More new film! Bergger Pancro 400

Filzkoeter

Filzkoeter

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Bergger announced that they will introduce a new ISO 400 film on March 15

At first it will come in the following sizes:

- 4x5 / 25
- 4x5 / 50
- 5x7 / 25
- 8x10 / 25

with 135 and 120 later to come.

It's a two layer film which propably is coated by InovisCoat (the box states "Made in Germany").

They also released more information on their facebook account like a densitrometric curve and a picture of the layers:

https://www.facebook.com/bergger

I'm curious about the 135 and will definitely try it out :)
 
Awesome!

Really interesting to see that they're coming out with 4x5 and 8x10 first. Surely the market size is much smaller?

But then if they are led by hardcore LF enthusiasts I can understand.
 
Did they actually start up their own manufacturing, or did they contract it out? Just curious. Either way, it's good news.
 
Eric: they stated on apug that they are not coating by themselves:

"Concerning the manufacture of the film: is it necessary to own a coating machine to produce film? I don't think so. More than that, when we consider the market today, it is better to share time machine on a coating line. It is more efficient economically. Who can afford to have a coating line today ? Kodak and Fuji, but they are suffering, Ilford, and they share it, Inoviscoat, only for custom coatings, and Foma.
"
Click to expand...

since the box states "made in Germany" it's propably coated by Inoviscoat (same company that coats the Adox films)

I don't know if Bergger are making their own emulsions or if the emulsion making is outsourced.
 
JChrome said:
Awesome!

Really interesting to see that they're coming out with 4x5 and 8x10 first. Surely the market size is much smaller?

But then if they are led by hardcore LF enthusiasts I can understand.
Click to expand...

If they are aiming for the low price segment there's a niche: currently Foma are undercutting the other brands with quite a good margin, the 4x5 are like half the price. Problem with Foma is that they have no "real" 400 speed film; at least most of the internet agrees it's more like ISO 200.

I think a Foma priced ISO 400 - preferably with good reciprocity characteristics - would have a decently sized market, whereas competing with the wide range of ISO 400 35mm films, where cheap alternatives like Arista and Kentmere exists, is more difficult.
 
I will be interested in seeing the price point they are aiming at. Will this be an "art" film with a premium price, or a low price alternative?
 
What do you film experts make of the dual layer emulsion, a low and high speed layer? Is this similar to other ISO 400 films? What properties does this give the film?

~Joe
 
JoeV said:
What do you film experts make of the dual layer emulsion, a low and high speed layer? Is this similar to other ISO 400 films? What properties does this give the film?
Click to expand...

After reading the APUG thread, apparently this type of dual-layer construction is common. Tri-X is made this way.

Jim B.
 
Filzkoeter said:
Eric: they stated on apug that they are not coating by themselves:



since the box states "made in Germany" it's propably coated by Inoviscoat (same company that coats the Adox films)
Click to expand...

It is definitely coated by InovisCoat in Germany (former engineers from the Agfa factory in Leverkusen, Germany). Indirectly confirmed by the new Bergger CEO.

Filzkoeter said:
I don't know if Bergger are making their own emulsions or if the emulsion making is outsourced.
Click to expand...

They are outsourcing it: Their papers are made by Ilford.
The film emulsion is probably made by FilmoTec in Germany.
For years Bergger is the FilmoTec distributor in France, so there is a long established relationship.

All good news here: Small, flexible, innovative film producers are preparing for the film revival.
 
Great to see it's now been released and I'm keen to try some. being in Europe, I should be able to order direct from France.

Looking at the data sheet there is no mention of Ilford chemicals for developer. Anyone use Ilford on the Pancro400 sheet film and if so what specifically.
 
I'd be interested in that as well. I was also looking at their developer as well. I wouldn't mind giving that Berspeed stuff a try too. It looks like Freestyle carries it.
 
There was an interview published last autumn in French photo magazine Réponses Photo with the owner of Bergger, Aurélien Le Duc.
The important details of this interview:
The R&D for this film was done by German film and photo paper manufacturer InovisCoat:
http://www.inoviscoat.de/en/

InovisCoat is also doing the production (making the emulsion and coating). That is the reason why "Made in Germany" is on the boxes.
InovisCoat is run by former German Agfa engineers. They built a complete new modern film factory in 2009 in Monheim, Germany.
And they are also producing film and photo paper products for other companies.

Bergger itself is a distribution company with no own R&D and production.
 
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