Today I tested how well Fomapan fares pushed in Rodinal. Although the result wasn’t quite as badly fogged as the T-Max 400 I pushed to 1600 recently, it still was fogged and not a very convincing result. The pictures can be salvaged, but I certainly won’t be making a habit of using it for pushing. The T-Max 400 which I didn’t like much at all at box speed looked rather promising pushed, at least with regards to grain and detail, but the fog made the negatives incredibly annoying to handle. I might experiment with adding potassium bromide to the Rodinal to see whether I can cut down on the fog, but keep the comparatively fine grain for ISO 1600. But then experiments with pushing are more of a winter endeavour whereas summer calls for more ISO 100 film and colour.
There is still more summer to expect around here and I will probably shoot quite a bit more colour film. There are at least a couple more rolls of E6 waiting to be shot to finally get started on the development and for the next litre of C41 chemicals I still need to shoot 7 more rolls to use it to capacity. This actually means that I’m in a surprising position: I’m almost up to date with my development! Just one more tank of C41 rolls and 2 more tanks of bw and I’m actually finished for now on the development front. Of course I still need to develop more of the Argentina rolls – 10 rolls left -, but I won’t mix the chemicals until I actually have enough rolls to finish them off efficiently.
All pictures taken with: Leica M6, Zeiss ZM C-Biogon 35mm f/2.8.
dm Paradies 400 developed in Fuji Hunt C41 Kit, Jobo CPE-2.
© Lilly Schwartz 2015
This made me laugh. Almost looks as if the lady is giving us the finger!
© Lilly Schwartz 2015
I enjoy the summer feel of this. It was of course autumn or at least what they call autumn over there!
© Lilly Schwartz 2015
Dog walker.
© Lilly Schwartz 2015
I love everything about this picture! Final version will be in bw probably.
© Lilly Schwartz 2015
Nice ride!
© Lilly Schwartz 2015
Yep, I do get noticed from time to time.
© Lilly Schwartz 2015
When the light is just right the colours of this film are great!
© Lilly Schwartz 2015
At the bus stop.
© Lilly Schwartz 2015
Polka dots!
© Lilly Schwartz 2015
Cute!
© Lilly Schwartz 2015
On one of those eternal bus rides.
© Lilly Schwartz 2015
Taking the fire extinguisher on the bus, just in case. I was probably on the bus when I took the picture.
© Lilly Schwartz 2015
Marshmallows that way?
I loved the one of the dog by the wall, but my favourite is nice ride
Thank you Julia! You picked my favourites too! 🙂
Lilly you must know that Rodinal is not designed to push anything,as for Fomapan I read often that 400 is really around 200 in reality. I have used the 100 and like it a lot. I have HP5 in my Rollei at the moment but FP 4 is becoming a firm favorite with me..
But Harry, since when should we care what something is “designed” for? Rodinal wasn’t designed for stand-development either, but it’s still the best way to use it. I have pushed more than 30 rolls in Rodinal and have had much better and less grainy results than when pushing with regular developers. Look here: http://www.lillyschwartz.com//Los-Laureles/ So far the only problem ever was fogging and this doesn’t happen with Kentmere 400 / RPX 400, Tri-X or HP5+ for example! As for the actual speed of Foma, this highly depends on the developer. I don’t think it’s quite as extreme as that, maybe 320. I don’t think I see as much shadow detail loss as with shooting Double-X at 400 and that’s 250. But then I haven’t shot much of the Fomapan yet. I’ll know more when I finish the 100ft roll.
Well I can’t argue with the pictures at the end of the link Lilly they are really nice,I will push a few shots with my HP5 and then stand develop with Rodinal and see what results I get. I suppose I am going to have to buy some Fomapan 400 and give that a go as well.
Glad you liked the results 🙂 HP5+ should work fine pushed in Rodinal. So far the only foggy ones I got with Rodinal were with Fomapan 400 and T-Max 400. I don’t think those like it much to be stand-developed. With Caffenol-CL both are ok with added potassium bromide to handle the fog though. Oh, and Fomapan 400 is a little on the grainy side for my taste, but not bad at all.