I’m so glad you made a video about this stuff! It’s been my all time favorite in 120 since the day it came out, I just bought 5 rolls in 35mm that I can’t wait to use (probably as a daily, like you). I agree about all the extra points you made at the end, I would love bulk rolls and also a slightly weaker anti-halation layer. I’m trying to get my friends onto this also!
i finally got the roll developed and yeah its phenomenal, i've been a big fan of orthochromatic film for a couple of years and getting this is a blessing
Bought a few rolls -- mostly for its lovely retro looking packaging -- and love it. It might be my new preferred film. Thanks for the tips and tricks for using it.
FPP sells their "X-ray" films which are orthochromatic, 100 iso in 120 and 200 iso in 35mm (distinct from the sheet film versions). So that 35mm version would be the second place fastest ortho film after this one. Though from anecdotal experience (the way the film smells) I bet FPP X-ray is made by Foma, meaning it could just be the same emulsion.
Just stuffed a roll of this into my Zeiss Ikon Nettar and am looking forward the results. I have shot Ortho before, so I have an idea of what I'm getting. I'll be developing in 510Pyro, so that should control the grain fairly well.
It's really great to hear about practical stuff like why plastic containers are worse objectively in these videos, otherwise it would be hard to find information like this and that's why I like your videos. In another video I forgot about, but it must've been an SDS video, you mentioned that those harmonic/articulated containers that you can push air out of by pushing it down aren't too good. I've been storing my bnw fixer in one and I wanna know if it's bad for it and etc., if I should get a better one? Thanks for your videos!
Thank you! I thought about making a rant about them at some stage. I don't use them but friends have had issues with them. The plastic has a "resting" uncompressed position that it slowly tries to reach back to, making the bottle slowly stretch and pull in a small amount of air over time. Oxygen displacement is a much more consistent approach but it does mean dealing with butane/argon/nitrogen cans which aren't for everybody. Some of those bottles are also just (slightly) oxygen permeable anyway! I use thick plastic bottles for my colour chems and glass bottles for everything else.
Interesting stuff. I've been a Foma user for years, they're not afraid of releasing something odd from time to time. I wonder if the cine ortho will require actors to wear the blue lipstick like in early ortho movies.
Cinema formats of this film have no anti halo layer. They yield great and very classic looking results anyway. I use 16mm Foma Ortho 400 for my subminiature stills camera. Halation in this very small 11x14mm format is sometimes quite oblivious but certainly has that very classic look.
I didn't expect that to be the case at all, but that's very cool to hear. Must make it a lot more unique than other "consumer" films in that segment :)
I made the mistake of rewinding into one of these plastic cassettes (b.c. Point & Shoot), in the hope that I could fish the leader out and finish the roll in another camera. Instead, the opening was so tight that my flimsy film picker is bent out of shape, and all I managed to get out of the can was the felt light trap. :-( I'll probably just take the L and develop as is.
Thank you for the great review. Does the film have the usual awful curliness of Foma 100 in 120 format. For me that was the deal breaker. It makes scanning so hard to do. Cheers!
No, thankfully it has always dried very flat for me. When I run out of clips I'm able to scavenge them from this film as soon as with Kentmere, if that's any help at all.
That's very good news,@Shaka1277 . I love Ortho film and it seems that the price for the 4x5 version is going to be decent. I'll definitely try a roll of 120 Foma Ortho next time. Thank you for the info, very much appreciated.
Old (before ~ 2000) metal canisters by Ilford, Agfa,... incl. unfilled you could open/close and so reuse. Never got clear why they dropped them for the "modern" not reusable canisters. These old also did also not require a tool to open the canisters.
Foma ortho looks really an amazing flm but unfortunately here in Italy is available only for 120 format, I can't find 35mm or sheet film anywhere :( The second thing is, I use rodinal as everyday developer and I've just started a new bottle. In the datasheet rodinal isn't even listed so I have to guess the developing time? we'll see
My Italian friends usually group-buy from Fotoimpex but I know that isn't ideal. The 4x5 stuff isn't available at most retailers just yet! As for rodinal, the following is what I did (readjusted for non-rotary processing): Rodinal (1+50, 11:00, 20 °C) So that's a starting point to try.
@Shaka1277 yep I just wanted to buy it at a local shop, I guess I'll go for the 120 then. The 1+50 seems a good idea otherwise I thought I could try a 1+100 dilution
@Shaka1277: thanks for the great video! I actually have some of this in 120 in my fridge now, and I want to try it next. What do you think about using filters with this stock? Have you tried it with a yellow filter to darken skies? Or It wouldn't make too much sense?
