Fomapan 100 film

[Valerio Trigari]

Thanks again Vanman, I will keep in mind the use of citric acid as stop bathn.

Val

[vanman]

I got it a bit wrong..............I use the D-76H DILUTED 1-1 with de-ionised water.
Sorry.
Vanman.

[Valerio Trigari]

No problem, thanks for the correction.

Val

[Robin Wait]

Hi Val,
I've used Foma 100 extensively over the last couple of years, in both 4 x 5 and 8 x 10,and like it a lot. I haven't noticed that the emulsion is particularly fragile (at least not compared to Adox CHS which is); however I use a modified Paterson orbital for processing which entails less handling of the film than loading a Jobo reel. I did observe some pinholing early on, which may have been due to use of a citric acid stop bath; I now use plain water and the problem hasn't recurred. My developing sequence is; 3 minute prewash with (London) tap water, then Rodinal (RO9 one shot) 1 +100 ; (200 ml for 4 sheets of 4 x 5 or 1 10 x for 14 min at 20C, then 30 seconds stop in tap water, and 6 minutes in hypam fix. Wash for 20 mins in running tap water, and finally rinse in deionized water before drying (the same times work for a Jobo CPE-2 which I have used in the past).
I scan with an Epson V750 (which is optically much the same as your V700) using Epson scan, but with all sharpening, scratch removal etc turned off in the scanner software. Photoshop gives you a lot more control over sharpening, and you still have your original scan file if you make a bad post-processing choice.
best wishes
Robin

[Valerio Trigari]

Hi Robin,

thanks for sharing your development technique for this film. Out of curiosity, do you use Rodinal to get better acutance in the negative, compared to a classic D-76 or HC-110?

Cheers,

Val

[Robin Wait]

Hi Val,
I use Rodinal primarily because I like the way it looks, (and not just with Fomapan 100) but also because it is incredibly economical and seems to last forever (although the contents do go a bit disconcertingly dark after a few months open, not that it seems to affect the results). Acutance isn't a big issue as I'm contact printing in palladium.
HC110 is also a favourite but not for Fomapan 100, possibly because I've not optimized the conditions, or possibly because its not optimal . (I have used it with Fomapan 400, but having tried a box, now it's available in 5 x 4, I'm not bowled over; grain is obtrusive and I haven't sussed it's reciprocity characteristics yet). I really like HC110 with Adox films, with Fuji neopan (not that you can get it easily in LF in the UK) and (of course) with TriX 320.
Regards
Robin

[Valerio Trigari]

[...] I'm contact printing in palladium.

Hi Robin, can you please give me more details on this?

Val

[Neil Barnes]

Misread that as 'Platinum' but you may find this interesting; page 205 plus, among others: http://www.archive.org/stream/bookofpho ... latinotype

Neil

[Dean Willcox]

having never used this film but 1 st write up on the net compares film to agfa pan 100 . have you looked at using Rodinal 1+100 or 1+200 depending on subject contrast range ? I had the same trouble years ago using agfa pan ( pin holes ) and was told to make sure your stop is correct dilution & well mixed ( i would leave it for at least 24 hours to settle )
regards Dean

[Valerio Trigari]

Misread that as 'Platinum' but you may find this interesting; page 205 plus, among others: http://www.archive.org/stream/bookofpho ... latinotype

Neil

Thanks Neil, I will read the article.

having never used this film but 1 st write up on the net compares film to agfa pan 100 . have you looked at using Rodinal 1+100 or 1+200 depending on subject contrast range ? I had the same trouble years ago using agfa pan ( pin holes ) and was told to make sure your stop is correct dilution & well mixed ( i would leave it for at least 24 hours to settle )
regards Dean

I've never used Rodinal, though I'm interested in trying it. I suspect the stop bath I'm using is too strong and that causes the pinholes as you and others suggested.

[Robin Wait]

[...] I'm contact printing in palladium.

Hi Robin, can you please give me more details on this?

Val

Hi Val,
sorry been out of circulation; hence the delayed response. Basically the same as platinum printing, but using palladium, a somewhat cheaper platinum-group metal . I use the modernized chemistry introduced by Mike Ware, which seems robust and relatively simple. See Mike's website (http://www.mikeware.co.uk/mikeware/Plat ... otype.html) for more details and a working protocol (or log on to alternativephotography.com).
You can see a few examples of my efforts in the alternative process set on my Flickr account; http://www.flickr.com/photos/prw_london/
Best wishes
Robin

[Valerio Trigari]

Hi Val,
sorry been out of circulation; hence the delayed response. Basically the same as platinum printing, but using palladium, a somewhat cheaper platinum-group metal . I use the modernized chemistry introduced by Mike Ware, which seems robust and relatively simple. See Mike's website (http://www.mikeware.co.uk/mikeware/Plat ... otype.html) for more details and a working protocol (or log on to alternativephotography.com).
You can see a few examples of my efforts in the alternative process set on my Flickr account; http://www.flickr.com/photos/prw_london/
Best wishes
Robin

Hi Robin,

sorry for the late reply, I had an incredibly long week at work... Thank you very much for the links, I will read them with much interest. I'm a chemist myself (though I work in IT), so I'm always curious about new or alternative procedures. Pity I don't have a darkroom at the moment...

Cheers,

Valerio

[Valerio Trigari]

I suspect the stop bath I'm using is too strong and that causes the pinholes as you and others suggested.

I tried processing using tap water as the stop bath, but I still get the pinholes... I wonder if either the developer or the fixer may have anything to do with it.

[Adrian Twiss]

I rate Fomapan at iso 50 and develop for 11 minutes in Pyrocat HD 1:1.5:100. I find it builds contrast quickly and produces bright punchy negatives with fine grain. I find that many of my subjects only have a subject brightness range of 4 stops so the extra contrast comes in handy.

However, whilst this combo gives me satisfying tonality it is "fussy". My initial batch showed a lot of blotching in even toned areas. After a lot of experimentation I discovered that these went when I mixed the working solution with distilled water rather than tap water. I live in Lancashire and whilst the water is not hard I am not convinced its particularly good qualtiy (it tastes disgusting). Whilst not as robust as FP4 or HP5 it does need care when being handled but it is nowhere neer as delicate as Adox film.