New ortho 120 film from Foma

foc · May 19, 2023

According to this Kosmofoto post, the Czech Republic film producer Foma Bohemia has announced a few orthochromatic medium-format black-and-white film which is being released this summer.

Foma Ortho 400 will only be available in 120 and Foma Bohemia told Kosmo Foto the film will start being stocked by distributors from June.

I see that it is not yet listed on their website but is available in their online shop.

Rudeofus · May 19, 2023

This film would be exceedingly useful in large formats. I tried to get my hand on this Bergger print film back then - never received a single sheet. Must have come and gone in the same instance. If Foma produces such an emulsion now, and if this emulsion can be reversed properly, it would enable all kinds of alternative photography fun based on my small and medium format negatives.

albireo · May 19, 2023

foc said:
According to this Kosmofoto post, the Czech Republic film producer Foma Bohemia has announced a few orthochromatic medium-format black-and-white film which is being released this summer.

Foma Ortho 400 will only be available in 120 and Foma Bohemia told Kosmo Foto the film will start being stocked by distributors from June.

I see that it is not yet listed on their website but is available in their online shop.

View attachment 339159

Fantastic news. Love their standard 400 in 120 for everything but people. The high red sensitivity just makes white people's complexion and lips look off for my taste. I was about to look into Ilford Ortho 80 but the low sensitivity and extremely high price (relative to FP4/HP5) had put me off. Eager to try this.

FotoD · May 19, 2023

Great news! Hope it will be released in sheets as well.

pentaxuser · May 19, 2023

I wonder how Foma has managed to make a 400 ortho film when all the rest have much lower speeds or is there no reason why an ortho film can't be 400?

pentaxuser

Andrew O'Neill · May 19, 2023

Good news! Now I'll have about four different ortho emulsions I can play around with in 120 when this and Ferrania Orto becomes available.

Lachlan Young · May 19, 2023

pentaxuser said:
I wonder how Foma has managed to make a 400 ortho film when all the rest have much lower speeds or is there no reason why an ortho film can't be 400?

pentaxuser

You might want to look up Kodak 4163 Tri-X Ortho.

No reason why you can't make a high speed ortho film, it's just that when most of the market for ortho/ blue sensitive materials was not for general camera usage but for technical/ darkroom purposes, excessive speed could be a disadvantage.

Flighter · May 20, 2023

Data sheet at https://fomaobchod.cz/inshop/files/14741/F_Ortho_400.pdf

Edit: and in English

https://fomaobchod.cz/inshop/files/14741/F_Ortho_400 EN.pdf

oxcanary · May 20, 2023

Great to see the data sheet

Agulliver · May 20, 2023

More genuinely new film....good news! Not something I'd use frequently but it's a welcome addition.

foc · May 20, 2023

From the Foma online shop, showing the difference between Foma Ortho 400 and Fomapan 400.

pentaxuser · May 20, 2023

Thanks that a very striking change. I presume her hair and jumper are both quite a bright red. Just a pity that all detail in the jumper has disappeared compared to the non ortho picture

Am I safe in presuming that detail in anything red should not be lost per se simply because it is ortho?

Thanks

pentaxuser

Don_ih · May 20, 2023

pentaxuser said:
Am I safe in presuming that detail in anything red should not be lost per se simply because it is ortho?

Depends on the red. If the red is purplish, some of that blue will register on the ortho film. But genuine red won't. It'll essentially be the same as black. In other words, red turns into the darkest shadow region of the scene when you use ortho film, and any detail you get out of it will be because of what amount of not-red is in that apparent red colour.

Get a genuine blue filter and look at something red through it to see what detail you'd get.

pentaxuser · May 20, 2023

Thanks Don. What I was thinking of is that with a panchro film any folds in a black(the red equivalent) sweater normally show up if the development is correct so I had thought the same would apply here. OK I accept there is a tendency for a black garment not to show detail in the likes of folds and development might be more critical

pentaxuser

pentaxuser · May 20, 2023

Lachlan Young said:
You might want to look up Kodak 4163 Tri-X Ortho.

No reason why you can't make a high speed ortho film, it's just that when most of the market for ortho/ blue sensitive materials was not for general camera usage but for technical/ darkroom purposes, excessive speed could be a disadvantage.