We share the same hatred for the stupid plastic cans. I can't stand them. I have shot two rolls of fomaortho 400 and I have been impressed! Sadly one of those rolls is the film that makes me discover my Zorki 1D scratched film. I think it does not look as bad as you says in Rodinal. I plan to buy a bunch more of this film soon (as you said so well "price price price!!"). I like the idea of the very old school spectral response of a film like this, yet being 400 ISO!! I can use this even on bad days in a tiny pocketable rangefinder with a 3.5 lens (yes, I dismantled and polished the inside of the Zorki. It is now longer scratching film) If given the choice, you prefer to dev it in XTOL or 510 Pyro?
Super interesting for use loading under a safelight in funny formats - 127 and 620. I would say 126, but FPP is making film with proper perforations for 126. For large format, I hate loading film holders. I use a roll film back. Ilford Ortho 80 sheets are too expensive to prompt me to use it much. I'll certainly give this a go. Err, I hope to give it a go. In a rather insane development, we're in the midst of leaving the USA as it implodes.
Yeah I'm quite seriously considering this as a go-to option for 4x5 since the Ilford stock is too costly. Waiting for my first box to arrive. Safe travels and well wishes for the unfortunate move you're going through.
Why aren't people using it? In the USA? Too much. Much cheaper in Europe I gather. If we get bulk rolls it might bring down the price. Maybe freestyle will roll it up for the Arista brand.
Yeah it's $9-$10 converted in mid-eastern europe. 120 variant is just $7. Tho HP5 is quite expensive, like $11. Kentmere and Fomapan is easily the cheapest with $6-$8.
funnily enough it's almost the exact opposite in mid-eastern europe. As HP5 is about $10.50/$11 converted, only less expensive then Tmax and Tri-X and Fomas are the cheapest along with Kentmere, as low as $6-$7 for Fomapan and Kentmere films.
It has very pronounced grain and lacks exposure flexibility compared to other film stocks like Kentmere 400. Despite this I think you can get interesting results when experimenting with it. Kenteme 400 is much better in almost all metrics, but you can use the Fomapan 400 limitations as artistic choice and get nice results despite the hate. The best Foma film is probably the Fomapan 100, I have never had issues with it. The 120mm films are usually without issues, but the 35mm films like 200 and 400 sometimes can have issues with artifacts. The Foma factory is very old and they do not have resources to modernize the old coating machines. I had issues with weird artifacts with the ortho 400 in 35mm (weird light leaks that did not make sense on few frames), the 120mm was flawless. What is note worthy is the ISO of Foma films is meassured for Foma chemistry. So if you use other development methods, you need to lower the ISO when using chemistry outside of Foma datasheets. They have black and white catalogue on their website with all the chemistry information you will need, including times for non-foma developers.
It has very strong grain, less exposure latitude than many expect from a B&W neg film, and generally low silver content and density leading to limited ability to push and broadly not achieving ISO 400 in most developers (usually 200-250). It isn't "bad" but it isn't what many people expect, and I think it's fair to say it is the worst film Foma sell. I'll pay for Kentmere 400 any day.
I tried Foma Ortho 400 as 120 film. There was like oil residue after developing. Multiple washing rounds did not fix it. The images were super thin. I cannot recommend this film at all.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
Viewer: Man I love how Shaka looks cheerful and smiley in, like, every video
Some plastic cannister: hold my beer
This legitimately made me belly laugh - thanks!
@@Shaka1277 haha my pleasure
Thank you Foma. They rock
I’m so glad you made a video about this stuff! It’s been my all time favorite in 120 since the day it came out, I just bought 5 rolls in 35mm that I can’t wait to use (probably as a daily, like you). I agree about all the extra points you made at the end, I would love bulk rolls and also a slightly weaker anti-halation layer. I’m trying to get my friends onto this also!
Thanks for making this review and spreading the word! I too love this stuff and hope that it is very successful for Foma.
i finally got the roll developed and yeah its phenomenal, i've been a big fan of orthochromatic film for a couple of years and getting this is a blessing
I'm glad to see someone with a sizeable audience talking about this film!
I haven't shot foma, but this was a great in-depth review! Can't beat a great film for that great price.
Hope you feel better!
Thank you! It really is a treat. Feeling much better now, thanks. :)
Thx for more content on foma ortho 400, love too see it.
Bought a few rolls -- mostly for its lovely retro looking packaging -- and love it. It might be my new preferred film. Thanks for the tips and tricks for using it.
