Arista Premium B&W 400

In the Netherlands you could buy B/W film at the HEMA department store.

Most said it was Ilford, other were convinced it couldn't be 'because Ilford doesn't do OEM anymore'.

As I has both in my freezer I had a look:

- Published times for common developers: The same
- I couldn't see any difference under the same conditions
- But the dead giveaway was that they had IDENTICAL BATCH NUMBERS printed on the inside of the box.

Sadly HEMA does not sell it anymore :(

I wish I could buy Tri-X at 2$ a roll :(
 
NickTrop said:
As far as the Tri-X/not-Tri-X debate, if it's close enough to warrant debate, then it's good enough.
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I fully agree, Nick. Although it's only human nature to be curious about something like this, I'm very happy with the film and don't have a need to be concerned about it's true nature.


Looks like Tri-X t' my eyes, I've shot 4-5 rolls of it. However, I would be careful about citing "Made in USA" as proof. My thinking is the rolls could be bought in Czech Republic and "assembled" in the USA? Like cars that are "Made in the USA" - like the Crystler I just junked... Wanted to "buy American", support our economy, etc. fool that I was... The car was a rebadged Mitsubishi, essentially, I found out later...
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I don't think you can put cars into the same catagory, as their complexity, from the huge number of parts to the lengthy assembly process, make them more open for such deception in marketing. Freestyle's advertising boldly says, "Manufactured in the USA", and to me that seems quite clear.
 
I have shot a bit of Arista Premium 400 and I am still shooting it (still have 700 ft in the freezer). I mix and match with Tri X( have 2000 ft of tha in the freezer), same cameras, same developing and there is really no difference between them. If it ain't TriX, it is so damned close that it doesn't matter. At the moment there are 4 can's of 100ft rolls in my darkroom waiting to be loaded into cassettes, 1 is Tri X, 1 is Arista Premium 400, 1 is Legacy Pro 400 (170 rolls in the freezer) and another is my last 100 ft can of Fuji Presto 400. I dont expect to see much difference between them in the end.
400 asa films are generally used differently than the slower films. You shoot handheld, often at Sunny F16 and those variables probably influence your negs more than the brand on the edge.
Film manufacturers make what is called "parent rolls" - 4000 ft long and 52" wide. These are slit and packaged in whatever size they need. Edge markings are added in the slitting/perforation process.
The fact that the Legacy Pro has identical markings to Presto 400 - except the small "Fuji" monniker makes me think that they get it "sliced/diced and packaged" from Fuji.
In short, it doesn't matter - just buy what you like and shoot it and if it is cheap, thats a bonus too. Kodak or Fuji doesn't loose money on the film as they probably has a similar margin on the parent roll. Freestyle most likely buys direct from the factory, thus bypassing middlemen who tend to add $ to the cost. A $4 saving per roll adds up over time - I go through 5-600 rolls a year - and that is a saving of $2000-2400/year - that can be used for more gear, travel - or even a bigger stockpile of film.
 
NickTrop said:
The car was a rebadged Mitsubishi, essentially, I found out later...
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More likely than not made (assembled?) at the plant in Bloomington, IL co-owned (at one time) by Chrysler and Mitsubishi.

Pretty sure Chrysler sold out their share a few of years ago, in the Daimler-Benz era.


[EDIT] - to keep this on topic; just ordered 10 rolls each of the 100 and 400. I have been using Ilford since I started souping my own, as I was getting better results, but I figure at these prices, I will try "Plus-X" and "Tri-X" again.
 
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Ronald_H said:
In the Netherlands you could buy B/W film at the HEMA department store.

Most said it was Ilford, other were convinced it couldn't be 'because Ilford doesn't do OEM anymore'.
Click to expand...

That was useful stuff. When it finished I visited the few Hema shops in town here and bought them out. I used the last few rolls in the Barcelona meet the other week.

I always wondered if it was Ilford or Foma, but the batch numbers would confirm it. Anyway, it's gone now.

Possibly I will be getting a load of Foma (or something) from Fotoimpex, as they seem to be the equivalent re-packaging outlet in Europe. Does anyone have any specific recommendations ?
 
NickTrop said:
C'mon - Freestyle, God bless'em. Their rebadged stuff are the best deals in Photography. At $2 and change (US) a roll of 36 - and it ain't crap? Good stuff? I used to "roll my own" to save a lil change now I used Freestyle. It's not even worth it look for deals on eBay... buy all you want... One roll of Tri-X costs close to $6 w/ tax at the local brick and mortar...

As far as the Tri-X/not-Tri-X debate, if it's close enough to warrant debate, then it's good enough. Looks like Tri-X t' my eyes, I've shot 4-5 rolls of it. However, I would be careful about citing "Made in USA" as proof. My thinking is the rolls could be bought in Czech Republic and "assembled" in the USA? Like cars that are "Made in the USA" - like the Crystler I just junked... Wanted to "buy American", support our economy, etc. fool that I was... The car was a rebadged Mitsubishi, essentially, I found out later...
Click to expand...

I was more curious than argumentative, if it came off as a disagreement, it was not my intention.

I am trying to remember the last time I used Rodinal , or R09, for tri x and it is too long for my brain cells, must have been that last glass of wine last night. '-)

I wonder if the color change occurs if you use a prewash?

They are showing R09 to be the same as Rodinal, but the dilutions and times I have are slightly different. I think R09 was a product of the releasing of the old Rodinal formulation by the Socialist governments? I buy Foma's R09, but I was using it with 6x9 on Agfapan 400 for what I took to be the tonality. They show 1:20 and 1:40 dilutions as I recall.

I too. am very glad that Freestyle, which 30 years ago was basically a minor player, to pick up the challenge and it looks as if they are supplying some great stuff at very reasonable prices. I see they are repacking Foma 200, and selling it under Foma's name, it is truly an excellent film. I use to be an associate of Foma USA, (Misha are you around?), and the 200 was one of the best films I ever used. Was in my testing days, and got some terrific gray scales. Easy to spot, I think they are basically the only ones making an ISO 200 B&W film.

Their MF film had problems with dust, and I do not know if they solved the problem. Early cartridges were shades of Kodak 60's cartridges. Reloading 35mm is an art, and the right cartridges essential, unless you have mastered Tom A's skills with Leica cartridges. I keep any of the good reloadable cartridges in ziplocs.

As to the buying American, I also bought a Chrylser, to find out two years later that they had run out of US motors, and not only was the engine Japanese, but the fuel pump was Israli, and expensive. I guess all you can do is try.

It is nice to see someone like Freestyle hawking a good variety, am looking for a new Freezer, and yes, there is mostly film in my fridge. Film was commonly available short dated at shows, but film is pretty rare any more. CVS has Tri X.

Kodak also deserves a bit of credit for keeping a good variety of film in production.

20 years ago, I was talking with Agfa about a technical problem, and asked what percentage of their film production was B&W, and even then they said it was around 1%.

On my trips to Europe, I do sense that there is a deep appreciation of current B&W work, and even 8mm film, but perhaps I do not hang outi in the right places in the US.

At $2 a roll, I do not think I would do much bulk loading, and Foma used to be $1 a roll. I would think they would discontinue 24 ex rolls.

Regards, John
 
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