Foma 400 - Yashica Mat 124G

[Nesster]

Foma 400 is strange film - especially in 120 size. Very blue, and it remains almost purple - different than the 35mm version.
also, unlike most ASA400 B&W, the Foma seems pushing it to make it to 400... not much latitude towards under exposure. From my experience I think Foma 100 is the better film, even exposed at EI 400.

This one I got the exposure just right - it's our daughter with frozen pizza, with the Yashica Mat 124G

[Katastrofo]

Well of course, who wouldn't like this lovely photo? One tiny little question,
Jussi, is she adopted? Just trying to wrap my mind around the fact
that THAT's your daughter.

Beautiful lighting in this, too!

The Arista film has the same dye in it, and LOTS. Will have to try shooting
100 at 400 (you dev at 400 time?) and see what goes.

[Nesster]

yeah, well, I definitely haven't improved with age

The Foma 100 I shot at 400 by mistake (forgot to reset the ASA dial) was 35mm. Seems perhaps the 120 film is very diffrent, at least when it comes to dye.

[cooltouch]

Hey Nesster,

You mentioned dye a couple of times. Does that mean that this film is not processed as B&W, but C-41 or such? I'm not a B&W emulsion expert, so I don't know if this sort of thing is common or not.

Anyway, I like the shot. Very nice composition and clarity.

I'm about to load my first roll of film into my new (for me, at any rate) Yashica Mat 124, so I'm hoping for similar results.

[Nesster]

Hi - good luck with your Mat. Really, nothing much can't go wrong

Most real silver b&w film is sort of bluish-grey for the film itself after development. (Color negative film is orange.) Often the film maker puts in a dye to prevent light bouncing around within and back through the rear of the film, for obvious reasons. Anti halation.

Foma, with their 120 film, is bluer than most, and the dye comes out in either pre-soak or somewhere along the chemical trail. In my case, it came out in the stop bath. The developed film is purplish rather than greyish, which is a different look. But turns out it scans fine. The 35mm size isn't as blue and the developed film looks more normal to me.

[Attila]

Beautiful lady, great camera what else result is excellent! Congrats! I would like to see more portraits

[Nesster]

will try - thank you Attila

I'm also thinking I should scan the blue foma and a regular film to show the difference.

[Attila]

[Nesster]

I should get to it overnight.

Lilly's been in on many of my photo adventures - she got me into medium format folders to begin with, we took the very first roll together. And she took the first pics with the Bessa, as she came with me to pick it up. But yeah, I get approval before posting any pics of her.

[Attila]

Rare find young lady who love photography, keep in big respect

[Orio]

Not only I see no problems in this shot but I notice a great range of grey tones, excellent contrast, excellent microcontrast, and yes a perfect exposure.
If this is Foma 400 then it's definitely a film that I want to try.

[Nesster]

Top: Foma 400 120
Mid: Delta 100 120
Bot: Foma 400 35mm

Orio, it's a nice old fashioned film, I like using it

[Scoo]

I think all foma 120 films do have a pronounced blue tint (just like for example TMAX 100 is quite pink), have tried Foma 200 and last weekend foma 100. I think one could reduce it by pre-soaking/washing more if one would like to get rid of the tint. As I scan in 8 or 16 bit greyscale I'm not bothered by it.


It reminded me of some Perutz-made roll film I scanned that my grandfather had photographed in the 1940s(?).

One great benefit of the foma roll films is that while they do have an all black (cheaper) backing paper as opposed to a more expensive paper that is black facing the film and white on the rear; the frame numbers printed on it stand out a lot more than for example the Chinese Shanghai GP3 (which is printed with grey, hard to discern numbers), making foma films a joy to use in a folder or other camera equipped with a red window.

[marty]

As far as I know the blueish tint cannot be eliminated and neither is a problem or a fault: is just the natural color of the film base material. This can of course vary from one brand/type of film to another. What can and must be eliminated is the anti halo layer which is a usually blue or magenta/pinkish water soluble coating. This one ceases its task (preventing the light bouncing back from the pressure plate to re-expose the film creating ghost effects) in the moment the film is exposed. When the 1st bath is poured in the tank will as well dissolve the anti-halo and thus come out colored. On certain films could be harder to dissolve and thus the necessity of a pre rinse to ensure a proper elimination. I have no direct proof of this but I read that in some cases could also affect the development so another reason for doing a good pre wash. Even if the pre wash water will eventually come out clear at the end, the base of the film will still have its natural coloration: the color of the film base and anti-halo coating color are different things.

Cheers, Marty.

[marty]

Jeez, I'm sorry . I almost forgot of the original subject of the thread. Very good portrait of a nice young lady. Excellent lighting and composition, good tonal range also. The exposure is spot on, no sign of over- : detail retained perfectly on the white shirt. I cannot comment specifically about Fomapan 400 which I never used, but I agree on the 100: excellent tonal scale, good contrast (and same blue base). Maybe giving it a bit more exposure will lead to the result you're expecting.

Cheers, Marty.

[Nesster]

No problem, I'm into the mechanics of film anyhow. I hadn't seen such a brilliant blue before

Here is another portrait from the same roll - I adjusted curves a bit and added a bit of platinum toning

[marty]

Good composition. The lighting is perfect, puts emphasis on the face features without revealing it completely. I'd say that's a portrait which has character.

Cheers, Marty.

[Katastrofo]

I really like the tones and contrast in this last one, reminds me of a BW
40's movie.