Okay, you convinced me, I'm ordering some Foma 400! Gonna test it in Rodinal and HC-110 as these are my go to developers. I also wanted to thank you for all effort you put into these videos. It's a lot of work and provides a valuable resource for people. Thanks!
Thank you very much for your nice comment! At this point FRUD is definitely the voters choice- shooting tomorrow in Playland in Rye NY- taking two Olympus XA’s with me so I can do the promised side by side- hoping to have that final video in this group done by the end of the week.
Also- if you want very smooth fine grain with tons and I mean tons of greyscale try just the HC110 Dilution G -- it’s ok for very high contrast scenes only as it is very LC
Nice tonality. Might try this film with my next bulk roll purchase. I have been using it in 5x7 developed in HC110. For 35 I have been shooting Kentmere 400 which I found to be very grainy until I tried it in a weak 1-15 Tmax solution for 30 minutes. Agitation up front then 10 every 10 minutes. That process renders grain much closer to what one might expect from say HP5. Thanks for the efforts.
Have you noticed the classic D-76 from formula problem with activity increasing for around a week after mixing? This is apparently due to pH rising as the hydroquinone reacts with the sulfite, leading to one of the more common modifications begin to just leave out the hydroquinone (which gives you a borax-accelerated D-23, more or less). Of those you've shown in these two videos, I'm still going to stick with my preference for Rodinal 1:50. And there's a good reason I mix my own Parodinal and D-23: as you noted, this can save a LOT of money on developers; the only real competition (and the only other B&W developer I use regularly) is replenished Xtol (or in my case, EcoPro, a work-alike); replenishment saves enough that I don't worry about paying for commercially made developer, and since I don't have ready access to the sequestrants that let Xtol last well (vs. homemade Mytol), it's cheaper for me to use commecial Xtol or EcoPro than to my my own Mytol and have to discard it frequently (or use it one-shot, even diluted).
I think the D76 1+1 is probably closest to the old TriX in your test scene. However a scene with strong reds, and cyan/green may well highlight the extended red sensitivity of Fomapan 400, and this may have some bearing on contrast. As always really enjoying your channel, especially film / developer testing. Many thanks.
Once, I've used Rodinal 1+25 and 35mm Foma 400 exposed at EI 250 and it went very well, old school but not lame old school like Foma 400 + Rodinal 1+50 in 6x6. Did you try FX39 ? It's said to have a tonality close to Xtol with the sharpness and grain of Rodinal. It gives Tri-x and particular look in 6x7. The only time I tried it with Tri-X in 35mm there were great tones but a bit too much grain to my taste on some high key pictures.
@@FIGITALREVOLUTION the main reason I don't shoot Fomapan 400 is the extra red sensitivity which can make my families' lips blend into their other skin tons ... or maybe I haven't shot enough of it to know how it really responds to reds ... might be basing this off the tech sheet more than experience
The main reason I will NEVERr use that crappy film, is curl! It is curled when dry. Impossible to scan ! Old TRI_X never had this problem. I used the original for 40+ years.. TG for Digital.
I'll chime in like others and say thanks for your experiments and sharing them with us. Awesome.
More coming soon! 😁
Awesome test!!! congratulations, keep going!
Okay, you convinced me, I'm ordering some Foma 400! Gonna test it in Rodinal and HC-110 as these are my go to developers. I also wanted to thank you for all effort you put into these videos. It's a lot of work and provides a valuable resource for people. Thanks!
Thank you very much for your nice comment! At this point FRUD is definitely the voters choice- shooting tomorrow in Playland in Rye NY- taking two Olympus XA’s with me so I can do the promised side by side- hoping to have that final video in this group done by the end of the week.
Also- if you want very smooth fine grain with tons and I mean tons of greyscale try just the HC110 Dilution G -- it’s ok for very high contrast scenes only as it is very LC
@@FIGITALREVOLUTION Awesome! Thanks for the tip.
Nice tonality. Might try this film with my next bulk roll purchase. I have been using it in 5x7 developed in HC110. For 35 I have been shooting Kentmere 400 which I found to be very grainy until I tried it in a weak 1-15 Tmax solution for 30 minutes. Agitation up front then 10 every 10 minutes. That process renders grain much closer to what one might expect from say HP5. Thanks for the efforts.
Loving this series.
Thank you!
Great channel. Really watchable 👍
Thank you!
Have you noticed the classic D-76 from formula problem with activity increasing for around a week after mixing? This is apparently due to pH rising as the hydroquinone reacts with the sulfite, leading to one of the more common modifications begin to just leave out the hydroquinone (which gives you a borax-accelerated D-23, more or less).
Of those you've shown in these two videos, I'm still going to stick with my preference for Rodinal 1:50.
And there's a good reason I mix my own Parodinal and D-23: as you noted, this can save a LOT of money on developers; the only real competition (and the only other B&W developer I use regularly) is replenished Xtol (or in my case, EcoPro, a work-alike); replenishment saves enough that I don't worry about paying for commercially made developer, and since I don't have ready access to the sequestrants that let Xtol last well (vs. homemade Mytol), it's cheaper for me to use commecial Xtol or EcoPro than to my my own Mytol and have to discard it frequently (or use it one-shot, even diluted).
Yes I have definitely see the issue with D76! Not my go to developer these days but still quite nice.
I think the D76 1+1 is probably closest to the old TriX in your test scene. However a scene with strong reds, and cyan/green may well highlight the extended red sensitivity of Fomapan 400, and this may have some bearing on contrast. As always really enjoying your channel, especially film / developer testing. Many thanks.
Thank you!
They are really nice.
And now I have a reference on which dev I can use. For different scenes.
Yep!
Rodinal and FRUD er my favorites
Once, I've used Rodinal 1+25 and 35mm Foma 400 exposed at EI 250 and it went very well, old school but not lame old school like Foma 400 + Rodinal 1+50 in 6x6. Did you try FX39 ? It's said to have a tonality close to Xtol with the sharpness and grain of Rodinal. It gives Tri-x and particular look in 6x7. The only time I tried it with Tri-X in 35mm there were great tones but a bit too much grain to my taste on some high key pictures.
I also prefer 1:1 D76. It surprised me that D76 rendered it so well.
Yep! It’s a classic!
I really need to try some pushed to 1600 and developed in Dektol to see if I can get that old time newspaper photographer look.
I’m actually doing a post on that in a few days
I like 3:1
Wait, where are your scans of classic Tri-X? That’s really the piece I’m missing.
Still one more post coming comparing the Fompan 400 to 400TX and classic Tri-X
@@FIGITALREVOLUTION the main reason I don't shoot Fomapan 400 is the extra red sensitivity which can make my families' lips blend into their other skin tons ... or maybe I haven't shot enough of it to know how it really responds to reds ... might be basing this off the tech sheet more than experience
FRUD
The main reason I will NEVERr use that crappy film, is curl! It is curled when dry. Impossible to scan ! Old TRI_X never had this problem. I used the original for 40+ years.. TG for Digital.
I’ve never had an issue with it curling-- new Gold 200 has a wicked curl