Ferrania P30 B&W Film Thread

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Mackinaw

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A pic taken on the recently reintroduced Ferrania P30 B&W film. The film is not yet generally available, though they hope to have their store up and operating in September (I got five rolls now because I am an original Kickstarter supporter). Shot with a Canon F-1 with a Canon FD 50/1.4, at about F4.0. EI of 80. Processed in D-76 for 7 minutes at 68F. The film definitely has a different look, but I’m not quite sure D-76 is the proper developer for it. Maybe next time I’ll process it in Rodinal. Still, it is nice to have a new B&W film to play around with.

p30c.jpg


Jim B.
 
Nice, I also got my kickstarter rolls, opted for these instead of the original deal for the color film. Once i get a roll shot I'll upload something.
 
Here are the latest official news from Film Ferrania:

http://www.filmferrania.it/news/2017/from-zero-to-p30-in-9-months

Quote of one of the last sentences:
"If you have been following our story, you are literally are witnessing a birth in super slow-motion. It's the birth of the first new film factory in the 21st century."

Well, that is wrong.
There already have been two new film factories in the 21st century:
1. InovisCoat.
2. Adox.

Cheers, Jan
 
mothertrucker said:
Nice, I also got my kickstarter rolls, opted for these instead of the original deal for the color film. Once i get a roll shot I'll upload something.
Click to expand...

Must be nice. I've been asking them to send me my film for months. I opted for it also when they announced it quite some time ago.
 
I have two rolls that were gifted to me by a friend who is an original kickstarter.

Looking forward to shooting this film.

Cal
 
Mackinaw said:
Another from my photo shoot on Sunday. Canon F-1 with R100/2.0 at F2.0. Same processing info.

Jim B.
Click to expand...

The two images you posted in this thread are the only two that I've seen that impress me. I've looked at the Ferrania forum and can't say any of the images would make me want to try P30 with the exception of yours.

It really appears the film at this time is somewhere around ISO 40 or 50. Scanning film is one thing but wet printing is another. You really need good negs to wet print. Even the scanned images I've seen appear to be from seriously underexposed negs.

I was thinking about how Ferrania is approaching releasing preproduction emulsions. I along with several other commercial and wedding photographers did field testing of several films for both Kodak and Ilford. Both companies commissioned experienced professionals to test their preproduction emulsions and write up technical reports that were used to modify emulsions and the base of the films. Unfortunately Ferrania is gathering data and images from inexperienced shooters that aren't particularly good technicians. Their images are being presented as examples of what the film can do. I think they're rushing to get the product on the market and it's not ready.
 
x-ray said:
The two images you posted in this thread are the only two that I've seen that impress me. I've looked at the Ferrania forum and can't say any of the images would make me want to try P30 with the exception of yours.

It really appears the film at this time is somewhere around ISO 40 or 50. Scanning film is one thing but wet printing is another. You really need good negs to wet print. Even the scanned images I've seen appear to be from seriously underexposed negs.

I was thinking about how Ferrania is approaching releasing preproduction emulsions. I along with several other commercial and wedding photographers did field testing of several films for both Kodak and Ilford. Both companies commissioned experienced professionals to test their preproduction emulsions and write up technical reports that were used to modify emulsions and the base of the films. Unfortunately Ferrania is gathering data and images from inexperienced shooters that aren't particularly good technicians. Their images are being presented as examples of what the film can do. I think they're rushing to get the product on the market and it's not ready.
Click to expand...

I’ve shot two rolls of P30 so far. The first one, in my Leica MP, I screwed up. I set the wrong ISO so the entire roll was underexposed. This last roll, in my F-1, I used an incident light meter instead of the camera’s meter. I used ISO of 80. The results look very good and an ISO of 80 is probably close to its actual speed (though I may shoot my next roll at an ISO of 50 just to experiment). The grain is very smooth (for anyone familiar with Microdol X, it has the same “smeared look” that film processed in straight Microdol-X used to look like). Though Ferrania recommends D-76 as a developer, I may try Rodinal next. I’m looking for something to give the negs more “pop.”

But I’m not complaining, actually I’m thrilled to have a new film to play around with. No question it does have its own unique look.

As for Ferrania, what I understand that, currently, only six people (!) work there. I’m cutting them a lot of slack, at least for now.

Jim B.
 
BLKRCAT said:
Must be nice. I've been asking them to send me my film for months. I opted for it also when they announced it quite some time ago.
Click to expand...

If you it makes you feel any better I'm dying for you to get some too! Love your photography and think you will come up with something wonderful.
 
Mackinaw, nice work.

I know Ferrania is a tiny company and excited they're bringing a new old emulsion to the market. Actually I'm really excied and can't wait to try it. I just wish they'd gone through a little more structured testing procedure before any public release. The trade trial process is important in gathering reliable data to refine the emulsion.

It's my understanding this is an update or remake of an emulsion that was on the market in the 60's. Perhaps they felt there was no bead to field test behind closed doors for that reason.

I really have high hopes this wil be a better film than the Foma offering of Retropan 320 and Bergger 400 that have recently been introduced. I'm still experimenting with Begger 400 and looking for a developer that gives better mid tone separation. As to Retropan, I'm seriously disappointed. It's one of the worst films I've used in fifty plus years.

Good luck and please keep sharing images and your technical data. Excellent job!
 
Some more (all developed in Rodinal (1:50)):










Not sure what you can make of this particular film by looking at the scans and since I don't print I obviously don't have the eye to tell you much about the film by just looking at the negatives...

The first two were overexposed (unintentionally) and underdeveloped (the first version of the Ferrania P30 "manual" had something like 8 or 9min for Rodinal 1:50; currently they suggest 14min). I guess the last two are more in line with what you should expect from P30 at iso80. I will probably shoot the next roll at iso50.
 
Brbo, your negs seem to have more “pop” than mine. Maybe Rodinal is a better developer for P30. I may also try developing the film in Xtol or DD-X. Only three rolls left though, so I have to be choosy. I hear their online store will go public in September. I’ll buy some more P30 then.

Jim B.
 
I just got my five rolls (I'm an original backer, and I bought these but kept my other rolls in queue). Brbo, I really like what you've got so far.

Anyone have some first hand experience with both p30 and Retro80s?
 
It's impossible to draw much of a conclusion from scans because scanners apply a profile / corrections. You might be applying curves and levels too.

I'd like to see a shot of the negs backlit so I can see the relative tones in them.

Really each of us have to give it a try ourselves. We all like something different in our negs whether wet printing or scanning. We all agitate different and simply have a different vision as to what the final image should look like. I print everything up to 4x5 with diffusion as well and others might use condenser. Just too many variables.

Guess we'll have to try it ourselves. It's always fun testing new emulsions.
 
brbo said:
Some more (all developed in Rodinal (1:50)):










Not sure what you can make of this particular film by looking at the scans and since I don't print I obviously don't have the eye to tell you much about the film by just looking at the negatives...

The first two were overexposed (unintentionally) and underdeveloped (the first version of the Ferrania P30 "manual" had something like 8 or 9min for Rodinal 1:50; currently they suggest 14min). I guess the last two are more in line with what you should expect from P30 at iso80. I will probably shoot the next roll at iso50.
Click to expand...

The shots of the camera and the habanero look very nice to me. Maybe Rodinal is the way to go. I got my 5 rolls, I wills shoot one today.
 
I was one of the original Kickstarter backers, and ordered the day the P30 offer opened. I got my receipt that my P30 is on the way this morning. I'm not sure how that works, but I'll report back when I have the film and have shot it.

Edit - Ferrania says it shipped today 17/8/17.

Marty
 
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