That last image is awesome @Old Gregg
@Auer Do you have the batch # for that roll?
I think its cool, Things like the half lady give depth and suggestion, leads the mind on.Thank you, although that sliced-in-half lady on the paddleboard drives me nuts. Could have cropped her out, but this was one of those no-cropping-allowed rolls
Ok. So after the recent "i'm done with Fompan" thread I decided to finally get round to trying Fomapan 200 in 120 one last time. This time in my Walzflex TLR instead of my ETRS.
Yeah...Not much better this time.
No presoak. 8.5mins in XTOL-R. 1min water stop. 3mins rapid fix. 4 changes of water + deionised water wash. Emulsion not touched at any point. Just left to hang-dry.
Film batch #: 012856 1
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Sorry for the thread bump but I just found this thread through Google after developing a roll of Foma 200 120 and getting the exact same results.
I used to work in a pro darkroom and have been back to home developing B&W for a while so I like to think I have a reasonable idea what I'm doing, but was totally stumped after scanning the film and seeing these marks all over it, I've never seen anything like it before.
Developed in fresh ID11, I never use a stop bath just water, fixed in Fomafix. Same as I do with every B&W film I shoot whether on 35mm or my new (to me) Bronica ETRS.
Looks like the other rolls of this stuff I have will be going in the bin...
Enlarged section of a frame, but the whole film looks like this on the light parts.
Ok. So after the recent "i'm done with Fompan" thread I decided to finally get round to trying Fomapan 200 in 120 one last time. This time in my Walzflex TLR instead of my ETRS.
Yeah...Not much better this time.
No presoak. 8.5mins in XTOL-R. 1min water stop. 3mins rapid fix. 4 changes of water + deionised water wash. Emulsion not touched at any point. Just left to hang-dry.
Film batch #: 012856 1
That’s the “creative” part of the film.
135 does not have this issue, by the way.
Enlarged section of a frame, but the whole film looks like this on the light parts.
Which camera, if I can ask?Works for me. I will keep using it.
I use a Mamiya Press camera, the 23 or Universal, with either a 6x7 or 6x9 back and have had no issues with the Foma 120- 200 film. I use the 200 in 35mm also- I rather like the film.
I would suggest the users who are having problems carefully check their camera/magazine rollers that come into contact with the emulsion for possible dirt or emulsion build-up. Sometimes it's hard to spot and it doesn't take much to cause damage to soft emulsions.
Also check that the rollers spin freely; they can crud-up with fine emulsion and "skiving" particles from the slitting process that will cause this kind of damage you won't see on more hardened film.
I love the look of Fomapan 200, and I've been consuming huge amounts of it with 4 different cameras (and several backs) and have been seeing these streaks in all cameras. Two of them were CLAd by Hasselblad NJ and Fleenor within a year. Other films are fine. Let's not develop unnecessary paranoia about our equipment. It's clear as day that Foma had a defective batch and couldn't afford to recall it. There is no such group as "users who are having problems". All users have been having these problems with Fomapan 200 in 120. The problems started towards the end of 2021 and @albireo's post gives us hope that a new batch is entering circulation.
The problems started towards the end of 2021 and @albireo's post gives us hope that a new batch is entering circulation.
The problems started towards the end of 2021
I can’t speak to earlier batches. But I have shot the current batch on the market (purchased in December from Freestyle) and have not seen this issue in film shot through an old Rolleicord II.
Given that this has been an issue in the past, it would be helpful if posters stated when and where they bought the affected film.
No, the problems with this film date back many years. My own experiences pre-date 2021 by a few years, and even then the problem had mentioned by people online for several years. It has been at least an intermittent problem, and possibly an enduring one for many years.
It would be great if it's all good now. Given the positive reports I'm seeing here, I'm tempted to get a couple of rolls again to see what's up.
There is a post in the archives where a former Kodak employee and very knowledgeable former member of the community (PE or Photo Engineer) briefly talks about the problems Kodak faced with TMax 400 in 120 format when they first started making it. For some reason or the other t-grain emulsion is very susceptible to mechanical stress. The mechanical stress a film endures is greater in a Hasselblad type camera's where the film path consists of various sharp turns and bends than in TLR or Pentax 67 style camera's where the path of the film does not contain any of those curves and bends. That is why it manifests itself less in a Rollei TLR than in a Bronica ETRS.I keep trying every few months, waiting for the defective batch to go away.
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