
. And even if the difference is as real as the datasheet implies, it's still insignificant for 99.999% of the photographers using the film. If I'm being generous.
I only talked about to reduce the recommended development times to tame the contrast. Grain is pronounced but I only develop using Rodinal and the real speed is -1 stop or less. So be generous with your exposure...
X-tol may deliver slightly better results in terms of grain. One day I will give Atomal-49 a try...
Its a good film but please be generous in your exposure.
Any idea why Microphen at 30 degrees C achieves box speed but presumably only achieves EI 160 at the more normal 20 degrees C Is there a known link between increasing temperature and boosting speed and if so is this a general link for all developers, only some or only Microphen?
Thanks
pentaxuser
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