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Ultrafine Finesse 400 35mm x 100 ft Black and White Film

For equivalent of less than $3 a roll, how bad can it suck? It's probably either Fomapan 100 (which does not suck, in my experience), Adox CHM 100 (original or II), which by report does not suck, or Kentmere 100, which, by reports does not suck. Pretty sure it's not Kodak or Ilford, and Fuji Acros II couldn't possibly sell that low. Honestly, I don't know which it could be, since the price is a couple bucks lower on the bulk roll than even Arista rebranded Fomapan.
 
Ultimately it is still money spent though... You want it to be good if not great
 
Unless it comes pre-fogged or pre-scratched, I'd call it worth $3 a roll. Look at what some folks pay for film that's forty years out of date, intentionally damaged (oh, wait, that's "artfully pre-exposed" with patterns and colors), known to have huge color shifts.

Keep the bag and the can, if you don't like it after a couple rolls, I'll pay you $35 for the rest of it. Hopefully I'll have turned up my other two bulk loaders by then -- the three I've acquired this year all have film in them and I don't have enough cassettes to empty any of them.
 
It's here. I'll start shooting this weekend
 

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Horatio said:
Hey, that’s close to Rodinal, right?
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I've never used Rodinal so I really can't say but I am seeing developing times for Ultrafine Extreme on Massive Dev Chart using Rodinal. I can't imagine that it will be that much different
 
RJM Pictures said:
I've never used Rodinal so I really can't say but I am seeing developing times for Ultrafine Extreme on Massive Dev Chart using Rodinal. I can't imagine that it will be that much different
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It’s not the time so much as grain. I’ve read that HC110 can produce grain similar to Rodinal, I think. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.
 
Horatio said:
It’s not the time so much as grain. I’ve read that HC110 can produce grain similar to Rodinal, I think. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.
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I've been extremely happy with HC110 but it's all I've ever known so I'm not the right person to judge lol
 
I even made labels for them... Ha! I managed to get 21 rolls of 36 exposures. I'll start shooting later today
 

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Horatio said:
Is the greenish emulsion color a clue as to who produced it?
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Maybe. It's very similar to the color of ORWO DN21 (which is ISO 12 equivalent). I wonder if this is rebranded CHS 100 II? If combined with the timing of appearance, that might imply that the Extreme (which is also greenish on the base side) is also ORWO. Based on the one sample I've shot and processed, I'm confident the Extreme 100 is not Fomapan.
 
Xtreme is widely thought to be Kentmere, or a Kentmere variant.
Finesse comes in the same packaging as Xtreme (a plastic box) suggesting it comes from the same finisher. I am not aware of any major manufacturer delivering bulk film in a plastic box. Harmon usually uses cardboard boxes and Foma and Kodak use metal cans (or at least the rolls I have purchased have come that way).
 

Have you tried Finesse? If not, how do you know about the packaging?
 
I have an unopened box. I am waiting to finish up one of my current loaded films before trying it. The box it comes in is identical to the plastic boxes used for Xtreme 100 and Xtreme 400, both of which I have used.

The packaging also matches the picture on their website.

UltraFine has traditionally revealed as little information as possible about their films on the label and this is no different.
 
I have a friend who worked at a lab who said that Ultrafine Xtreme 400 is identical to Ilford Pan 400. This would make sense too given that pan 400 is a budget film. Comparing results, Kentmere seems to have more contrast than Xtreme especially when pushed. Xtreme behaves more like grainy HP5, where as Kentmere gets contrasty
 
Also, had an unrelated support contact with Ultrafine and asked them about xtreme 400 availability and Finesse. No additional info on Finesse without me making a phone call but xtreme 400 is delayed and not discontinued it seems. I do think it's odd though that they would keep 2 separate lines of film. My prediction is that they'll sell both for a while and axe whichever is less popular after a year or two

"There is a real issue with manufacturer on the 100' rolls and it could be quite a while. We are already out of the ISO 400 36 exposure and running very low on the 24 exposure as well
There is info on our ultrafineonline website on the new Finesse line, or you can call here and ask for Jeff for more details. He is here M/W/F 10-5 pst"
 
I checked my ‘stocks’ and both Foma and Arista Edu have a greenish emulsion. Ilford and Kentmere were purplish in color, IIRC.
 
Have used Ultrafine Extreme 400 in 120 for a few years. It's a good for the price.
 
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