I am interested in trying to coax a little extra speed out of my Foma 200 , say at least one stop. I have been shooting low light extended time subjects lately and am interested in pushing the film to reduce exposure times in hopes of avoiding motion from the ever present wind that seems to haunt me wherever I go.
I've been thinking about trying XR-1 and Microphen. Any thoughts?
If it's flat, low light we're talking about, I think you would have a chance with a low contrast grain-reducing developer like Microphen. With really low light, like night shots, there's little point in pushing the film, it will only build contrast, not shadow density.
You might try Diafine, it's supposed to boost film speed quite a bit.
I have found that Foma 200 is not really even an ISO 200 film, more like ISO 100. Your best bet would be to choose a higher-speed film such as T-max 400, or Foma 400, or Ilford HP5+...all of which are available in popular large format sizes.