Tell me about fomapan

[m_liddell]

Kinda interested in fomapan after seeing Igor Amelkovich’s (http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=213527) work.

What kind of characteristics does it have, and what does the high silver content do?

Thinking of trying the ISO 100 version in pyrocat hd or xtol. I NEED to stop trying new films and actually start to standardise! Anyone else have this problem?

 

[Paul Sorensen]

I have used it and found it a bit of a pain, but pretty. I guess I didn't see enough of a difference between it and other films that I decided the fussiness wasn't worth the trouble. Specifically, I had issues with the base being very thin, curling excessively, and the emulsion being very soft. I have finally settled on Agfa APX 100 for my 100 speed film and am happy with it. I had a problem with experimentation for a while, but have mostly gotten over it. I still have to be careful when I go to the J&C web site, however.

 

[Donald Qualls]

I've used one box of Fomapan 100 in 9x12 cm, and have another box unopened and ready. It is a good, generic ISO 100 film, works well in HC-110, gives EI 160 in Diafine. It has a strong blue antilhalation dye that can require extra washing if you (like me) develop in tubes or by other methods that have the film base in contact with a surface during processing; the same seems to be true of most European sheet films (and possibly of Kodak as well, I haven't had a chance to develop any of the TXP I picked up in 9x12 yet). Grain is not especially fine for ISO 100, but still significantly finer than at least the old formula Tri-X roll films (TX -- 400TX is said to be a good bit finer), and in large format I don't worry much about grain in any case. Resolution appears to match or exceed what my 2400 ppi scanner can extract, which is likely approaching the limits of my pre-War Tessars and Skopar as well.

Bottom line, it's decent film, not as delicate to handle as the soft-emulsion Efke, and quite inexpensive in 9x12 cm format compared to Efke (and even more so compared to anything Kodak). It's my understanding that the 120 and 35 mm versions differ only in the base, with identical emulsion to the sheet form, and I'd probably use Fomapan as my primary ISO 100 roll film if I weren't already using J&C Pro 100.

 

[isaacc7]

It's cheap!

I've started to mess around with it in 13x18. My primary reason for that is that I was able to get a bunch of it pretty cheap. My initial tests in rodinal look good, I'd like to try it in some other developers but haven't had the chance. I'm not much for trying to figure out the "looks" of films, I worry more about proper exposure and decent content, so I may be missing some subtleties that others may like/dislike.

Isaac