FPP sells their "X-ray" films which are orthochromatic, 100 iso in 120 and 200 iso in 35mm (distinct from the sheet film versions). So that 35mm version would be the second place fastest ortho film after this one. Though from anecdotal experience (the way the film smells) I bet FPP X-ray is made by Foma, meaning it could just be the same emulsion.
Nice! Very interesting & good to know theres new film. But does this suffer the same production flaws like somany other foma material?
In my experience it has been flawless.
@@Shaka1277 in 120 too?
Yes
Great review Alex, now I've to buy more film :D
Just stuffed a roll of this into my Zeiss Ikon Nettar and am looking forward the results. I have shot Ortho before, so I have an idea of what I'm getting. I'll be developing in 510Pyro, so that should control the grain fairly well.
It's really great to hear about practical stuff like why plastic containers are worse objectively in these videos, otherwise it would be hard to find information like this and that's why I like your videos.
In another video I forgot about, but it must've been an SDS video, you mentioned that those harmonic/articulated containers that you can push air out of by pushing it down aren't too good. I've been storing my bnw fixer in one and I wanna know if it's bad for it and etc., if I should get a better one?
Thanks for your videos!
Thank you! I thought about making a rant about them at some stage.
I don't use them but friends have had issues with them. The plastic has a "resting" uncompressed position that it slowly tries to reach back to, making the bottle slowly stretch and pull in a small amount of air over time. Oxygen displacement is a much more consistent approach but it does mean dealing with butane/argon/nitrogen cans which aren't for everybody. Some of those bottles are also just (slightly) oxygen permeable anyway! I use thick plastic bottles for my colour chems and glass bottles for everything else.
I now have a new goal - to get some 4x5 of this film! Thank you.
Interesting stuff. I've been a Foma user for years, they're not afraid of releasing something odd from time to time.
I wonder if the cine ortho will require actors to wear the blue lipstick like in early ortho movies.
Cinema formats of this film have no anti halo layer. They yield great and very classic looking results anyway. I use 16mm Foma Ortho 400 for my subminiature stills camera. Halation in this very small 11x14mm format is sometimes quite oblivious but certainly has that very classic look.
I didn't expect that to be the case at all, but that's very cool to hear. Must make it a lot more unique than other "consumer" films in that segment :)
I made the mistake of rewinding into one of these plastic cassettes (b.c. Point & Shoot), in the hope that I could fish the leader out and finish the roll in another camera. Instead, the opening was so tight that my flimsy film picker is bent out of shape, and all I managed to get out of the can was the felt light trap. :-( I'll probably just take the L and develop as is.
Yeah I broke my leader retriever with a plastic can too. Sucks.
Thank you for the great review. Does the film have the usual awful curliness of Foma 100 in 120 format. For me that was the deal breaker. It makes scanning so hard to do. Cheers!
No, thankfully it has always dried very flat for me. When I run out of clips I'm able to scavenge them from this film as soon as with Kentmere, if that's any help at all.
That's very good news,@Shaka1277 . I love Ortho film and it seems that the price for the 4x5 version is going to be decent. I'll definitely try a roll of 120 Foma Ortho next time. Thank you for the info, very much appreciated.
💪💪💪The Goat
didn't know there was a 400 Ortho anywhere... Will buy plenty for sure
Old (before ~ 2000) metal canisters by Ilford, Agfa,... incl. unfilled you could open/close and so reuse.
Never got clear why they dropped them for the "modern" not reusable canisters.
These old also did also not require a tool to open the canisters.
I've heard a few people reminisce about those. Sounds like a sad loss.
it's really good for a foma film indeed I'll try it out
Foma ortho looks really an amazing flm but unfortunately here in Italy is available only for 120 format, I can't find 35mm or sheet film anywhere :( The second thing is, I use rodinal as everyday developer and I've just started a new bottle. In the datasheet rodinal isn't even listed so I have to guess the developing time? we'll see
My Italian friends usually group-buy from Fotoimpex but I know that isn't ideal. The 4x5 stuff isn't available at most retailers just yet!
As for rodinal, the following is what I did (readjusted for non-rotary processing):
Rodinal (1+50, 11:00, 20 °C)
So that's a starting point to try.
@Shaka1277 yep I just wanted to buy it at a local shop, I guess I'll go for the 120 then.
The 1+50 seems a good idea otherwise I thought I could try a 1+100 dilution
@Shaka1277: thanks for the great video! I actually have some of this in 120 in my fridge now, and I want to try it next. What do you think about using filters with this stock? Have you tried it with a yellow filter to darken skies? Or It wouldn't make too much sense?
