Thoughts on fomapan 400

N

Nebular89

Suspended / Banned
Messages
422
Edit My Images
No
My only film camera currently is a rollei 35, which means I’m guessing focus. So if I can help it I’d rather not use an expensive film and waste it with missed focus. But I also want a faster film.
I can get a bulk roll of fomapan 400 for £30 but I’ve never used it. Ive used fomapan 100 in 35mm and quite liked it developed in rodinal. I would be using Ilfotec hc for the 400 speed film.
The couple of concerns I have is I have read that fomapan 400 is actually closer to 250iso than 400 and I have used fomapan in 120 and a couple of sheets in 4x5 and have had quality issues both times. Not all the time, but occasionally I have had the frames covered with strange white dots.

So the options are Fomapan 400, Kentmere 400 or HP5.
 
There's a few online reviews that compare Kentmere 400 and Fomapan 400. Here's one...

It would seem to be a very easy choice if they were all the same price, but Fomapan is pretty cheap.
I like Fomapan 100 and particularly 200 (35mm). I load it from bulk rolls.
I also have a bulk roll of 400 but found on the first roll that it didn't do well in Bellini Duo Step (or I'd screwed up the exposure/development), so haven't got round to running another. Now I have a bottle of Rodinal, I will run one again. For the roll I did use, it was in a DX read, auto-exposure camera. The results at 400 were a little under exposed. I'll try at 320 for the next.

https://www.35mmc.com/04/03/2020/fomapan-400-kentmere-400-review/
 
Last edited:
Cluster said:
There's a few online reviews that compare Kentmere 400 and Fomapan 400. Here's one...

It would seem to be a very easy choice if they were all the same price, but Fomapan is pretty cheap.
I like Fomapan 100 and particularly 200 (35mm). I load it from bulk rolls.
I also have a bulk roll of 400 but found on the first roll that it didn't do well in Bellini Duo Step (or I'd screwed up the exposure/development), so haven't got round to running another. Now I have a bottle of Rodinal, I will run one again. For the roll I did use, it was in a DX read, auto-exposure camera. The results at 400 were a little under exposed. I'll try at 320 for the next.

https://www.35mmc.com/04/03/2020/fomapan-400-kentmere-400-review/
Click to expand...
Makes me think it could well be a lower iso.
I should probably get a roll of each really and try them. It’s a shame kentmere isnt available in a smaller bulk roll.
 
At least with self loading, you can make short rolls for experimental purposes.
 
Nod said:
At least with self loading, you can make short rolls for experimental purposes.
Click to expand...
Yeah. I used fomapan 100 to test the shutter of a Rollei 35 I just got. I used a few frames and open the camera in a dark bag and cut what I’d used off the roll. Worked but it was a pain.
Looking at prices kentmere 400 is about £9-£10 a roll, pretty much the same as HP5 if you buy more than 1 at a time. Probably better off just using HP5.

I’d be tempted to buy fomapan 100 in bulk though. I liked that in Rodinal when I last used it.
 
I think Fomapan 400 might be the one prone to "black rain". It would be a shame to get that problem on a bulk roll!

Can you get a bulk roll of Kentmere 400?
 
ChrisR said:
I think Fomapan 400 might be the one prone to "black rain". It would be a shame to get that problem on a bulk roll!

Can you get a bulk roll of Kentmere 400?
Click to expand...
Yeah I’ve had issues with fomapan before.
I could but you can only get it in 30m I think. I doubt I’ll use that much. It would mainly be used in a rollei 35 so I won’t be blasting away. But if it does the job….ill probably get a roll along with HP5 and compare them. I need to see how often I’ll be using it really. If it’s not that frequent then I might as well just spend the extra and get HP5. When I’m away I use it along with my digital camera, using the Rollei when I don’t want to or can’t take my digital camera. So it never gets used a ton. I went away for 2 days to Dorset last week and only shot 1 36 roll
 
Last edited:
I've similarly found that Fomapan 400 tends to be underexposed when shot at box speed, at least with regular development. I recently developed a roll as semi-stand in Rodinal 1+100 for an hour and that seemed to come out well exposed. I've currently got another roll partially shot and will try the same again.

If developing normally I'd recommend shooting it at least at 320asa, perhaps even 200asa.

Fomapan 100, 200, and 400 all look great if properly exposed, but I do find they can have manufacturing issues sometimes. I had to return some 4x5 Fomapan 100 because it was covered in tiny white speckles, and I had the same issue with some rolls of the 120 variant (although I've also used it with no problems at all). I guess the low cost sometimes has it's own price.
 
