FP3000B manual exposure, speed rating?

[Ezzie]

Since I modified my 110A to take pack film I have had a spot of bother with regards to FP3000B. At first I thought it was the copal shutter on the Tominon 127/f4.7, but now I get the same results with an Ektar in a synchro compur shutter. The former may be a bit slow at top speed, but not all. The latter is tested and proven. I find it hard to believe that both shutters are suspect at all speeds.

The problem? Overexposure, especially in bright daylight. By at least a stop. Happens at all speeds. I have to dial in a one stop compensation to start with, and then start thinking of compensating for the actual scene.

So the question is: Is FP3000B more sensitive than the 3200 rating would suggest? I have seen others rate it a 6400.

 

[Ezzie]

After rating the film at 6400 I've been getting better results. Using the same camera/lens/shutter with FP100C rated at 100 works too. It would seem that FP3000B could well be a tad more sensitive than Fuji intends. Either that or I have had a peculiar batch.

 

[Dante_Stella]

The speed is true, more so than FP-100C, which has huge reciprocity issues and slows down with long exposures.

Like the Polaroid film it supplanted, FP-3000B has a ton of contrast and was designed to be shot in dark, low-contrast, short scale scenes. Bright sun and flash are very marginal uses of this film. It sounds like you are under-exposing to keep the highlights from blowing (which in harsh light can even happen using the baseline Sunny-16 rule).

FP-100C does not make a good frame of reference because it does have overexposure latitude.

Dante

 

[Ezzie]

You are most likely right, FP3000B does work better, is more predictable in subdued light. It very easily blows highlights in daylight. Pity there isn't an FP300B anymore, or even FP100B for that matter.