Arista Edu Ultra (Foma) / Rodinal (Adonal) users?

Juan Valdenebro

Juan Valdenebro

Truth is beauty
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Hi,
For the last years I used Tri-X and Plus-X (Arista Premium) in Rodinal… Last year I did some tests with long development times and little agitation with both films: against what I used to think and always read, there were real changes after 30 minutes of development, and after 60 too, so I went beyond that, and I’ve been shooting 100(125) film exposed at 400, and 400 film exposed at 3200 since, always. The first case for all my street shooting (f5.6-f8), and the second one a lot less frequently, for portraiture, different look, etc., with big grain. My standard development became Rodinal 1+50 at room temperature (21) for 2 hours, with slow agitation for the first 30 seconds, and then 2 gentle inversions every 15 minutes. So comfortable, as you can do all you want while your film gets developed. The idea was, “getting as much as possible from the films, without blowing highlights”, and as I like sharpness and acutance, contrast and crisp grain, I’m satisfied with the results.
I’m running out of film (2 rolls of plusx and 4 rolls of trix!!!), so yesterday I checked Freestyle to get 100 rolls of Plus-X, and discovered it’s not available, and Kodak is not even making it anymore… Wow… It looks like my only option from now on, for cheap slow film, will be Arista Edu Ultra 100, which seems to be Fomapan100… After two days of reading here and there about Foma, opinions are divided on how good and how pushable with Rodinal Foma films are… Thank you Fotohuis (Robert) for all the great information posted on Foma films these last years… Apparently the 200 one is a mix of modern and classic grain, while the 100 and the 400 ones are classic grain… Old school grain and look, and half box speed in general… Looks like the 200 one is a more pushable film design, but with speed enhancing developers, not with Rodinal, but some people report wild pushing of the 3 films even with Rodinal… Obviously I can’t wait to do it myself, but I’d like to read some forum members opinions… Of course I want to use Foma films exclusively with the same 2 hours development I’ve been doing for Kodak films… Thanks for all kinds of comments!
Cheers,
Juan
 
I've been using Arista EDU ultra 100 with Arista liguid developer, also from Freestyle. But I haven't pushed it, I'm shooting at 50. I used to use Rodinal and HC-110 for this film. With all of the developers, in my hands, I found this film to be slightly blue sensitive and have too much contrast for my style. These are some of my latest:

13203917705_f70bdc5d3b.jpg


and in the sun but subject in shade.

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This is AristaEDU 100 shot at 50, developed in Rodinal 1+50. This is medium format however, not 35mm (I also use it in 4x5) so may not be of much relevance to you.
13590255863_0f865a02df_o.jpg


Regarding pushing, I've shot AristaEDU 400 at 800 and developed in D-76 stock. Shadow detail gets lost easily, but I like the look. Again, this is medium format.
11180551716_67ff60f871.jpg


EDIT: Developers and dilutions corrected (sorry!).

11180551716_67ff60f871.jpg
 
I am using Fomapan 100 and 200 in Rodinal/R09 since 1997. In the new FP200 since 2012 the film speed is even lower then iso 125 which it was before in R09. The regular speed in R09 for FP100 is iso 80. Both films are doing very well in this developer.
 
They're doing very well, John... Thanks! But I'm not: I was placing a wire on my house's roof (for a second internet wifi router) and something got broken below my feet and I fell down: 5 meters... It was on April 4, friday 2pm... I got two bones broken... Unconscious for half an hour... Spent 4 days in the hospital, with oxygen, and now I'm home... I almost couldn't breathe those first days: really hard days... Now I need a couple of months to recover, but at least, with lots of medicine and pain 24 hours, I am breathing... I spend 90% of the day in bed, and sleep still, face up like a mummy... Doctors say it's a miracle my head and spine were not affected at all... I feel like I was born again: life is a beautiful miracle... So here's my life: face up, a pillow on my chest, and on it, RFF on a laptop screen: this makes me very happy...
Cheers,
Juan
 
Well wishes!

Well wishes!

Am not an avid poster and very much an amateur, but I do enjoy all the top quality info on here. Most everyone have good camaraderie, which makes it a class act forum (people agree, and sometimes agree to disagree).

From someone who appreciates all the info you share here, all best in your recovery Juan!
 
Juan - wishing you all the very best for a speedy recovery, and in the meantime many interesting threads on RFF to keep you thinking about your next photo project.
 
Hello Juan:

I've bookmarked all your discussions and post about Rodinal and Across 100 from way back when.
You have been a great teacher and I've learnt at lot from you. I've never had the opportunity to thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with all of us. I do that now: Thanks and welcome back. I hope your recovery is speedy and w/o any complications.

Thanks and best wishes.

Giorgio
 
Nice to see you posting again, Juan, but sorry to hear of your accident. Best wishes for a speedy recovery! And I am also interested in the discussion you've started about Fomapan, as I've started using that film as a possible replacement for Plus-X when I want a more old school look. My go-to developer these days is HC 110, but I don't feel lime I've got Fomapan 200 figured out yet. I have gotten some nice results with Fomapan 100, exposed at 200 and developed in Diafine.
 
welcome back, and all the best from me, too.

concerning my limited experience with fomapan 100, while i do not "understand" it as well as APX100 yet, i certainly like it.
it is a little bit weak on the AHL, but it helps with the film's specific look. at box speed, i made good experience developing it in rodinal a bit shorter than listed (digitaltruth) at 1+50 as far as i recall, 7 minutes with agitation for 10sec every 2 minutes was good for me.
recently, i tried 1 hour stand (soft inversions each 15 minutes after initial 1 minute continuous inversions) at 1+100, and the highlights came out very dark, while still not blown. puts a bit of stress on the scanner ... i prefer a bit lower contrast, so my next attempt will use 30 minutes stand.

you may come out with different times, but i'd say, that the film is worth the work. try it. it took me 3 attempts at regular regime with rodinal to arrive where i wanted to be. and i might even like it better than APX100!

cheers,
sebastian
 
Thanks everybody!
In case someone does a 2 hour semistand with foma films, it would be nice to see here how fast 100, 200 and 400 can get... Until then, or until I find the way to try foma films, happy shooting!!!
Cheers,
Juan
 
Really nice work and results from Arista and Fomapan in this thread. I enjoy Fomapan (35mm), though its not easy for me to get my hands on them in Asia.

Call me crazy, but I have pushed Fomapan 100 to 1600, via DDX or R09.

p818482463-4.jpg
 
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