T-grain films in Paterson FX-50: any experience?

I'm looking for a film-developer combo to produce negatives with
- maximum sharpness
- minimum grain
- no loss or if possible with increase of film speed
- greatest tonality

In other words: utopia. But I'd like to move in this direction anyway, as I
see there's more to obtain from 35mm.

I've been playing around with Fomapan200, a T-grain film, developed in a
Rodinal-like formula (ADOX APH09, the new brand for Calbe R09), but I seem
to loose film speed and the highlights are blocking up.

I read some documentation about Paterson FX-50 but before buying it (not the
cheepest of soups, and I have to pay for transportation as I can't find it
nearby): does anyone have experience with a combination of T-grain film and
this dev.? Or suggestions for alternatives?

TIA!

Jan

Neopan 400 in Acutol 1+14 for 8 minutes.


Jan T wrote:
I'm looking for a film-developer combo to produce negatives with
- maximum sharpness
- minimum grain
- no loss or if possible with increase of film speed
- greatest tonality

In other words: utopia. But I'd like to move in this direction anyway, as I
see there's more to obtain from 35mm.

I've been playing around with Fomapan200, a T-grain film, developed in a
Rodinal-like formula (ADOX APH09, the new brand for Calbe R09), but I seem
to loose film speed and the highlights are blocking up.

I read some documentation about Paterson FX-50 but before buying it (not the
cheepest of soups, and I have to pay for transportation as I can't find it
nearby): does anyone have experience with a combination of T-grain film and
this dev.? Or suggestions for alternatives?

TIA!

Jan

I was fairly un-impressed with my trials of FX-50 -- it's expensive
and my batch went bad on me before I had a chance to use it all up.

Xtol is often touted as a good all-purpose developer. It may be worth
a try. Like FX-50, it is a phenidone-ascorbic acid based developer. I
haven't tried it with Fomapan 200, though I think that through
experimentation and testing you should be able to come up with a time
and dilution that work well. Don't be afraid to use up a lot of rolls
in your tests.



Jan T wrote:
I'm looking for a film-developer combo to produce negatives with
- maximum sharpness
- minimum grain
- no loss or if possible with increase of film speed
- greatest tonality

In other words: utopia. But I'd like to move in this direction anyway, as I
see there's more to obtain from 35mm.

I've been playing around with Fomapan200, a T-grain film, developed in a
Rodinal-like formula (ADOX APH09, the new brand for Calbe R09), but I seem
to loose film speed and the highlights are blocking up.

I read some documentation about Paterson FX-50 but before buying it (not the
cheepest of soups, and I have to pay for transportation as I can't find it
nearby): does anyone have experience with a combination of T-grain film and
this dev.? Or suggestions for alternatives?

TIA!

Jan

UC,
maybe I wasn't clear enough: I want a dev. for the Fomapan200 wich is a
T-grain film, I'm not looking for another film, just for a developer.
The Rodinal-based Adox APH09 gave good results on grain and sharpness, but
turns down film speed, blocks up highlights and increases contrast (higher
dilutions would indeed reduce contrast but I'm afraid film speed as well).
If there's one property to sacrifice, let it be film speed - I've been used
to film speeds of 64 or 100 for shots requiring sharpness and grainlesness.
If my Fomapan 200 turns out to be a sharp, smooth, grainless 100 ASA film,
so be it, if inevitably.

Jan


"UC" schreef in bericht
oups.com...
| Neopan 400 in Acutol 1+14 for 8 minutes.
|
|
| Jan T wrote:
| I'm looking for a film-developer combo to produce negatives with
| - maximum sharpness
| - minimum grain
| - no loss or if possible with increase of film speed
| - greatest tonality
|
| In other words: utopia. But I'd like to move in this direction anyway,
as I
| see there's more to obtain from 35mm.
|
| I've been playing around with Fomapan200, a T-grain film, developed in a
| Rodinal-like formula (ADOX APH09, the new brand for Calbe R09), but I
seem
| to loose film speed and the highlights are blocking up.
|
| I read some documentation about Paterson FX-50 but before buying it (not
the
| cheepest of soups, and I have to pay for transportation as I can't find
it
| nearby): does anyone have experience with a combination of T-grain film
and
| this dev.? Or suggestions for alternatives?
|
| TIA!
|
| Jan
|

Jan T wrote:
UC,
maybe I wasn't clear enough: I want a dev. for the Fomapan200 wich is a
T-grain film, I'm not looking for another film, just for a developer.

I seriously doubt whether Fompan is anywhere near the quality of Delta
400 or Neopan 400. I would not even try it. It would be waste of
precious time and resources. My expert advice is to try one of those
films in FX-39, not FX-50. I tried FX-50 and it was dead when I picked
it up at the store right after it came in on a special order.

The Rodinal-based Adox APH09 gave good results on grain and sharpness, but
turns down film speed, blocks up highlights and increases contrast (higher
dilutions would indeed reduce contrast but I'm afraid film speed as well).
If there's one property to sacrifice, let it be film speed - I've been used
to film speeds of 64 or 100 for shots requiring sharpness and grainlesness.
If my Fomapan 200 turns out to be a sharp, smooth, grainless 100 ASA film,
so be it, if inevitably.