FishyFish said:
I've similarly found that Fomapan 400 tends to be underexposed when shot at box speed, at least with regular development. I recently developed a roll as semi-stand in Rodinal 1+100 for an hour and that seemed to come out well exposed. I've currently got another roll partially shot and will try the same again.

If developing normally I'd recommend shooting it at least at 320asa, perhaps even 200asa.

Fomapan 100, 200, and 400 all look great if properly exposed, but I do find they can have manufacturing issues sometimes. I had to return some 4x5 Fomapan 100 because it was covered in tiny white speckles, and I had the same issue with some rolls of the 120 variant (although I've also used it with no problems at all). I guess the low cost sometimes has it's own price.
Click to expand...
Yeah I’ve had that with fomapan, not sure what it is. I’ve only seen it on 120 and 4x5 though.
 
Just found out that apx 400 is kentmere 400. I tried apx 400 not long ago, whilst I developed it in Rodinal I really didn’t like.
 
FishyFish said:
So is Rollei RPX 400 (and RPX 100 is Kentmere 100).
Click to expand...
Interesting. Rodinal might have played a part, I should probably try it again in Ilfotec Hc, but it was very flat and grey. Very grainy, but it was rodinal
 
Not a great help but I just use Kentmere now. Nothing other than I've never really gelled with Foma films. Now there is a Kentmere 200 (my first 2 120 rolls remain in the fridge) I don't think I'll bother with Foma in roll or 35mm film - Kentmere is unavailable in LF however so that's a positive for Foma.

Kentmere 30m bulk is £71 at it's cheapest before p&p so just £3.94 for 18 x 36exp. Of course they don't do 17.5m rolls as Foma do.

If you go to the right places Kentmere is cheaper as well and I've never had any manufacturing issues with it. Ilford will repackage Kentmere for whoever meets their criteria inc pricing but they won't do it for their main Ilford films. I don't buy any of the Kentmere repackaged film as in virtually all circumstances the Kent is cheaper.

Just me but bar Foma in 17.5m bulk and LF I'm Kentmere all the way. I was really excited when they launched it not quite 3 years ago and it still continues to meet all my requirements.
 
Nebular89 said:
Looking at prices kentmere 400 is about £9-£10 a roll
Click to expand...

No, £5.50. Yes p&p is £5 but buy 10 and then it's £6 a roll.
www.morco.uk.com

Kentmere 100 Black & White Film

Kentmere 100 ASA is a medium speed black and white camera film which is suitable for a variety of indoor and outdoor applications of photography where good lighting exists. It has the capability to generate high quality images with fine grain and good sharpness, and is a good choice of film if...
www.morco.uk.com

Foma 400 is £6 a roll.
www.morco.uk.com

Foma Fomapan Action 400 Black and White Film

Foma Fomapan 400 Action black and white film is panchromatically sensitized, black and white negative film with a speed ISO 400.
www.morco.uk.com

I've somewhat disproved my argument in my post above. On the same site Foma 100 & 200 is just a fiver in 35mm 36exp, £4.70 for 120 and £54 for 30m!! Damn :)
 
auntiemaryscanary said:
No, £5.50. Yes p&p is £5 but buy 10 and then it's £6 a roll.
www.morco.uk.com

Kentmere 100 Black & White Film

Kentmere 100 ASA is a medium speed black and white camera film which is suitable for a variety of indoor and outdoor applications of photography where good lighting exists. It has the capability to generate high quality images with fine grain and good sharpness, and is a good choice of film if...
www.morco.uk.com

Foma 400 is £6 a roll.
www.morco.uk.com

Foma Fomapan Action 400 Black and White Film

Foma Fomapan 400 Action black and white film is panchromatically sensitized, black and white negative film with a speed ISO 400.
www.morco.uk.com

I've somewhat disproved my argument in my post above. On the same site Foma 100 & 200 is just a fiver in 35mm 36exp, £4.70 for 120 and £54 for 30m!! Damn :)
Click to expand...
I only ever really look at the places with free postage as I don’t buy enough in one for but that is cheap. I just ordered 2 rolls of kentmere 400 for £14 with free postage on eBay, just to give it another crack. As I said about I did develop it rodinal last time, I’ll try Ilfotec hc this time. I might try stand developing 1 and see how that goes.
I want to like it but the results I got with the apx weren't all that great.
 
I've had issues with Fomapan 200 in 120 roll film which has rather soured me on Foma (although the 35mm version was fine) so it would be Kentmere for me (or Exeter Pan XX - just wish I knew what that was).
 