It was simply a thought on my part given the advantages of a 400 speed and in the case of Ilford Ortho 80 this was a recently devised film. Maybe Ilford had good reasons for making an 80 speed but unless this was easier or cheaper to devise then 400 has a lot of advantages. I just get the impression that Ilford's 400 speed films such as D400 and HP5 Plus are its best sellers

pentaxuser

DeletedAcct1 · May 20, 2023

foc said:
According to this Kosmofoto post, the Czech Republic film producer Foma Bohemia has announced a few orthochromatic medium-format black-and-white film which is being released this summer.

Foma Ortho 400 will only be available in 120 and Foma Bohemia told Kosmo Foto the film will start being stocked by distributors from June.

I see that it is not yet listed on their website but is available in their online shop.

View attachment 339159

Why only in 120 format?

DeletedAcct1 · May 20, 2023

pentaxuser said:
It was simply a thought on my part given the advantages of a 400 speed and in the case of Ilford Ortho 80 this was a recently devised film. Maybe Ilford had good reasons for making an 80 speed but unless this was easier or cheaper to devise then 400 has a lot of advantages. I just get the impression that Ilford's 400 speed films such as D400 and HP5 Plus are its best sellers

pentaxuser

I see lots of grain in the examples posted by Foma, and let's remember it's in medium format. Lots of grain in medium format?

AnselMortensen · May 20, 2023

Wow!
I could really use some of that in 4x5/5x7/8x10 sizes.

albireo · May 20, 2023

Alessandro Serrao said:
I see lots of grain in the examples posted by Foma, and let's remember it's in medium format. Lots of grain in medium format?

They're likely to have been heavily cropped. Foma 400 in 120 in Fomadon P stock is close to grainless in my workflow.

Another sample which includes a colour reference (bottom right)

takilmaboxer · May 20, 2023

Looking at the data sheet, it appears to be a naturally contrasty film. Is that an intrinsic part of being an ortho film?

pentaxuser · May 20, 2023

albireo said:
They're likely to have been heavily cropped. Foma 400 in 120 in Fomadon P stock is close to grainless in my workflow.

Another sample which includes a colour reference (bottom right)

Thanks the Ortho shot here looks considerably better than the top close up shot

pentaxuser

Bronson Dugnutt · May 20, 2023

Very exciting to see some new offerings from Foma, especially after the introduction of Kentmere in 120.

Flighter said:
Data sheet at https://fomaobchod.cz/inshop/files/14741/F_Ortho_400.pdf

Edit: and in English

https://fomaobchod.cz/inshop/files/14741/F_Ortho_400 EN.pdf

If their respective data sheets are to the same scale, I expect this new Foma film to exhibit a 'more ortho' look than Ilford's Ortho Plus. Foma peaks in green sensitivity and tails off towards red while Ilford appears to have a more abrupt cutoff. Yellow and orange would appear darker on the Foma ortho, potentially producing more contrast, depending on the scene.

The Foma probably loses speed much more quickly under tungsten lights compared to Ortho Plus, but being a 400 vs 80 box speed it would be an interesting comparison.

I'll purchase a few rolls, especially if the price is in line with standard Fomapan. I'll bet this stuff is amazing when reversal processed...

DeletedAcct1 · May 20, 2023

Bronson Dugnutt said:
I'll purchase a few rolls, especially if the price is in line with standard Fomapan. I'll bet this stuff is amazing when reversal processed...

No the price is considerably higher than regular Fomapan

Flighter · May 20, 2023

Bronson Dugnutt said:
I'll purchase a few rolls, especially if the price is in line with standard Fomapan. I'll bet this stuff is amazing when reversal processed...

Looks like it will be a bit more expensive, the Foma online shop (which only ships to the EU) has it at €5.94 per roll compared to the standard Fomapan 400 at €4.70 per roll.

Bronson Dugnutt · May 20, 2023

If they're all single 120 rolls in plastic snap cases, that seems reasonable. Then again I'm also down with a small premium for Fomapan in the retro packaging. But shipping from the EU... ay caramba.

This is probably now the fastest ortho film available. The fastest, strongly ortho film I think I've used is Fuji X-ray with a nominal ISO of 100; most are 12 or lower. That may account for the extra grain in the examples but to my eye grain helps add acutance in medium format.

New ortho 120 film from Foma

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