Jan


"UC" schreef in bericht
oups.com...
| Neopan 400 in Acutol 1+14 for 8 minutes.
|
|
| Jan T wrote:
| I'm looking for a film-developer combo to produce negatives with
| - maximum sharpness
| - minimum grain
| - no loss or if possible with increase of film speed
| - greatest tonality
|
| In other words: utopia. But I'd like to move in this direction anyway,
as I
| see there's more to obtain from 35mm.
|
| I've been playing around with Fomapan200, a T-grain film, developed in a
| Rodinal-like formula (ADOX APH09, the new brand for Calbe R09), but I
seem
| to loose film speed and the highlights are blocking up.
|
| I read some documentation about Paterson FX-50 but before buying it (not
the
| cheepest of soups, and I have to pay for transportation as I can't find
it
| nearby): does anyone have experience with a combination of T-grain film
and
| this dev.? Or suggestions for alternatives?
|
| TIA!
|
| Jan
|

Jan T wrote:
UC,
maybe I wasn't clear enough: I want a dev. for the Fomapan200 wich is a
T-grain film, I'm not looking for another film, just for a developer.
The Rodinal-based Adox APH09 gave good results on grain and sharpness, but
turns down film speed, blocks up highlights and increases contrast (higher
dilutions would indeed reduce contrast but I'm afraid film speed as well).
If there's one property to sacrifice, let it be film speed - I've been used
to film speeds of 64 or 100 for shots requiring sharpness and grainlesness.
If my Fomapan 200 turns out to be a sharp, smooth, grainless 100 ASA film,
so be it, if inevitably.

Jan



4. UC
Dec 8, 5:12 pm show options
Newsgroups: rec.photo.darkroom
From: "UC" - Find messages by this author
Date: 8 Dec 2005 14:12:22 -0800
Local: Thurs, Dec 8 2005 5:12 pm
Subject: T-grain films in Paterson FX-50: any experience?
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I seriously doubt whether Fompan is anywhere near the quality of Delta
400 or Neopan 400. I would not even try it. It would be waste of
precious time and resources. My expert advice is to try one of those
films in Acutol or FX-39, not FX-50. I tried FX-50 and it was dead when
I picked
it up at the store right after it came in on a special order.

UC wrote:


I seriously doubt whether Fompan is anywhere near the quality of Delta
400 or Neopan 400. I would not even try it. It would be waste of
precious time and resources.

I think your prejudice may be unwise. You may have run into
Fomapan T200 under the name Paterson Acupan 200. It is
well worth trying.

That being said, I once bought several rolls of Fomapan 200
in 120 format which I should have had the sense to return as
defective.

Peter.
--

Peter Irwin wrote:
UC wrote:


I seriously doubt whether Fompan is anywhere near the quality of Delta
400 or Neopan 400. I would not even try it. It would be waste of
precious time and resources.

I think your prejudice may be unwise. You may have run into
Fomapan T200 under the name Paterson Acupan 200. It is
well worth trying.

Sorry, no dice. It cannot be as good as the films I mentioned.


That being said, I once bought several rolls of Fomapan 200
in 120 format which I should have had the sense to return as
defective.

Peter.
--

now that one scares me off...
just like the old news that Xtol has/had the rudeness of unannounced sudden
death... This kept me from trying it.
If the Foma production is that unreliable, I'd prefer to avoid using their
films. Couldn't live with the fear shooting with unpredictable results, even
for a non-pro user like me!

Anyway, I'll complete my testing on the remaining 3 rolls. Got some Acutol
left, I'll give it a try. Wanna know how it worked? ;-)

BTW Peter, in what way were your films defective?

Jan


"Peter Irwin" schreef in bericht
...
| That being said, I once bought several rolls of Fomapan 200
| in 120 format which I should have had the sense to return as
| defective.
|
| Peter.
| --
|
|

Jan T wrote:
now that one scares me off...

I didn't intend to do so.

just like the old news that Xtol has/had the rudeness of unannounced sudden
death... This kept me from trying it.

Xtol is great stuff, especially in conjunction with Tmax-100
and Acros. I always do a clip test before developing film
in Xtol. If Xtol can fail on Richard K., it can fail on anyone,
but it seems to be fairly unusual for it to happen. I haven't
been burned yet. For the clip test, I just stick a film
leader in the measuring cup of Xtol in the light for
five minutes, then in the fixer for another five. Black
film means the developer is working, and this can be
done easily while getting ready.

BTW Peter, in what way were your films defective?

The rolls of 120 I got had what looked like lots of very
thin long scratches running along the length of the film
which produced very fine black lines on englargments.
I suspect they weren't actually scratches, but I don't
know the actual cause. At first I was worried that there
might be a problem with my camera, but it happened with
that lot of film in two different cameras and did not
happen with other films in either camera, so it certainly
seems to have been a film problem. I think I tried 3 of
the films before giving up. I still have a couple rolls
around somewhere.

I wouldn't be too concerned about my experience. Any manufacturer
can let the odd defective batch through, and this was a couple
years ago. I didn't have any trouble with the 35mm stuff.

Peter.
--



| That being said, I once bought several rolls of Fomapan 200
| in 120 format which I should have had the sense to return as
| defective.