Flighter said:
I've had issues with Fomapan 200 in 120 roll film which has rather soured me on Foma (although the 35mm version was fine) so it would be Kentmere for me (or Exeter Pan XX - just wish I knew what that was).
Click to expand...
Me too, had two rolls of 120 from a bad batch. It seemed to be a common problem at the time. It involved a couple of batches I understand. 35mm in 200 seems fine, I like it but it may be a little more delicate that some.
 
Nebular89 said:
I only ever really look at the places with free postage as I don’t buy enough in one for but that is cheap. I just ordered 2 rolls of kentmere 400 for £14 with free postage on eBay, just to give it another crack. As I said about I did develop it rodinal last time, I’ll try Ilfotec hc this time. I might try stand developing 1 and see how that goes.
I want to like it but the results I got with the apx weren't all that great.
Click to expand...
I've developed many rolls of Kentmere 400 in HC-110 and I think the results are excellent. Try dilution E (1+47), 9 minutes, the tones are nicer IMHO. Dries lovely and flat too.

2303APLXBW11 K400 nice.jpg

Pentax LX, Cosinon-W 28mm f/2, K400, HC-110 dilution E.
 
Last edited:
ChrisR said:
I've developed many rolls of Kentmere 400 in HC-110 and I think the results are excellent. Try dilution E (1+47), 9 minutes, the tones are nicer IMHO. Dries lovely and flat too.

View attachment 460740

Pentax LX, Cosinon-W 28mm f/2, K400, HC-110 dilution E.
Click to expand...
I do need to try it again really to be sure. Getting the bulk roll would be better than paying out for the single rolls
 
I tend to find KM400 to be a bit flat at 400 but rather nice at 800 which probably explains the 400 & 800 tick boxes on the 35mm cannisters.

Last December I ran a roll of KM 400 pushed to 3200 for some night time Christmas street shots, developed in Xtol the results far exceeded my expectations, I was very impressed.

Link to my KM3200 shots on Flickr
 
zx9 said:
I tend to find KM400 to be a bit flat at 400 but rather nice at 800 which probably explains the 400 & 800 tick boxes on the 35mm cannisters.

Last December I ran a roll of KM 400 pushed to 3200 for some night time Christmas street shots, developed in Xtol the results far exceeded my expectations, I was very impressed.

Link to my KM3200 shots on Flickr
Click to expand...
That’s what I found when I tried apx 400. I haven’t tried pushing it though. I suppose contrast can always be added later, to a point
 
I've only shot 120 twice since coming back to film and unfortunately it was Fomapan 200 from "that" batch. In 35mm I have shot Fomapan 100, 200 and 400 with various levels of success, but a few times I have ended up with straightline scratches appearing after a few frames and running to the end of the roll. I can only assume that the particle was introduced by the film. So now I have weaned myself off Foma film and now use Kentmere for my budget option.
 
I've developed a roll of Fomapan 400 today. I used semi-stand development, which I've used before with no issue, but today I got loads of bromide drag. That's probably my fault.

What isn't my fault is the white speckles that are covering the images. It's not the first time I've had this problem with Fomapan, but I'd hoped it was just a certain batch. Apparently not. There was also some other weird uneven development on a few shots that I'm not sure was my fault.

I've got three more rolls of it in the fridge. I'm going to check the batch number and, if they're the same, I'll probably have to feed them to my Holga.
 
FishyFish said:
I've developed a roll of Fomapan 400 today. I used semi-stand development, which I've used before with no issue, but today I got loads of bromide drag. That's probably my fault.

What isn't my fault is the white speckles that are covering the images. It's not the first time I've had this problem with Fomapan, but I'd hoped it was just a certain batch. Apparently not. There was also some other weird uneven development on a few shots that I'm not sure was my fault.

I've got three more rolls of it in the fridge. I'm going to check the batch number and, if they're the same, I'll probably have to feed them to my Holga.
Click to expand...
I’ve had the speckles a few times. On 4x5 and 120, never on 35mm. But it’s enough to put me off it. Unless it’s to test a camera
 
FishyFish said:
I've similarly found that Fomapan 400 tends to be underexposed when shot at box speed, at least with regular development. I recently developed a roll as semi-stand in Rodinal 1+100 for an hour and that seemed to come out well exposed. I've currently got another roll partially shot and will try the same again.

If developing normally I'd recommend shooting it at least at 320asa, perhaps even 200asa.

