Fomapan 400 Action 120 roll-film: Fast and Loose?

[Russell W. Barnes]

I was halfway round a walk and needed to change film, so I sat me down ina shady space and wound off the Foma 400 roll film in my Balda-Baldix.

When I withdrew the film I was horrified to see that I could SEE the edge of the film, which was not wound within the confines of the spool-ends, and it felt squidgy when I pressed it. I managed to slam it in my spec case, but alas... When I developed it, it had fogged badly at the edges. 🙁


This is the first roll of Foma I've removed out of the changing bag, and I won't be removing it out of the changing bag again! Never had a problem swapping out Ilford or Kodak films in daylight. Has anyone else experienced this with Fomapan 400 Action? Why?
--

R.

 

[ruby.monkey]

For Foma, quality control is something that happens to other people.

 

[randy stewart]

Probably has nothing to do with the brand of film. If you do not tightly load the initial paper leader, a loose loading will cause the whole take up to be loose, bulge and cause problems. Your situation is the common result. Mine with a Pentax 67 is that the bulging take-up spool/film will jam the film advance before you get to the end of the roll.

 

[Kai-san]

Never had this problem with any Fomapan film, and I've shot quite a lot of them.

 

[Huss]

This condition is also known as fat rolls. I have experienced it a few times in my Fuji gw690 but no other cameras. It happens when the film’s tension is not adequate when u first load it. You have to make sure the film is very tight in the receiving spool as you close the back.

 

[Russell W. Barnes]

Thanks for the replies, peeps. 🙂

I had the film as tight as I could when loading: I put my thumb on the film spool and wound on as tight as I could; no different to when I do any other film. It wasn't the end of the world, but I was jolly cross!

I've found, in the past, that some film is tighter curled when loading onto the spiral so I guess it keeps it tight on thre spool anyway.

 

[EarlJam]

I had that same issue whenever I used Fuji film in my Fuji GS645W. Never with Kodak or Ilford 120, however. My theory was that Fuji backing paper was slicker than that of other mfg's and didn't maintain tension on the takeup side of the camera.

 

[retinax]

I've had no such problems with Fomapan 200, which I've shot a few rolls of.

I'm wondering about the causes. I don't think it can be only tight winding, something must keep the roll tight on the take-up side. That must be either the backing paper sitting tightly against the spool, or the "natural" curl of the film and paper. The earlier would me a matter of manufacturing precision, the latter might also be influenced by how long the film has sat in the camera, where it might flatten in one or several places. I'm getting worried about the roll that's been in my Autocord for quite a while...

 

[Russell W. Barnes]

'...the latter might also be influenced by how long the film has sat in the camera, where it might flatten in one or several places. I'm getting worried about the roll that's been in my Autocord for quite a while...'

No matter how hard I try, I can't keep a film in the camera for more than a month. It's like it's burning a hole in my pocket!

I once developed a 127 film that had been in a Brownie 127 for fifty years. God, it was tight! I had the devil's own job of getting it off the reel onto the spool. So maybe films tighten naturally when left over time, rather than loosen?

 

[BernardL]

For Foma, quality control is something that happens to other people.

jumping to conclusions from single event

Probably has nothing to do with the brand of film. If you do not tightly load the initial paper leader, a loose loading will cause the whole take up to be loose, bulge and cause problems.

+1

This condition is also known as fat rolls. I have experienced it a few times in my Fuji gw690 but no other cameras.

Have experienced it with Neopan400 in Fujica GS645W, and, also with Neopan400, in Zeiss Nettar.

 

[retinax]

No matter how hard I try, I can't keep a film in the camera for more than a month. It's like it's burning a hole in my pocket!

I once developed a 127 film that had been in a Brownie 127 for fifty years. God, it was tight! I had the devil's own job of getting it off the reel onto the spool. So maybe films tighten naturally when left over time, rather than loosen?

I did shot some film with other cameras during that time!

I didn't mean the film would loosen by sitting in the camera. Rather, that the curl it has from having sat wound around the spool is needed to keep it tight once it's on the take-up spool - otherwise, what keeps it there when it's fully wound over, even if it has been wound on very tightly? And that curl might be disrupted if the film takes on a flat shape where it was on the pressure plate for extended time - that area might try to go back to a flat shape on the take-up spool and unwind the rest of the film. That's just theory, (very fitting as just tried to comprehend a bit of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason where he might be writing about the merits of empirical evidence) I'll need someone who has had fat rolls to say if this might be what happens, or convince me of a mechanism how fat rolls happen from loose paper leader and how tight rolls remain tight.

 

[Russell W. Barnes]

I'll keep my eye (fingers?) on the 'fat roll' thing from the safety of the dark-bag when using Foma henceforth. A pity, really, as I like the film - not least because it has nice, easy-to-see numbers on the backing paper! Only one of my Baldixes has a frame counter so I need to use the red window on the other one.

Nice negs, even in Rodinal, and in ID-11 1+1 it takes some beating. Just trying HC-110 right now, but couldn't tell how good this was because of the fogging and subsequent increase in exposure.

 

[Russell W. Barnes]

Well, I just ran another roll of Foma 400 through the Balda-Baldix and it was fine. 🙂 Unloaded it in the dark bag; nice and tight, no bulk beyond the spool-edges.

I notice, in the past, that 'fat film' has been more difficult to wind off at the end of the roll, and this is the clue. If it's stiff to wind off (irrespective of film manufacturer) then I'll unload it in the dark bag.