Want to try Foma 400

I use a squeegee cause deionised too difficult never had a problem. Water really hard.

The suggestions were for the OP to reduce risk. Most people will never have processed non prehardened film before.

I don't even use acid in hypo.

Up to you of course, I'm just saying that for most of us a water pre-soak, if you choose to use it for whatever reason, does no harm.

I understand that distilled water is more expensive in the UK and many parts of the world than here, but I can buy all I want at the supermarket for $0.88/gallon so I always use distilled water for mixing and diluting developers and for mixing my final rinse (Photo-Flo or equivalent.) I use tap for everything else.

I would not put faucet into auto battery but the ID68 and Rodinal are ok. I boil for the ID68 to kill the temporary hardness and mix when back to warm.

Terrible problems without surfant and squeegee.

But deionised is not too expensive here merely another item on shopping checklist that needs an auto.

The social bus service is CO2 friendly.

Xmas said:

softens the emulsion a bit more and unnecessary? Every little risk is addative.

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I did a pre wash too (3 min. in 20 degrees Celsius), when using Caffenol-C-M on Fomapan 100 for the first time. I think it helps. No harm done to the emulsion and good development.


* shot with plastic Woca 120G camera with about 1/60th exposure, no light meter and free light leaks
* first test: Fomapan 100 in Caffenol-C-M for 14 minutes at 20 degrees Celsius and 3 minute pre wash

Gerald C Koch said:

Before I would commit to buying a 100 ft roll of Foma, or any other film for that matter, I would try a few 24 or 36 exposure rolls. You may not like it and then be stuck with 100 ft of it. Try it in a couple of developers. A post like yours generates a lot of conflicting information. Only you can really decide.

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Quite right you are! But it's been fun! After the first 10 replies or so, I thought the thread would die, so I didn't check it until today. Wow! As an update:

1) I did start of with buying 3 rolls of Foma 400

2) the first results are hanging from a music stand (that's what I use to dry film on!), and . . . .

3) the full frame (Pentax MX, 50mm f4 M Pentax Macro), was developed in Xtol stock, 7.5 minutes per manufacturer's directions, and look just excellent. Shot at box speed.

4) I shot a roll of half frame on an Olympus Pen-F, and developed it in Rodinal at 1:50, developed for 12 minutes. Looks good and will print, but next time I'll either shoot at ASA 240 or so, or increase developing time to about 14-15 minutes. It was also shot at box speed.

The weekend upcoming I'm hoping to print. I'll post a few print scans when I do.

Thank you all for your participating. At this point, looks like I'll have a few rolls of this emulsion kicking around! The negs of the industrial site I shot at look particularly good!


AS a PS, I have put the films in plastic sleeves, and examined them more closely. I'm excited now about printing from both rolls. On close examination, the tones on the Xtol film are beautiful, and the Rodinal half-frame is better than I thought and will print well on Grade 3. The grain is much more apparent both because of the format, and the developer. This is what I was looking for!

I'm getting the thought that Foma 400 is a very versatile film!

moltogordo said:

Quite right you are! But it's been fun! After the first 10 replies or so, I thought the thread would die, so I didn't check it until today. Wow! As an update:

1) I did start of with buying 3 rolls of Foma 400

2) the first results are hanging from a music stand (that's what I use to dry film on!), and . . . .

3) the full frame (Pentax MX, 50mm f4 M Pentax Macro), was developed in Xtol stock, 7.5 minutes per manufacturer's directions, and look just excellent. Shot at box speed.

4) I shot a roll of half frame on an Olympus Pen-F, and developed it in Rodinal at 1:50, developed for 12 minutes. Looks good and will print, but next time I'll either shoot at ASA 240 or so, or increase developing time to about 14-15 minutes. It was also shot at box speed.

The weekend upcoming I'm hoping to print. I'll post a few print scans when I do.

Thank you all for your participating. At this point, looks like I'll have a few rolls of this emulsion kicking around! The negs of the industrial site I shot at look particularly good!


AS a PS, I have put the films in plastic sleeves, and examined them more closely. I'm excited now about printing from both rolls. On close examination, the tones on the Xtol film are beautiful, and the Rodinal half-frame is better than I thought and will print well on Grade 3. The grain is much more apparent both because of the format, and the developer. This is what I was looking for!

I'm getting the thought that Foma 400 is a very versatile film!

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You will have nice grain.
Suggest the data sheet is desirable.
http://www.foma.cz/en/catalogue-fomapan-400-action-detail-272
I use single coated lenses for sceane compression increasing contrast may not help the highlights.

Thanks, Xmas! Hopefully, tomorrow's a darkroom night.
TheToadmen: Very nice work. Have to try caffenol one day!

I have a 100' roll of Aristo 100. Is this perchance Foma 100?? I bought it because I did a roll of Arista 100 and liked it. I'll be doing the same for the Foma 400. Advantage of bulk loading for me is that I can load smaller exposure loads, say 15 exposures, which is 30 exposures on my Pen FT.

