Updates from Filmomat users?

The Filmomat has been around for a few years now and I’d love to get some updates / experience reports from anyone who owns/ has been using this machine. There isn’t a lot out there in terms of user reviews that I can find and of the little that is out there, I’ve seen very little in the way of negative reports. So are owners/ users of the Filmomat still happy? If you have one of these machines, please share your experience.

Side note: it would be great if we can keep this on topic and forgo the obligatory comments about the cost, preferences for various alternative machines, personal feelings, the phases of the moon, etc. The question is for owners/ users who have first hand experience specifically with the Filmomat and who can speak to the performance, reliability, consistency, dependability of support, etc.

Fragomeni said:

... The question is for owners/ users who have first hand experience specifically with the Filmomat and who can speak to the performance, reliability, consistency, dependability of support, etc.

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i'd try the "filmomat forum", this is a public forum.

Old Gregg said:

I called Catlabs, the official and exclusive distributor of Filmomat in the US. They refused to share how many units they sold, only stated "quite a few" and claimed that nobody returned a single machine due to unhappiness. They haven't had to deal with any service/repairs either, if that helps.

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Hmm. That’s not very transparent. Good to know. Thank you.

jvo said:

i'd try the "filmomat forum", this is a public forum.

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Do you have a link? I may just be missing it but I’m not finding it.

Distributors rarely share publicly sales volumes, because to do so will give competitors a commercial advantage.
"quite a few" is a fair bit of transparency!

I am in the US and purchased my Filmomat directly from the maker with excellent communication and follow up even when UPS decided to split up the 2 boxes it was shipped in. Presently about $140 US for brokerage fees via this carrier. Still cost was lower than buying direct from Catlabs. I read the PDF manual prior to receiving the machine (about 3-4 weeks between placing the order and receiving) and any questions were answered satisfactorily. The machine was very well packed. Programming is surprisingly simple.

Developed a total of 8 rolls of Portra, 4x 135 and 4x 120 over 2 runs on the same day and using all of my Arista 1Qt kit so no need to store chemicals afterwards. Negatives came out perfectly. Loading on the Jobo 2500 reels is very similar to the smaller diameter Paterson reels I am familiar with. The only difference and my main concern point was using the red stop located in the middle of the Jobo reels when loading 2x 120 films on the same reel so no overlap occurred. The machine worked very well and clean up was very easy; just open up the valves to drain the water bath, add water to the reservoir and engage the "clean" protocol and no further mess to deal with. My machine sits right at the edge of the sink so never need to move it.

I still have to process B&W but want to have 8 rolls ready for development first as this is about the capacity of 500cc of working strength Ilford stop and fixer so again no need to store extra chemicals.

I’ve had one for little over a year and I’m getting ready to list it for sale. I just don’t use it enough. Lukas has been great at addressing any issues.

I've had my Filmomat for just over a year. It says I've run 106 cycles or about 2/week. I've processed b&w (HC110), color negative (now using Flexicolor) and E-6 reversal (using Arista). The Filmomat is great. No complaints at all. Whenever I had questions, I got a quick response from Lukas.

Dani said:

I’ve had one for little over a year and I’m getting ready to list it for sale. I just don’t use it enough. Lukas has been great at addressing any issues.

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I’m interested on buying one. I’m in Europe

Unfortunately my unit is only for 110-120v and I’m not sure how well it can be converted to 220v

Dani said:

Unfortunately my unit is only for 110-120v and I’m not sure how well it can be converted to 220v

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I use 110v in Europe with converter. If you want to sell it, please message me

koraks said:

Kindly take the discussion of sales to either the Classifieds section, or handle it via direct messaging. Thank you

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Thank you, please @Dani write me