minja
Hello everyone,
A few years ago, I had to give up photography and darkroom work following an accident. Things are looking up again now, so I can finally get back to my favourite hobby – analogue black-and-white photography. That’s why I’d like to revive my old Foma 100, 200 and 400 films – expiry date 2003. As these have been stored in a cool place all this time, I wanted to ask if I can still use them. If so, which developer would you recommend? Unfortunately, a lot has changed over the years. As far as I can see, Foma 200 isn’t manufactured anymore either – a shame… I used it a lot back then, with great results… oh yes, back then I mainly used Calbe A49 or Ilford ID 11 as a developer.
Best regards
Kornelia
EJG
Hello Kornelia,
Here’s my process for Fomapan 200: exposure at 160 ISO, Xtol 1:1, 6.45 mins agitation in a Jobo CPA at level 2 (fastest)
My reasons:
XTOL produces a nice fine grain. It keeps for quite a long time. I use a 5-litre canister of distilled water from the DIY store. Very good value per film.
Give it a go.
Have fun
Best regards
ejg
Wolf_XL
...I wouldn’t worry about the expiry date – for one thing, these aren’t highly sensitive films, and for another, they’ve probably been stored in a cool place. A49 and ID 11 are real classics – if you’ve been happy with them, there’s no reason to switch... There are now other excellent developers available – particularly from SPUR or Moersch – but they aren’t that much better. Especially with the films you’ve been using, the new developers don’t offer any significant advantages...
minja
. . . Thanks for your feedback.
I’ve started my first test shots (initial development at 200 ISO, Ilford ID11 developer for 9 minutes) and I’m really pleased with the results. I was really surprised when I pushed the film to 400 ISO (developed with ID11 for 12 minutes). These negatives also produced a good result when scanned (Nikon Coolscan III). They were a bit grainy, but I think if you were to enlarge them conventionally, the grain wouldn’t be so noticeable.
Best wishes,
Kornelia
mattes
Fomapan is/was a very good all-purpose film. I first came across this film at a Fotokina trade fair, where I was given a roll along with the information that its formulation was similar to that of Fujipan 400. I developed it in Emofin. I was impressed by the results. It had a fine grain structure like that of Neopan, but was a little sharper. As a result, the T200 became my go-to film, mainly because of its low price. Just as my supplies were running low, Agfa’s big insolvency clearance sale began. Back then, I stocked up on the famous, legendary last batch. Since then, 100-exposure rolls have been out of the question for me.
Mattes
