Fomapan is one of those films that I tried early on when I first started shooting film – a gateway option which allowed me to explore the process of a mechanical camera without having to think too much about the cost of consuming a more expensive film. I think because of this approach my opinion of Fomapan is based on a less than ideal situation, and the work I produced on it is not the greatest; not due to anything inherent about the emulsion itself, but because of my low level of technical skill.
Now that I’ve been dedicated to shooting film for over a year I’ve been feeling more comfortable in revisiting some of those films I’d previously disavowed to see what they offered a more experienced film photographer.
This roll of Fomapan 400 was exposed EI1600 and developed at a +2 stop push. My previous pushing experiences with 400 speed films is with Tri-X and HP5+, both well known for their excellent latitude. My results from pushed Fomapan are not quite as nice as these, but I think the results hold up quite well, and the real errors are down to my own mistakes rather than a failing in the film. When metering for the shadows the exposures were especially nice, with lots of detail and great grain.
Part of the reason I wanted to try Fomapan 400 again was that a commenter in a recent article about Neopan 400 told me that the two films were comparable, and I definitely see where they are coming from when comparing these images to the results from pushed Neopan at the same exposure index.
Some of the images I accidentally underexposed by not paying attention to what the meter readout was telling me. These were totally unsalvageable, but I don’t think any film I’m aware of would have faired better under the circumstances.
I really hope you enjoyed the images in this post! If you did, you might be interested in following my Instagram, where I share a selection of my best work. I buy all of my film from Analogue Wonderland.
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Recky on 5 Frames with Fomapan 400 “Action” (@ EI1600) – by Simon King
Comment posted: 02/11/2019
Comment posted: 02/11/2019
Gabriel on 5 Frames with Fomapan 400 “Action” (@ EI1600) – by Simon King
Comment posted: 02/11/2019
Comment posted: 02/11/2019
Lars on 5 Frames with Fomapan 400 “Action” (@ EI1600) – by Simon King
Comment posted: 05/11/2019
I shoot both Fomapan 100 and 400 at box speed and develop them in Rodinal and Fomadon Excel respectively. I also started experimenting with caffenol recently and got pretty good results in both films. But as mentioned above, their actual speed is lower than the reported box speed and they don't really shine when pushed IMO. But I just got 30 meters of Fomapan 400 so I might give pushing another try one day.
Chalifour Bruno on 5 Frames with Fomapan 400 “Action” (@ EI1600) – by Simon King
Comment posted: 14/11/2019
I was interested in reading your post, Simon, because I have never used FOMA 400. So your experience is valuable and I thank you for sharing it. I must say that seeing the results I am not that inclined to try it (time and budget spent, correlated with quality of results are two things I consider before photographing. I must say my enjoyment mostly comes from the quality of my results, not so much the playing around with hardware... unless it provides quality results).
A final note: What film and development were used for the photograph of the Nikon F4s at the top? In my opinion this is by far the best [technical] image of this post. If I were you, Simon, I would stick to that combination, it just works and gives you results.
Comment posted: 14/11/2019
5 Frames with Fomapan 400 Action at EI200, Developed Normally - by Simon King - 35mmc on 5 Frames with Fomapan 400 “Action” (@ EI1600) – by Simon King
Comment posted: 20/11/2019
5 Frames With Fomapan 400 "Action" at EI1600, Developed as 3200 - by Simon King - 35mmc on 5 Frames with Fomapan 400 “Action” (@ EI1600) – by Simon King
Comment posted: 15/02/2020