You could, but you'd need to play around with it a lot. I try to learn into the bright-sky ortho look so it's not something I've tried personally.
We share the same hatred for the stupid plastic cans. I can't stand them. I have shot two rolls of fomaortho 400 and I have been impressed! Sadly one of those rolls is the film that makes me discover my Zorki 1D scratched film. I think it does not look as bad as you says in Rodinal. I plan to buy a bunch more of this film soon (as you said so well "price price price!!"). I like the idea of the very old school spectral response of a film like this, yet being 400 ISO!! I can use this even on bad days in a tiny pocketable rangefinder with a 3.5 lens (yes, I dismantled and polished the inside of the Zorki. It is now longer scratching film)
If given the choice, you prefer to dev it in XTOL or 510 Pyro?
This film is fun for snapshots of ginger friends, brings out freckles really well!
Super interesting for use loading under a safelight in funny formats - 127 and 620. I would say 126, but FPP is making film with proper perforations for 126. For large format, I hate loading film holders. I use a roll film back. Ilford Ortho 80 sheets are too expensive to prompt me to use it much. I'll certainly give this a go. Err, I hope to give it a go. In a rather insane development, we're in the midst of leaving the USA as it implodes.
Yeah I'm quite seriously considering this as a go-to option for 4x5 since the Ilford stock is too costly. Waiting for my first box to arrive.
Safe travels and well wishes for the unfortunate move you're going through.
I’ve never even heard of orthochromatic film before
Oh! I hope I gave you a decent understanding of it then, and some interest in trying some ortho film. :)
@ Yes, great explanation and very inspiring photos!
holy shit!!!!
Why aren't people using it?
In the USA? Too much.
Much cheaper in Europe I gather.
If we get bulk rolls it might bring down the price.
Maybe freestyle will roll it up for the Arista brand.
Yeah it's $9-$10 converted in mid-eastern europe. 120 variant is just $7. Tho HP5 is quite expensive, like $11. Kentmere and Fomapan is easily the cheapest with $6-$8.
I just checked and it is around $11 in the USA where Tri-X is around $8. I’m also not generally a fan of Ortho films for portraits.
SHEEEEETS! =D
Interesting... this stuff is $11 / roll of 120 in the USA, and Ilford HP5 is around $8. So definitely not cheaper here.
funnily enough it's almost the exact opposite in mid-eastern europe. As HP5 is about $10.50/$11 converted, only less expensive then Tmax and Tri-X and Fomas are the cheapest along with Kentmere, as low as $6-$7 for Fomapan and Kentmere films.
For example in Poland the prices of these stocks are the other way around than yours
Foma products in general tend to be quite expensive in the US, I've found. But even here, it isn't as popular as I had expected it would be.
So this film isn't sensitive to reds, but sensitive to literally everything else 😅
Yeah! It's super moody.
Can you elaborate on why Fomapan 400 is so bad?
It has very pronounced grain and lacks exposure flexibility compared to other film stocks like Kentmere 400. Despite this I think you can get interesting results when experimenting with it. Kenteme 400 is much better in almost all metrics, but you can use the Fomapan 400 limitations as artistic choice and get nice results despite the hate.
The best Foma film is probably the Fomapan 100, I have never had issues with it. The 120mm films are usually without issues, but the 35mm films like 200 and 400 sometimes can have issues with artifacts. The Foma factory is very old and they do not have resources to modernize the old coating machines. I had issues with weird artifacts with the ortho 400 in 35mm (weird light leaks that did not make sense on few frames), the 120mm was flawless.
What is note worthy is the ISO of Foma films is meassured for Foma chemistry. So if you use other development methods, you need to lower the ISO when using chemistry outside of Foma datasheets. They have black and white catalogue on their website with all the chemistry information you will need, including times for non-foma developers.
It has very strong grain, less exposure latitude than many expect from a B&W neg film, and generally low silver content and density leading to limited ability to push and broadly not achieving ISO 400 in most developers (usually 200-250). It isn't "bad" but it isn't what many people expect, and I think it's fair to say it is the worst film Foma sell. I'll pay for Kentmere 400 any day.
Plastic film canisters are the devils work.
Come on Foma, we will pay a bit more for metal 35mm cannisters, or at least give us bulk rolls.
I tried Foma Ortho 400 as 120 film. There was like oil residue after developing. Multiple washing rounds did not fix it. The images were super thin. I cannot recommend this film at all.
I just happen to have a Speed Graphic with an Aero Ektar lens mounted on it….
I wanna get one but the prices here have recently skyrocketed