Ferrania has released a new orthochromatic black and white film called Orto, available in Italy now and coming worldwide over the remaining days of April.
Orto is the second product created by the revived factory in Cairo Montenotte, Italy, and follows in the footsteps of the classic panchromatic P30. Ferrania says Orto features a similar high silver content, strong contrast, and low grain. The film shoots similarly to P30, recommended at the box speed of 50 ISO, a statement supported by both the factory team and the community of testers. (Source: Film Ferrania Press Team)
Home development and scanning is recommended for Orto. With the film’s formula being unique on the market, Ferrania noted in their results that standard lab scanning could produce “blocked-up hyper-contrasty” images. Being chemically similar to P30, the company recommends development practices as detailed in their guide, available on their website here.
Intrigued about the decision to produce an orthochromatic film, I asked Ferrania to share a “behind the scenes” glimpse of the process that brought Orto to life.
When considering a new film to make, we have a lot to work with already. FILM Ferrania has a deep, rich history of inspiration, as proven by the 60+ pallets full of books and documents and blueprints we inherited from the old company. And of course Ferrania’s cinema roots assert themselves in our decision-making process quite a bit.
In the case of Orto, we “discovered” it years ago during the process of creating P30 Alpha. The clear connection to the earliest days of cinema made Orto a slam-dunk for us to produce. We have had it on a “back burner” since then, awaiting the day when we could sustain Orto production without adversely affecting continuous P30 production. That day came earlier this year! – Film Ferrania Press Team
To find more information about Orto and Ferrania, head on over to their website here. They include a preferred sellers (retailers/distributors) section on their website here to check where the film is available in different regions.
Ferrania also let me in on a piece of news that will excite medium-format shooters. 120 film is the next move!
Does Ortho mean using a red filter to darken skies won’t work?
Yes… If you use a red filter then you’ll block out all the light that the film can see! A red filter is black in blue light…
Is the photo of the girl with the palm trees an example of “blocked-up hyper-contrasty” images? Jab aside, I’m glad there’s another ortho film on the market, and a second emulsion from Ferrania!!
Yes, all good things! 🙂
Nice to see Ferrania bringing another film out – I was reading about this on their website a few days ago.
What I really want is for them to release the Scotch Chrome E6 they had promised years ago but good to see the process has revealed two unique looking films.
I just bought a roll of Ferrania P30 to try out and if it all goes well I’ll probably try one of these.
If anybody has any advice on which developer to use? – I have Rollei Supergrain (which I bought to use with my long time favorite films: Rollei Retro 80s and 400s) and some new liquid Diafine which I haven’t used yet on anything. Would these be good enough to keep shadow detail with either of the Ferrania? And on metering? (I usually use a Contax RTSII for B&W and expose for dark areas – but should I use a Minolta Maxxum 7 instead shoot and pray that the matrix metering makes life easier? Looking at the blacked out shadows of most results I see online makes me nervous)
It’s guaranteed to give murky shadows at box speed – given that its true speed is closer to ISO 32…
What comes to their promised E6 film, my guess is that, when running their Kickstarter campaign they simply had no idea how complicated it is to manufacture slide film, especially since modern environmental restrictions may well demand radical changes to the original “film recipes”.
It’s more that there were unavoidable delays in the early days that meant the quantities of E6 materials they had on hand expired before they could be used. It’s a much bigger job to manufacture them than to use what they already had, so it has been pushed back.
Yes it seems as if they were over confident
Fingers crossed they’ll overcome any hurdles and get us something to be happy with!!
Hey Ibraar! I just got some nice results with the P30 using Bellini D96 to develop it, I shot it in a fixed focus AgfaPhoto Half Frame camera in super bright sunlight for most of the time. Depends on the look that you like, but I really loved images where the subject was in full sun. Ferrania recommends shooting P30 at box speed. This is an album on my lomography page if you want to check it out a few samples: https://www.lomography.com/homes/mollykatephoto/albums/2426319-ferrania-p30-in-tenerife-march-2023 – hope this helps you!
Those are great, Molly. It definitely has a distinctive look, and nice to know it works in D96.
Thank you
They look great! Really nice tones and values !!
I’m going to shoot it when I get the right opportunity to warrant the richness and will develop in what I have and hope it works out ! As I don’t have D76/ID11
P30 is contrasty, but not irredeemably so. I shot at box speed in a Canon F-1N and developed in Rodinal with decent results. It looks worse than other films because the base is so clear, and it’s slightly orthochromatic compared to modern pan films IMHO.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJel1WPnOuD/?igshid=OGRjNzg3M2Y=
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKpo46CHKGc/?igshid=OGRjNzg3M2Y=
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKaC7MonvX8/?igshid=OGRjNzg3M2Y=
thanks guys.