Speed enhancing developer for Fomapan 200

[marek sramek]

I have been given quit a lot of Foma 200 in bulk. Now, I know its real speed is

about 100-125 ASA (I would usually developed it at 100 ASA in HC-110). Is there

any developer that would help me to get the full box speed of 200 ASA? Here in

the Czech Republic I can get products from Ilford, Agfa, Kodak, Foma, Tetenal

and some of Labor Partner and Amaloco. I do not make developers from scratch �

(I do not own scales and also have no clue where to get any chemicals � they

just do not sell them in the photo shops here). I know there are quite a lot of

speed enhancing developers, but some of them don�t work very well with Foma 200.

I have seen recently some graphs that betrayed that even Tmax dev. can hardly

get only 125 ASA of this film. What is your experience? What would you suggest?

Do I want just too much of this film? Thanks.

[pete_andrews10]

Microphen will give you a real gain in speed, but only about half a stop more, to around EI 160, and even then you might have to extend the development a little over the recommended time.

 

What's the big deal about rating the film at less than 200 anyway? And wasn't 200 the old soviet GOST speed rating of this film? Because the equivalence between GOST and ASA/ISO was always a bit tenuous.

[jordan_w.]

I often develop Fomapan 200 in a home-brew developer that is very close in composition and action to Xtol. I find that rating the film at EI 200 is just fine in this developer. It depends somewhat on your process and intended use, I guess.

[Fotohuis RoVo]

Due to the fact we are exporting Amaloco to the Czech Republic and importing Foma for the Netherlands we tested T200 extensively with AM74. Best rate E.I. 160.

 

Best combination AM74 1+9 5:00Min. at 20 degrees C.

http://www.fotohuisrovo.nl/documentatie/Ontwikkeltijden.pdf

 

Xtol is also quite good: 6 Minutes but also not reaching the full speed.

AM50 (also Amaloco) we found less suitable for the T200 film. But this developer is not exported to your country.

 

Regards, na shledanou,

 

Robert

[jay_de_fehr]

I really like Foma 200. I rate it at 200 and develop in 510-Pyro with good results.

 

Jay

[marek sramek]

Thanks to all.

Robert, I was actually planning to buy some AM74 in Foto-Skoda in Prague but the developer is out of stock at the moment, so I have to wait or possibly try Microphen or Excell (Xtol-like developer produced by Foma).

[Fotohuis RoVo]

Well, greetings to Mrs. Kristina Hanousková and Mr. Milan Skoda if you're visiting their shop. We are waiting for the additional backorder to fill up the Euro palet to Prague.

[frank.schifano]

"I often develop Fomapan 200 in a home-brew developer that is very close in composition and action to Xtol. I find that rating the film at EI 200 is just fine in this developer. It depends somewhat on your process and intended use, I guess."

 

That's about what I though as well. I haven't yet tried this film, but I have a 100ft. bulk roll coming from Freestyle under the Arista.EDU Ultra label. I intend to try it in D-76 and XTOL at various dilutions and development times to see what comes of it. I'm expecting that my best results will be wtih XTOL 1+1, since it gives at least a small speed boost to most films I use with it. In bulk, the price from Freestyle is very attractive and I won't mind blowing a few short test rolls of the stuff getting all the variables dialed in. If I can get at least an honest EI 125 from the film and the tonality and grain meet my expectations, it may make a good substitute for Plus-X or FP4+ for casual photography.

[rustys pics]

THe best results I have gotten with Fomapan T200 were in A49 developer. This is similar to the old AGFA Atomal. Using it undiluted I got ISO 200 and quite fine grain. Development time was about 9 minutes.

 

 

Good luck and have fun.

[jordan_w.]

Hi Frank -- I actually quite like Fomapan 200 in 35mm (I also use it in the "Arista.EDU Ultra 200" form). I'm less enamoured of it in 120, because the film curls so badly (the film base is very thin). Fomapan 200 looks somewhat "old-timey" and if you like Plus-X you will probably like Fomapan 200 too.<p>

 

Ilford film is getting ridiculously expensive here (about US$50 plus tax for a 100' roll of HP5 Plus) so I'm thinking of trying Fomapan 400 as a general 35mm film. I'm guessing it won't be a real 400 either, but it may be worth trying.<p>

 

For an interesting look with Fomapan 200, try Diafine. I'm not quite sure what its EI is in Diafine, but negs shot at 200 come out so dense that they're hard to scan. Here's one taken with an Olympus Stylus Epic: <a href="http://www.photosensitive.ca/folderblog/photos/0629-002.jpg">The <i>Point Vim,</i> Halifax, Nova Scotia</a>

[bljkasfdljkasfdljskfa]

Try Diafine. My understanding is Diafine is basically a split Microphen, although I don't know all the details.

 

I recently found out that Diafine part A is actually a slowly acting developer (in my experience anyway). So now for higher contrast and speed I leave the film in Part A longer. Neopan 400 at 800 or 1000 looks great at around 6 minutes in part A at 70F. Part B as usual. For Neopan at 1600 to 3200 contrast, 30 minutes in part A seems about right.<div></div>

[bljkasfdljkasfdljskfa]

I'd like to mention that I raised the contrast, modified curves, and burned down the shadows a little. The original scan has more detail in the shadows of course, but I like higher contrast. Should print well on grade 2 or 3.

[bljkasfdljkasfdljskfa]

Microphen-like formula from Anchell, same times as those for Microphen:

<p>

Water(50C) - 750ml <br>

Sodium Sulfite - 100g<br>

Hydroquinone - 5g<br>

Borax - 3g<br>

Boric Acid - 3.5g<br>

Potassium bromide - 1g<br>

Phenidone - 0.2g<br>

water to make 1000ml<br>

<p>

Diafine-like substitute formula:<br>

 

Diafine Substitute<br>

<p>

Solution A<br>

Water 750ml<br>

Sodium Sulfite 35g<br>

Hydroquinone 6g<br>

Phenidone .2g<br>

Sodium Bisulfite 6g<br>

Water to make 1 liter<br>

<p>

Solution B<br>

water 750 ml<br>

Sodium Sulfite 65g<br>

Sodium Metaborate 20g<br>

Water to make 1liter<br>

[marek sramek]

I have done first tests of AM-74 on Fomapan 200 and it works really well. I could easily expose the film at EI 200 without much harm. For my street photography it is good enough. Here is an example pic, it is 70% crop of the full frame.<div></div>

[Fotohuis RoVo]

Yes, AM74 with Fomapan T200 works very well. Even in Rodinal or Fomadon R09 you can have remarkable results. Here an iso 100 - 800 (Rodinal) test with this Czech film:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsuominen/238234147/in/set-72157594277233222/

 

A same type of test we have done with AM74: Less grain, more effective iso speed and also great results like this Rodinal test. AM74 you can find in the USA market as Rollei High Speed developer. Also Fomapan T200 is sold under OEM in the USA (Arista, Freestyle). Freestyle is also selling the Rollei films AND chemicals.