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  #1  
Old 14th October 2015, 09:20 PM
John King John King is offline
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Default Foma film

What is this like?

I have just seen the price of bulk loads of 100 and 200 ISO being sold by RK Photographic and it would mean a 36 exp length would be close on £1.85 each.

How does the grain compare to FP4 or Kentmere? How about sharpness/contrast/mid tones?

Last edited by John King; 14th October 2015 at 09:24 PM.
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  #2  
Old 14th October 2015, 10:11 PM
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Jakecb Jakecb is offline
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Can be soft and old-fashioned looking. Depends a lot on all the variables, as normal . Plenty has been said about it in the archives.
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Old 14th October 2015, 10:38 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Worth a search John. I am a friend here and a subscriber on APUG so I can't be sure where the thread was but I think that the new Foma 320 Retro was extensively discussed here.

We have at least two friends here who are Foma fans and there is no doubt that in bulk rolls Foma is much cheaper.

I have never used Foma film but being a cautious individual I'd buy a factory cassette to see what I thought before buying a bulk roll

Mind you if you were to buy a bulk roll and decided it wasn't for you there may well be buyers here who'd buy it for the appropriate reduction for the amount used.

Mike
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Old 14th October 2015, 11:27 PM
alexmuir alexmuir is offline
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I used some of the 400 in 35mm. It is quite grainy in that format, but not in an unpleasant way. The grain would be less noticeable in 120 negatives. It also looked like it probably has extended red sensitivity, like some other 400 speed films. It gives quite strong skies. I see it's the 100 and 200 you're looking at. I would expect them to show less grain than the 400, but I haven't personally tried them. The Retro 320 is a new creation this year, and I think it is more expensive than the other films. I find that a 30m bulk roll can last a long time, so I would also recommend buying a 36 exp roll of each to try before you decide.
Alex.
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  #5  
Old 15th October 2015, 07:24 AM
John King John King is offline
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Default Foma 100/200

The answers are more or less what I expected. Thanks. I think I will try a couple of cassettes and give them a try when I am off to West Scotland next week. I like the idea of extended red too, hopefully with the use of filters I may get some decent skys as well.

Years ago,I used to be a regular user of Adox which I believe was reincarnated as Efke and that gave very similar results to what you describe. I will stay away from Rodinal (Mainly because I don't have any at the moment) and stick with D76.
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Old 15th October 2015, 08:47 AM
big paul big paul is offline
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I have been using fomapan 200 .it brings the clouds out lovely but has one drawback as far as I am concerned and its the grain its to much for me I am trying a roll using studio flash to see how the grain looks but all the rolls I have taken outside I was not happy with the grain on the finished print, it seemed to make it not look sharp .I have not compared it to anything other than Ilford ,but in my opinion it doesn't come close to the quality of Ilford .the other problem I have with the rolls is that I have trouble loading it in to my Nikon F4 it loads most of the time in my Nikon F5 but if you buy bulk you wont have that problem ...everybody's taste is different so you will have to try it to see if you like it ...good luck



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Old 15th October 2015, 08:51 AM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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I have never used the 100, but I do use the 200 and 400, it is my main film of choice, the 35mm in 400 is quite grainy, but a nice grain, not objectionable to me, it has a very old look to it, like something from the 40's or 50's, the best description I can give is that it has the look of the original Tri x, before Kodak mucked about with it. I develop it in either Rodinal 1/50 for 11 minutes for the 200 and 12 minutes for the 400, and expose at box speed, I also develop in D76, 8 minutes for 200 and 9 minutes for 400, and they both have slightly extended red sensitivv, I find that exposed without any filters it looks like an orange filter has been used, the one thing I would caution you about is that the emulsion when wet is very soft and easily damaged so care is needed when handling wet, dry it's fine, and it doesn't like stop bath, better to use plain water, I believe that Foma themselves suggest that water be used, or if you must use a stop bath then a max of 15 seconds, Other than that I have used Foma films for a number of years and to date have no complaints, no QC problems, so try it, It mightbe a little cheaper to look at Process supplies where Martin Reed is the Foma Man, he imports and supplies it
Richard
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Old 15th October 2015, 10:46 AM
John King John King is offline
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Thanks for that Richard. A mention of grain was made before and it got me thinking that it may be similar to the 'old' TriX. I have a liking for gritty images where the subject demands a different treatment.

You have also expanded on the 'extended red' theme too. It means I will be able to use it at the normal speed without a filter absorbing a lot of the available light. Yes you have all convinced me to try.

PS.

On the question of price I have just compared Process Supplies and RK, there is hardly a fag papers difference between them.

Last edited by John King; 15th October 2015 at 11:14 AM.
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Old 15th October 2015, 02:08 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John King View Post
Thanks for that Richard. A mention of grain was made before and it got me thinking that it may be similar to the 'old' TriX. I have a liking for gritty images where the subject demands a different treatment.

You have also expanded on the 'extended red' theme too. It means I will be able to use it at the normal speed without a filter absorbing a lot of the available light. Yes you have all convinced me to try.

PS.

On the question of price I have just compared Process Supplies and RK, there is hardly a fag papers difference between them.
Well worth the trial,I very rarely use any filters, and get that dramatic sky look, I also find it is a very forgiving film, the latitude claimed by Foma is about right, although it is better with correct exposure, and if, like me, like that gritty look that we used to get with the original Tri x then it is a great film and one that I will use as long as I can get it, It needs a bit of care in wet handling when wet, but for me that is a small price to pay for a great film, one other thing, with 120 I have found it is better if you let it hang with the backing paper attached, it is possible for the film to scratch itself if the film curls when loading, but again, a bit of care and for me the results I love, in fact I have just ordered another batch from AG, got them on the phone first time and it,s on it's way,
Richard
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Old 15th October 2015, 02:34 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Gould View Post
I find that exposed without any filters it looks like an orange filter has been used,
Richard
That's got to be quite exceptional and worth a look if you are a "sky" man and with clear blue skies and no industrial haze, even better if you are a Skye man

Mike
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