Shooting Forte 200

Uncle Bill · Nov 27, 2006

Question, I have two rolls of Forte 200 in 35mm I want to try out, I plan to process in Rodinal 1:50 at the other end. Should I rate box speed? Anything else I should be aware of? Most likely it will be shot with an OM-1, Nikon F or Minolta XE-7.

Bill

Arvee · Nov 27, 2006

I just finished 20 rolls and my only comments are that I noticed a lot of junk in the emulsion, i.e., hair, dirt, etc. so expect to lose a few frames because of quality issues.

Also, this film is inherently grainy so Rodinal will definitely give you 'the look.' I liked it in D76 neat, HC110B has a bit more more grain and it looked decent in DDX. The film does seem to have decent gradation from what little I have seen. I got good results at box speed and a bit more shadow detail at EI 160. I shot some at 100 but didn't like it, I felt it was too flat.

Just my .02,

Uncle Bill · Nov 27, 2006

Interesting, I shot with Fortepan 400 and depending on the lighting, regardless if HC110 and Rodinal are used, it can get grainy. Some shots, the grain adds to the photo, others it looks like s**t. Thankfully, touch wood product, I have not had crap on the emulsion. I'll give it a go at 160 and 200 and see what I get. The big hype is that Forte 200 looks like the old Kodak XX, well before my time so... I have nothing to compare.

Bill

Arvee · Nov 27, 2006

Bill, I should add that this was the Arista.EDU which is rebadged Fortepan 200 for student use. Don't know if that would signal a product that perhaps received less quality control but thought you should know.

Peter Schrager · Nov 28, 2006

foma 200

All I can say is try out the Foma 200 creative film. You'll never go back to Forte again!!
Best, Peter

Gerald Koch · Nov 28, 2006

Fred Aspen said:
Bill, I should add that this was the Arista.EDU which is rebadged Fortepan 200 for student use. Don't know if that would signal a product that perhaps received less quality control but thought you should know.

It's fun to play with Forte, Foma, etc films. But, if you have important shots to make then Kodak, Ilford, or Fuji are the brands of choice.

marsbars · Nov 28, 2006

I have not used any of the 200 speed crap but I have used the 400. I don't develop myself but I was for the most part pleased with the film. That was until this summer when I was shooting a camping trip and the film pulled from the canister. I didn't think at the time to improvise a changing bag. To get to the point when I was removing the film from the camera I noticed that the sprocket holes were damaged. I had all kinds of film base in my camera. I have noticed that on more than one roll of it since then. I will never buy it again. It was a great deal at the time but now I will just pay the 20 or 30 cents more a roll.

wirehead · Nov 29, 2006

I've used the 400.

Very nice. Grainy even in 6x7 format.

My main factory-screwup so far has been one roll that didn't have tape on the exposed-end of the spool.

Uncle Bill · Nov 29, 2006

I love the 400 asa Forte, and I plan to try out the Foma ASA 200 Creative in the new year. Call it a test drive. I heard really good things about Foma.

Bill

jlehmus · Nov 30, 2006

Re the film pulling out of the canister. I have had the same happening with Forte 200 (Classicpan 200) more than once and I guess this film is vulnerable to this because the base is somewhat thinner than on modern type films. But it behaves nicely when developed in small tanks, no purple stain to get rid of etc.

Usually I'm overexposing because the first rolls at box speed looked so thin (don't remember the dev), and to obtain some shadow detail. I love the look. Most of the highlights are burnt out anyway, even at box speed.

Haven't tried Fomapan 200 yet but have shot some 400.

uraniumnitrate · Dec 17, 2006

I shut 135/36 400 in my Nikon motsly on the sreet it's grainy but it's a 400 film! Rodinal not to good but, works well with Kodak's D-76. Not much of others mentioned problem but the curliness of the film bothers me with enlarging.
I don't know what to do! Any ideal? I think it's the base which is to thin.

Wendel4 · Dec 17, 2006

Forte 200 not so bad really

I was kind of suprised to hear the negative reviews of this stuff (no pun intended). I shot a fair amount of it three or four years ago because it was so cheap (20 rolls or so). I didn't see any emulsion flaws, and didn't have excessive film curl or spool separation at the end of the roll....maybe their QC really has slipped in the last few years. I developed it in D-76 and Microdol at their suggested times and thought the tones were nice.

