jandc foma forte whatever!!??

[johansl]

hello
i am trying to understand the world of 8x10 film
i am looking for a dependeble not very expensive(like t-max) film which will give me sharp and clear images. No dark thick black high contrast i have no detail images.
of course i went to jandc and impex and googled my brains out, but i would like to see some examples on these much debated films.
if i had the money to buy all those films so i wouldn't have to ask about it.

any info with examples on:
adox
fomapan
fortepan
jansc 100 pro and classic
all off them are extremely welcome.

i live in the netherlands and have to order from germany or usa and have to wait.

thanx johan

 

[herb]

various films

I am by no means an accomplished user, but jandc are using chinese film in their 100, and forte in the 200 and 400 pro. There are many posts on these. The best paper they have I think is what they are now calling their "nuance" which is on back order for 8x10. I think it is made by Adox, but I am not certain. You can email John at jandc and ask him. He will be truthful and I have never had anything less than excellent service from him.

 

[avandesande]

How much experience do you have shooting in other formats? It really doesn't matter which of these films you try. They all will give you good results.

 

[Gerald Koch]

hello
ii am looking for a dependeble not very expensive(like t-max) film which will give me sharp and clear images. No dark thick black high contrast i have no detail images.

If you are getting dark, dense, high contrast negatives then it sounds like you are overexposing and overdeveloping whatever film you have been using. Check your exposure and development time.

 

[Donald Miller]

hello
i am trying to understand the world of 8x10 film
i am looking for a dependeble not very expensive(like t-max) film which will give me sharp and clear images. No dark thick black high contrast i have no detail images.
of course i went to jandc and impex and googled my brains out, but i would like to see some examples on these much debated films.
if i had the money to buy all those films so i wouldn't have to ask about it.

any info with examples on:
adox
fomapan
fortepan
jansc 100 pro and classic
all off them are extremely welcome.

i live in the netherlands and have to order from germany or usa and have to wait.

thanx johan

As Aaron has said, all of these films are capable of delivering good results provided your exposure and development technique are proven and capable of delivering the contrast range that your paper requires.

For your information, Adox 100 ISO is now the film that was formerly sold under the Efke PL 100 name. It is wonderful film and I use it pretty much exclusively in both 4X5 and 8X10. The shortcoming of this film is that the emulsion is quite fragile and requires care in processing to avoid having the emulsion gouged. I process the film in tubes to eliminate this problem and also to provide for even development. If you decide to use this film, there is a lot of information available of exposure and development times.

Good luck.

 

[Donald Qualls]

If you can process single sheets, or process in tubes so the emulsion is protected, I'd suggest J&C Pro 100 as the best value in 8x10 sheet film. It's actually cheap enough you won't be afraid to experiment, and the emulsion is quite nice; it likes common developers, including staining types, but the soft emulsion makes it imperative to keep process temperature at or below 68 F and avoid acid stop bath.

Failing that, Fomapan 100, if you can get it in 8x10 (.EDU Ultra 100 is the same film) is excellent also -- and less prone to scratching and other emulsion damage. IMO, it's especially nice in Rodinal or equivalent developers; I've shot a fair bit of it in 9x12 cm, and a few rolls in 120. Fine grain, excellent acutance, and I'm told it takes stain well if you like pyro. If you don't mind paying a bit more per sheet while you're learning and likely to waste a few, this would be my #1 recommendation of all conventional grain ISO 100 films (it's still about half the price of Plus-X).

For ISO 400, Fortepan 400, aka Classic Pan 400 or .EDU 400 (*not* .EDU Ultra, which is Foma, and which I haven't tried) is very nice; it gives good speed, responds well to expansions and contractions, can build good density when needed, and is happy in Rodinal equivalents as well as solvent developers like D-76 and HC-110; it's also reported to stain well, and it's priced similarly to Foma. I've shot a good bit of this film in 120 and a number of sheets of 4x5, and I like it a lot -- sometimes ISO 400 is just plain better than ISO 100 (you'll never notice the grain difference in an 8x10 contact print).

All of these have, overall, the same reciprocity failure curve as Plus-X and Tri-X, so they're easy to control it low light.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

My favorites among the East European films from J&C are Efke/Adox PL 100 and J&C Classic 400, which behaves very much like the old TXT (old Tri-X sheet film).

If you are going to be processing in trays, though, you might want to start with a film like Tri-X or HP5, which has a hardened emulsion and is more scratch resistant, and then once you've got the technique down, you can experiment with the softer emulsion films. If you are processing with tanks and hangers or tubes or a Jobo, this isn't a problem.