fomapan - too cheap to be good?

AshleyC

AshleyC

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Just had a look on AG's website and see that Fomapan 5x4 is stupidly cheap. Is there a good reason for that? Anyone used it an can comment?
 
I've been using some ood stuff for getting the hang of the Arca. Looks fine to me, its not terribly grainy though I think 100 is a little optimistic. Its curly wurly in smaller formats but again it seems fine in sheet, I think the emulsion may be a little soft but I'm still learning so any scratches are probably my fault!

For reference its the only sheet film I've used and I'm sure some of the more seasoned guys will tell you why FP4+ is much better but for burning through its fine.
 
I've not used the sheet version but its fine in 35mm & 120, at that price its gotta be worth a try.
 
I tried the 400 version in 35mm and found it too grainy for my liking. The emulsion was extremely soft when wet and very easily scratched. I don't know but don't suppose that you would use a squeegee on 5"x4", which is just as well.
 
Foma films are perfectly competent, and can give some lovely pictures with a certain almost "old fashioned charm" (the emulsions date from the 50's). The problem with them mainly is the quality control; sometimes they'll be fantastic, and other times not quite as good. The 100 is probably the only one that I would use though as the speed for the 200 version is very optimistic (I found that with the standard dev times it looked best when exposed at 125), and the 400 is very very grainy. The emulsion is also quite soft (and the film is so thin that in 35mm Foma films are an absolute pain to get on the reel!).
 
thanks for the replies. I'll risk a box. A quick fomapan search on flickr shows up a lot of nice looking images.
 
It's a classic looking film, which can be quite nice. The 120 versions are an absolute pain to develop, because like all cheap films they are very curly and are a real struggle to keep flat.

The ratings are all very optimistic - the ISO100 is nowhere near ISO100, probably nearer ISO50-80.
 
Much as I like to support Ilford, I've recently got hooked on it. Not really a fine work film, it's old school and might be an acquired taste, and the price is seductive. I've bought twenty 120 rolls of the Creative 200, and I'm nearly halfway through. I've been developing mainly with R09, but I've got 5 litres of ID11 stock to use next. Funny enough, I find that the 120 films spool particularly well onto Paterson reels!

14507678481_08b20fee14_z.jpg


14266597039_17db09347c_z.jpg


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Above were Creative 200 developed in R09.
Next one is Fomapan 100 developed in ID11:

14057233917_cbfbe63e98_z.jpg
 
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I have to say, I don't like it. It's so curly, I always manage to scratch the emulsion when I dev it. User error, but why make life harder for yourself than it needs to be? :p
 
well i imagine the 5x4 will be flatter than the roll stuff, if not it would be unusable! its cheap enough to test a box out though.
 
It's been a little while since I shot fomopan but the results with 100 ISO roll film were more than acceptable.
By contrast I couldn't get on with the 400.....the grain was, for me, /not agreeable and I don't usually have a dislike to grainy shots.
Never tried the 200.
If I was in the UK I'd buy a box of this 5x4 . As it is overseas postage takes away the 'bargain'price.
 
MacoDirect also stocks sheet 5x4 Fomapan 100, I think its about €30 though their postage is a little steeper.
 
I like it. It's as cheap as chips and for 4x5 sheets I haven't found any QC issues. The only downside is reciprocity error, its pants. I've used it for still life without flash and found myself almost running out of elephants to count!

Here's an example developed in Rodinal 1+50.

Flowers by wickerman6, on Flickr
 
steveo_mcg said:
MacoDirect also stocks sheet 5x4 Fomapan 100, I think its about €30 though their postage is a little steeper.
Click to expand...

Thanks Steve..... I've used them before though not for 5 x4.and the postage was reasonable providing I bought a few items to make it worthy of the cost


wickerman said:
I like it. It's as cheap as chips and for 4x5 sheets I haven't found any QC issues. The only downside is reciprocity error, its pants. I've used it for still life without flash and found myself almost running out of elephants to count!

Here's an example developed in Rodinal 1+50.

Flowers by wickerman6, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Yes the reciprocity is lengthy but it can come in handy.... I did a long exposure on 100 ISO of a Ferris wheel and was glad of the slowness of the film
 
@essexash Thanks for this thread. I'm using it for my entry into the world of LF. It's great value, just right for my error percentage..!!
 
your welcome :) wish i could find some! silverprint are out until the end of august
 
essexash said:
your welcome :) wish i could find some! silverprint are out until the end of august
Click to expand...

Check this listing. Got mine from this seller.

251591212005
 
They have some in stock at fotoimpexshop, they have a minimum purchase but if you put together a decent size order they are probably cheaper then UK suppliers even when taking into account the postage charges.
 
two fomapan 100 examples both cooked in stock id11 as has been said very thin emulsion layer so go careful and its fine

11139905066_a9fbf8eb80_b.jpg


11139809665_3b54dee361_b.jpg
 
Where it's made the WAGES are much LESS than in UK and Petrol cheaper and Food cheaper so Prices are better than UK prices -- just because it's CHEAP does not mean it's no good !! In my Wife's country the Philippines Coca Cola is about 10p a tin and UK is at least 50 P but the TASTE is the same - also Petrol is 45P a litre and Cars go just the same as here at £ 1-30 a Litre !
 
just to resurrect this thread. I know a few of us cheapskates use this stuff :) I've been fighting with its exposure settings for a while now. Anyway, i found an old post on some far flung forum where someone worked out all the reciprocity times of the stuff. I did a series of shots yesterday based on these tables and it worked out really well!

http://www.f295.org/main/showthread.php?10884-Fomapan-200-Creative-reciprocity-table

So, something worth keeping a bookmark on.
 
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