Fomapan 100, 200, and 400 all look great if properly exposed, but I do find they can have manufacturing issues sometimes. I had to return some 4x5 Fomapan 100 because it was covered in tiny white speckles, and I had the same issue with some rolls of the 120 variant (although I've also used it with no problems at all). I guess the low cost sometimes has it's own price.
Click to expand...
I've only used a couple of rolls from my 30m bulk roll of 135 Fomapan 400 and have been disappointed by the negatives at 400 in Rodinal 1+50 and in Bellini Duo Step. As I have quite a few rolls left, I'd like to try a semi stand development, particularly if I can expose it at 400. What is the semi stand process and do I need a minimum amount of Rodinal in the developer for single 35mm rolls. (I will try shorter lengths to start with, say 24 exp or less).
 
Cluster said:
I've only used a couple of rolls from my 30m bulk roll of 135 Fomapan 400 and have been disappointed by the negatives at 400 in Rodinal 1+50 and in Bellini Duo Step. As I have quite a few rolls left, I'd like to try a semi stand development, particularly if I can expose it at 400. What is the semi stand process and do I need a minimum amount of Rodinal in the developer for single 35mm rolls. (I will try shorter lengths to start with, say 24 exp or less).
Click to expand...
So the way I used to do it is you agitate for 30sec then leave it for 30min, agitate again then leave it for another 30min, then your done. For dilution it’s 1:100. I think you don’t want less than 5ml though so you’d have to use 500ml of solution. I only ever used 1ltr as I usually did 3 rolls at a time.
 
Last edited:
Cluster said:
Is that 5ml per film or for the whole batch?
Click to expand...
whole batch. What I mean is from what I have heard you shouldnt have less than 5ml of Rodinal in any batch. So even you are only developing 1 roll of 35mm and it needs say 350ml to cover it, so 3.5ml of Rodinal into 347ml of water, you should still make up 500ml and use it all so you have 5ml of Rodinal. I dont know why that is and if its true, but I have heard it from a couple of sources so I just did it. But as I said as it takes up over an hour to do I never did only 1 roll of 35mm so I always made up 1ltr, 10ml rodinal in 990ml of water, and filled the tank to the top.
 
With Rodinal, I use a different measuring system, so 1+100 would mean, for instance, 10ml Rodinal plus 1000ml water. One part developer plus 100 parts water.

With other developers, it's a ratio, so 1:4 would be 100ml of developer plus 400ml water. One part developer plus four parts water.

Similarly, this is based on what I have read rather than some sort of chemical expertise. :)
 
At that dilution it probably doesn't really matter if it's 10ml Rodinal and 990ml water (1.000% strength) to make 1000ml total or 10ml Rodinal and 1000ml water (0.9901% strength).

From what I've read a figure of no less than 10ml per 135-36 or 120 film came from an Agfa datasheet but I've been unable to find one which quotes a minimum quantity, the current one (eg Rodinal data sheet) only refers to 1+25 and 1+50 with no recommendation for a minimum quantity. I did find what is said to be an Agfa document which gives times for all 3 dilutions and which says for 1+100 a minimum of 250ml diluted solution for each film must be used which would mean 2.4752ml of Rodinal per film.

In a 2010 post on Photrio a Dutch Agfa supplier confirmed that 10ml/135-36 or 120 roll film is the minimum according the Agfa Rodinal manual but that a product specialist from Agfa had told him that 5-6ml is the real minimum for a regular development and that going under this minimum the result depended on the amount black and white on the negative. Another poster claimed to have used 2ml per film with no issues.

So who knows?
 
Flighter said:
At that dilution it probably doesn't really matter if it's 10ml Rodinal and 990ml water (1.000% strength) to make 1000ml total or 10ml Rodinal and 1000ml water (0.9901% strength).

From what I've read a figure of no less than 10ml per 135-36 or 120 film came from an Agfa datasheet but I've been unable to find one which quotes a minimum quantity, the current one (eg Rodinal data sheet) only refers to 1+25 and 1+50 with no recommendation for a minimum quantity. I did find what is said to be an Agfa document which gives times for all 3 dilutions and which says for 1+100 a minimum of 250ml diluted solution for each film must be used which would mean 2.4752ml of Rodinal per film.

In a 2010 post on Photrio a Dutch Agfa supplier confirmed that 10ml/135-36 or 120 roll film is the minimum according the Agfa Rodinal manual but that a product specialist from Agfa had told him that 5-6ml is the real minimum for a regular development and that going under this minimum the result depended on the amount black and white on the negative. Another poster claimed to have used 2ml per film with no issues.

So who knows?
Click to expand...
I think I got mine from the art of photography YouTube channel. Makes it sound like the volume of Rodinal doesn’t really matter that much as long as it’s 1:100. I can’t see how it would if the dilution is the same. But as I said I only ever made 1ltr so it was always 10ml by default
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top