When I'm out taking pictures, I use my digital stuff, and if I see something I want in B&W, I have a small kit bag with a Pen FT and a 38mm f1.8 Zuiko on it, and a Pentax MX with a 135mm and 35mm f2.8s in the same kit. Takes up almost no room, and I get the best of both worlds.

I'm drooling to get in the darkroom this weekend!

You can also buy Foma (100, 200, 400) with "only" 24 exposures, for exemple here:
Dead Link Removed

Philippe Grunchec said:

You can also buy Foma (100, 200, 400) with "only" 24 exposures, for exemple here:
Dead Link Removed

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Thanks for the tip. I didn't know this seller. It seems he's dedicated to Foma items only.

Yes, he only sells Foma stuff, at very decent prices!

Philippe Grunchec said:

You can also buy Foma (100, 200, 400) with "only" 24 exposures, for exemple here:
Dead Link Removed

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Thanks, Philippe. Appreciate your input. I've bought it that way (the 3 initial rolls I bought were 24s) . . . but unfortunately on my half-frame SLRs that's still 48 exposures. If I go out on a photo shoot, I shoot color digital, and just bring along a Pen F and a full frame 35 to take B&Ws on that outing if something catches my fancy. So I really don't want to keep that much film in the camera . . . I might only take 12 shots or so, and I want them processed right away.

I keep three bulk loaders ready to go with HP5, some old 2475 Recording film (I still have 100 ft left), and some Arista 100. Now I'll get some 400 Foma, I think.

I've only been loading short lengths for each outing. Just the way I work!

I used to do the same thing when I took my Mamiya C330s out - used 35mm only for outing shots to be enlarged 5x7, to emphasize grain, mostly, if I thought it would enhance the image. The medium format delivered what I was after in general, either color or B&W, as the DSLR does now.

I would use the 35mm for images like the one below, which are very hard to duplicate now because the currently available films are just too darn good and fine grained!!! Thus my hopes for Foma 400 in Rodinal as an old style film with decent medium granularity.

Vanderhoof Mill, Olympus Pen F, 38mm f1.8 Zuiko lens, Kodak 2475 Recording film, D76 1:1 for 12 minutes

moltogordo said:

. . . but unfortunately on my half-frame SLRs that's still 48 exposures. If I go out on a photo shoot, I shoot color digital, and just bring along a Pen F and a full frame 35 to take B&Ws on that outing if something catches my fancy. So I really don't want to keep that much film in the camera . . . I might only take 12 shots or so, and I want them processed right away.
I've only been loading short lengths for each outing. Just the way I work!

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I recently got me a decent Olympus Pen F (with CLA) and was thinking the same: 72 images can take a long time. When I don't have shorter film length, I need a way to properly use the surplus of film (instead of keeping film in camera for a long time). So I came up with this experiment:

I was thinking this this will give me the opportunity to make some nice "multi-exposure-panorama" images as well. The camera is in portrait format when used normally: 24x18 mm size (= half frame). Suppose I want to make a large panorama image from a landscape, using 6 (or so) frames. I aim the camera to the left side of the scene and make a mental mark of the right side in the view finder: let's say a bended tree is just inside the frame. I make a shot, wind and move the camera to the right so that the bended tree is now just outside the frame on the left. I make another shot, wind and move the camera to the right, etc. I repeat this six times, until I have shot the whole scene.
With 6 shots I now have a negative of panorama size 24 x (6x18) = 24 x 108 mm. Plus some mm between the single negatives will give me a total printable negative of (about) 24 x 120 mm with an aspect ratio of 1:5. I'm going to print this series of negatives as one print, without sprockets but with the space between the frames, thus making a nice panorama print size like 8x20 inch or so.
The print will look like this:

Since my first film is still in the camera, I can't show you the results yet. But I saw an example from the previous owner and I liked it a lot.

BTW1: when shooting a landscape this way, I don't turn around on the spot where I stand (making a circle), but I actually walk to the right (in a straight line) if possible (beware of traffic when moving to the right while looking through the view finder!!!)

BTW2: since the camera transports the film from left to right and the lens will invert the image on the negative, you must aim & move the camera from left to right to get the images in the right sequence. hopefully this drawing explains that:



BTW3: instead of making a panorama landscapes, I'm also going to make 5 or six portraits in a row of my daughters (using same background and composition) and print it in the same way.

Cool idea!

Xmas said:

... It is not prehardened like Kodak or Ilford so needs care like in '50s ...

no prebath
plain water stop safest
non carbonate developer
hold all processing to fixer to 1C

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Sorry to revive an old thread, but I was wondering what does a carbonate developer do to a non-prehardened film?

Referring back to moltogordo's post 61. I appreciate that he was looking for the same look he gets with a half frame camera with Kodak 2475 Recording film but I take it that Foma 400 full frame will not give anything like as grainy a look. It may be the look that moltogordo was looking for from Foma but for what I am looking for, I sincerely hope he was unable to find it in any Foma film. I appreciate that in earlier posts on this thread some examples of Foma 35mm frames were shown but unfortunately for whatever reason these examples are crossed out.

pentaxuser