Black Dog · Dec 17, 2006

Me too....used to use the 400 in 35mm in 35mm and 4x5 a lot-grainy with Rodinal but nice tones, beautiful in PMK- Forte 400 in PMK looked like a totally different film from the 35mm in Rodinal. IMHO Forte 200 and 400 are best in roll or sheet formats where you can really enjoy the tonality without worrying too much about grain.BTW, I normally print using cold cathode or diffuser.I've also not had any emulsion quality issues except when I forgot to clean out my darkslides and some bits of crud got on the film.

uraniumnitrate · Dec 17, 2006

Wendel4 said:
I was kind of suprised to hear the negative reviews of this stuff (no pun intended). I shot a fair amount of it three or four years ago because it was so cheap (20 rolls or so). I didn't see any emulsion flaws, and didn't have excessive film curl or spool separation at the end of the roll....maybe their QC really has slipped in the last few years. I developed it in D-76 and Microdol at their suggested times and thought the tones were nice.

The quality is actually better as all coating heads are only 6 or 7 years old and manufactured in Switzerland but as I hear the companies who manufacturing the base are just a few nowadays and that what is available on the market is not that good quality.

Also I use lots of sheets from Forte and never had any problem with those so called manufacturing failure! Or loss of coating or any other kind of damage on it as I read here some days ago about Adox or the problem I had with Efke. Of course there isn't any manufacturer with out failure. In this summer I had shut some 50 rolls with Forte 135 and not a thing bad I can say about the film more than that curly base! I don't know how you guys do but I got contrast between those grains and I'm not that careful with 135mm as I'am with my sheets.

Black Dog · Dec 18, 2006

That curly base is a right PIA! That's why I've mainly used Forte in 4x5.

Jerevan · Dec 18, 2006

As far as I understand it, the curl comes from the emulsion drying faster than the base - ie more humidity and a slow drying makes at least my film less prone to curl. I run the shower for a bit just before I hang the film to dry.

eddie gunks · Dec 18, 2006

i have used forte in 4x5 and liked it fine. works well with no problems. i have shot 600-700 sheets of foma with zero problems. great stuff!

eddie

dxphoto · Dec 19, 2006

I have tried forte 400 with d76(1+1), also foma 400 with rodinal (1+50). I found both of them losing shadow detail in the high contrast scenes. Now maybe I didn't do the right exposure. but under the same situation tri-x and hp5+ or even rolleiretro 400 respond very well. I am not sure why is that.

foma 400 seems have finer grain, compare to forte 400.

Also I heard some people pull foma 200, do you guys have more detail dev time on that? I only have microdol-x, d76 and rodinal. and some dd-x.. seems like no one is using dd-x here..??

uraniumnitrate · Dec 19, 2006

Jerevan said:
As far as I understand it, the curl comes from the emulsion drying faster than the base - ie more humidity and a slow drying makes at least my film less prone to curl. I run the shower for a bit just before I hang the film to dry.

Not a bad idea, I might just sink the temp!

Simon R Galley · Dec 19, 2006

Dear All,

A little correction needed to this thread, and as an FYI, high quality film base is readily available.

Simon Galley, ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited.

uraniumnitrate · Dec 19, 2006

Simon R Galley said:
Dear All,

A little correction needed to this thread, and as an FYI, high quality film base is readily available.

Simon Galley, ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited.

Than it's all about to by the right one! Isn't it?

Photo Engineer · Dec 19, 2006

I agree with Simon. It is easy to get for the film manufacturing companies from the film base manufacturers. However, since the film base manufacturers like to sell in huge quantity, it is hard for me (or any individual) to buy in small quantities at reasonable price.

A friend asked for a sample from one company and got a roll that weighed close to 1 ton delivered to him as a free sample and he has generously given me a bit of that for my work. Otherwise, I would have none at all, as I don't need a 1 ton roll, and I certainly cant afford to buy a 5000 ft 42" or 72" roll.

PE

uraniumnitrate · Dec 19, 2006

Photo Engineer said:
I agree with Simon. It is easy to get for the film manufacturing companies from the film base manufacturers. However, since the film base manufacturers like to sell in huge quantity, it is hard for me (or any individual) to buy in small quantities at reasonable price.

A friend asked for a sample from one company and got a roll that weighed close to 1 ton delivered to him as a free sample and he has generously given me a bit of that for my work. Otherwise, I would have none at all, as I don't need a 1 ton roll, and I certainly cant afford to buy a 5000 ft 42" or 72" roll.

PE

But they are not many are they? Do they differ in quality?

Photo Engineer · Dec 19, 2006

They differ in quality, subbing and thickness.

PE

Shooting Forte 200

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