Fomapan 100 film

[Valerio Trigari]

Hello everyone,

I recently bought a box of Fomapan 100 film, as I wanted to see how it compares with my standard choice, i.e. Ilford Delta 100. Considering that Fomapan costs about half of Delta, I thought it would be good giving it a go.

When handling the film I found Fomapan much more delicate than Ilford, I would think because the base is thinner. A really annoying and frustrating feature of this film, at least in my tests, is that when loading it on the Jobo reel, it tends to natually curve with the emulsion side sticking out, rather than the opposite, when holding it with thumb and index.

After development (I used Ilford Ilfosol 3, dil. 1+14) and scanning the sheets, I have to say I like the tonality of the film, though I'm not impressed at all with the grain structure. After blowing up the image to 100%+ magnification, I noticed that all over the film there myriads of tiny white spots, like pinholes. I never noticed this in any of my sheets of Delta 100.

Last, but not least, Fomapan 100 film scratches way to easily. I take as much care as possible when handling film and, although some of the scratches were actually due because of mishandling, the vast majority of them should not be there...

In conclusion, although the film renders tones in a pleasant way, I found the film a bit too fragile and the emulsion quality not so great. I think this explains why Fomapan is so cheap, compared to the usual suspects. I think that in the future I will use this film for tests only, but when I actually want to take serious pictures, I will go back to Ilford and Co.

What is your experience with Fomapan 100? Did what I wrote sound familiar? Suggestions and comments are more than welcome.

Valerio

[Marizu]

I use it in 5x4 and 10x8.
I print optically from it. 10x8 are contact prints and 5x4 are through an enlarger.
I have printed 5x4 up to 20x16 and I haven't really noticed any defects in the emulsion.
I develop in Fotospeed FD 10.

I'll have to scan some on my V700 and take a close peep.
What kind of scanner are you using, Valerio, and what resolution are you scanning at?

[Valerio Trigari]

My scanner is an Epson V700 and I scanned the images using SilverFast 8, at 4800 dpi saving the images as TIFF. I use the auto-enhance feature (or whatever it's called) and I add sharpening and grain reduction. I'll try to upaload a sample of the defect I mentioned.

[Marizu]

Ok. I would be interested in seeing it without the sharpening, too.
Sometimes sharpening thresholds/settings can exaggerate the acutance of grain type effects.

[Valerio Trigari]

Thanks Marizu, I will do that test too. However, the same defect did not appear on Delta 100 sheets. The pinholes look like grains of dust on the sheets, but I can rule that out with a high degree of confidence.

[monst]

hiya, i have used this film in the past and have gotten some fine pinholes which turned out to be the stop bath being too aggressive, i changed to water for stop and the problem went away. cheers. john

[Valerio Trigari]

hiya, i have used this film in the past and have gotten some fine pinholes which turned out to be the stop bath being too aggressive, i changed to water for stop and the problem went away. cheers. john

Hi there, this is a very useful suggestion. Thanks!

[Andrew Plume]

Valerie, Hi

I know that 'vanman' on this site regularly uses fomapan, why not send him a pm, he's a decent and hlepful guy

best regards

andrew

[Valerio Trigari]

Hi Andrew, thanks a lot, I will contact vanman.

[Thingy]

Have you tried using hardener in the fixing solution? (If it allows you to add it).

[Valerio Trigari]

No, I don't have any hardner. However, the film leaflet did not mention it, so I'm not sure if it should be used.

[Thingy]

No, I don't have any hardner. However, the film leaflet did not mention it, so I'm not sure if it should be used.

It is optional, but you might want to give it a go. Does anyone else have any suggestions of this front?

[vanman]

Valerio,
Fomapan is in my opinion a fantastic film. I prefer the 200 as it's a bit more flexable in our climate (it might be making a return later this year).. You need to be careful with the film, especially when it's wet. I wear vinyl or similar gloves (even when I'm loading the film into film holders). I only use Patterson Orbitals because they are so economical. My method for the 100 & the 200 is :-
Two 2 minute waterbaths,
8 1/2 minutes in D-76 H (mixed using de-ionised water). D-76 will be OK but leave it for 24 hours after mixing.
Five or six rinses in water (tap water)
Two 5 nimute fixes in a neutral or alkali fix.
All this at 20*c.
30 minute wash in running water (this is probably over the top as I use an alkali or neutral fixer but I'm not on a meter so............).

I'm not positive but I seem to remember the instructions saying not to use an acid stop bath.
Good luck,
Vanman.

[Valerio Trigari]

Hi vanman,

thank you very much for your detailed description. I think I will use gloves in the future as well, by the way.

A big issue is that my Calumet light tight tent is too small to accommodate: Jobo develping tank, Jobo reel loader and film holders. I think I'm going to invest some money on a Harrison tent, they seem much more spacious.

I chechked the Foma website and this is what they say about the stop bath:

When the development time has elapsed, the film is recommended to be shortly rinsed in distilled water or dipped in a 2 % acetid acid solution for 10 seconds.

However, I'm going to follow your suggestion and use distilled water, as Ilfostop could be too acidic for the emulsion.

Val

[vanman]

Valerio,
I use tap water as a stop bath but as I lived in London for a short time in the 80's and found out just how bad the water was I would use de-ionised water. I get mine from a vehicle accessory shop in a 25 litre container at a very reasonable price.
If you must use stop baths I personally mix a solution of 5 - 10 gramms of citric acid to a litre of water, there is no change of colour when it's knackered but it's cheap enought to throw away after 10 or so 8x10's.
Hope that this helps,
Vanman.