Ultrafine brand B&W films

I have bought a couple times from them, but only Fuji color neg films. They were very good to deal with. But I have no idea what their house-brand films are like.
 
Someone could just call and see if they will tell who is the manufacturer. The prices on the 100' bulk rolls are very attractive.
 
Trius said:
Someone could just call and see if they will tell who is the manufacturer. The prices on the 100' bulk rolls are very attractive.
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I emailed them and asked. I also sent a second email and requested their development chart as the one on their site is a broken link.

They emailed back the development chart and ignored the first email.
 
I specifically emailed them again asking them to answer. Here's what I wrote:

"Can you tell me which typical B&W film your Ultrafine 120 400 B & W is most like? Who manufacturers your Ultrafine B&W films?"

Here's their reply:

"Private Label since 1979."

Wow, that was helpful.
 
jano said:
What effort! :D
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Yeah. I replied to them again:

"Riiiiight. And who makes it?"

I'm not holding my breath though. If they do not want to tell me who makes it at least they can imply who it is by relating which film it's like....otherwise forget it.

I cannot remember who, but there's another US supplier that private labels B&W film but they outwardly tell you it's bulk re-loaded Ilford HP5+ and FP4+....
 
rich815 said:
I cannot remember who, but there's another US supplier that private labels B&W film but they outwardly tell you it's bulk re-loaded Ilford HP5+ and FP4+....
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Freestyle? They do it with one of their EDU films, no?
 
Freestyle it is. I don't remember which ones. EDU is Forte, EDU ULTRA is Foma, supossedly. That leaves II and Professional.
 
Ok, got another reply from them:

"Private Label contract dating back over 27 years prevents disclosure. We are one of the few that honor such agreements, I suppose."

No closer to actually understanding the actual characteristics of this film any better or who makes it.

Anyone care to guess? I'm thinking it's Ilford....
 
jano said:
Freestyle? They do it with one of their EDU films, no?
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No, it's someone else of similar size and "stature" but I cannot remember their name---I think also in California. Like I said though I do remember them stating on the website it was re-loaded Ilford....
 
They don't seem to ship outside the US ? Too bad, I could use some of their cheap fiber based paper !
 
BTW, Freestyle is a great source for bulk film. They have some Agfa APX left (under the Arista II label) and a bit of Ilford (the Professional label), but they're moving toward Foma and Forte for their house brand films from whawt I see. The Foma (EDU Ultra) films are quite nice and very cheap ($20/100').
 
sockeyed said:
BTW, Freestyle is a great source for bulk film. They have some Agfa APX left (under the Arista II label) and a bit of Ilford (the Professional label), but they're moving toward Foma and Forte for their house brand films from whawt I see. The Foma (EDU Ultra) films are quite nice and very cheap ($20/100').
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How is the FOMA? What do you develop it in? How would you describe it in comparison to other films?

I'm looking to buy a few tins bulk of a more "classic" looking emulsion, or I may order some Shantou ERA100, which I really like. I found a source in Taiwan who can send it in 50-roll batches for about $1.88 a roll net (including shipping).
 
I was told the regular ultrafine 400 is similar to Kodak Pan-X. I dunno if it's true. Anyway, I've ordered 2x100 ft. rolls of APX-400 awhile ago.

P.S. If you want to make an order I'd advise you to call them instead of ordering online. Apparently, it seemed like they almost forgot to send my order. The operations manager I delt with was a "stand up guy" so I didn't leave a negative.
 
I really like the Foma stuff. It has a classic look to it, especially when souped in Rodinal. It's more grainy that modern emulsions, but has very nice tonality and sharpness. For samples, have a look at the flickr Fomapan group:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/foma/

And it is very affordable, as I mentioned earlier. It's less than $2 a roll for 36exp. from Freestyle (under the Arista EDU Ultra label).
 
sockeyed said:
BTW, Freestyle is a great source for bulk film. They have some Agfa APX left (under the Arista II label) and a bit of Ilford (the Professional label), but they're moving toward Foma and Forte for their house brand films from whawt I see. The Foma (EDU Ultra) films are quite nice and very cheap ($20/100').
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Thanks for the info. I think I'll buy some Arista EDU Ultra 400 or 200 the next time I need film. I still have 100+ ft of AGFA APX.
 
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