Ultrafine Finesse... (new?)

dourbalistar

dourbalistar

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Someone on a different forum noticed that there's now a (new?) Ultrafine Finesse film stock at Photo Warehouse, available in bulk 100-foot rolls. They recently posted some recommended starting times for the ISO 400 stock, but no information yet for the ISO 100. Since Ultrafine eXtreme 400 has been out of stock for months now, I may take a flyer and try this out.

I will report back any results! :)
 
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that's strange;
ultrafine extreme price is increased and out of stock;

now they release new film, i suppose that they are the same?
the starting price is higher than Xtreme line, and no discount for bulk purchase.
 
Some folks noted that the suggested development times are very similar to Fomapan 400:

  • Ilford ID-11 Developer Stock 7.5 Min
  • Kodak Xtol Developer Straight 7.5 Min
  • Kodak T-Max Dev 1:4 8.5 Min
  • Kodak HC110 Developer Dil B 7 Min
  • Agfa Rodinal Developer 1:25 6 Min
 
Their price is very competitive, but of course there's no stock of it now. That's true of a lot of the film Photo Warehouse is selling now. My guess is that this is virus related -- I'm having trouble getting Ilford in bulk rolls from Adorama too lately.
 
David Murphy said:
Their price is very competitive, but of course there's no stock of it now. That's true of a lot of the film Photo Warehouse is selling now. My guess is that this is virus related -- I'm having trouble getting Ilford in bulk rolls from Adorama too lately.
Click to expand...

I haven't tried purchasing yet, but the ISO 400 stock seems to be available to add to cart. The ISO 100 shows as out of stock.
 
dourbalistar said:
Some folks noted that the suggested development times are very similar to Fomapan 400:
  • Ilford ID-11 Developer Stock 7.5 Min
  • Kodak Xtol Developer Straight 7.5 Min
  • Kodak T-Max Dev 1:4 8.5 Min
  • Kodak HC110 Developer Dil B 7 Min
  • Agfa Rodinal Developer 1:25 6 Min
Click to expand...


If these are Fomapan repacked; I am out.

I much prefer Kentmere line and heard somewhere that Ultrafine Extreme is the same.
 
In terms of companies making fresh stock right now you have four choices for anything on a budget:
  • Kentmere (Harman)
  • Foma Bohemia
  • ORWO/Inoviscoat
  • Agfa Gevaert
Nobody else can hit that price point with quality film on a normal base. The dev times don't match ORWO N74+ or N75, Ultrafine already sell Kentmere as Xtreme, Agfa Gevaert's films are all not your normal pan film and already extensively commercialized by Rollei, and that leaves one manufacturer. The dev times also match. I'd say there is a 90% chance it's Fomapan 100 and 400.

Karl
 
Has anyone noticed that there is no more "cheap" B&W film. The 'cheap' film is now 80% of the price of regular Ilford and Kodak stock. I'll leave Fujifilm out of this, their dreamland price of $12 a roll for Acros is out of range of normal film pricing. Bulk is not much cheaper either.
 
zuiko85 said:
Has anyone noticed that there is no more "cheap" B&W film. The 'cheap' film is now 80% of the price of regular Ilford and Kodak stock. I'll leave Fujifilm out of this, their dreamland price of $12 a roll for Acros is out of range of normal film pricing. Bulk is not much cheaper either.
Click to expand...


Sheer economics of reduced competition and lower volume. Still, bulk rolled Fomapan 100 is about $2.90 a roll as I calculate it ($51.99 in Ultra.EDU guise, from Freestyle). That's pretty cheap. Ultrafine Xtreme 100 is a few bucks cheaper.

Here in Europe you can order Fomapan 100 direct from Foma for €33.46 per 100 ft. That comes out to $2.16 per 36 exposure roll in bulk. I still call that cheap.


Karl
 
relistan said:
In terms of companies making fresh stock right now you have four choices for anything on a budget:
  • Kentmere (Harman)
  • Foma Bohemia
  • ORWO/Inoviscoat
  • Agfa Gevaert
Nobody else can hit that price point with quality film on a normal base. The dev times don't match ORWO N74+ or N75, Ultrafine already sell Kentmere as Xtreme, Agfa Gevaert's films are all not your normal pan film and already extensively commercialized by Rollei, and that leaves one manufacturer. The dev times also match. I'd say there is a 90% chance it's Fomapan 100 and 400.

Karl
Click to expand...

Hope it’s not Foma. My results with Foma in Rodinal have not been great. Kentmere was ok. I have rolls of Foma 100 and 200 in the queue. Maybe they will be satisfactory. Kentmere 400 has passed $60 per bulk roll.
 
relistan said:
Sheer economics of reduced competition and lower volume. Still, bulk rolled Fomapan 100 is about $2.90 a roll as I calculate it ($51.99 in Ultra.EDU guise, from Freestyle). That's pretty cheap. Ultrafine Xtreme 100 is a few bucks cheaper.

Here in Europe you can order Fomapan 100 direct from Foma for €33.46 per 100 ft. That comes out to $2.16 per 36 exposure roll in bulk. I still call that cheap.
A

Karl
Click to expand...

Cheapest 100ft. bulk (that is actually in stock) in US is $52 for Arista 100, 200, or 400 ISO from B&H plus $5 tax but with free shipping. So, with currency conversion not much different.
But wait, you have to add cartridges. You cannot just go to the local 1 hour lab to get used carts with the end of the film sticking out, there are no more 1 hour labs.
All B&H has is a plastic type and from customer comments you buy them, wait for them to arrive, then open the package and dump them into the trash.
So, what to do? Well Freestyle still has metal Afga style cartridges. A package of 25 is about $45 once you add shipping and tax.
So now you are into about $100 for your first 20 rolls, if you load by hand and don't waste any film. Or......$5 a roll.
(Factory loaded Arista 400, 36 exposure loads are $4.89 a roll from B&H, plus tax, you need to order at least 11 rolls to get free shipping.)
If you are careful and keep the felts clean, you can reload the same carts maybe 25 times. So yes, you can eventually come out ahead.

PS. I shoot half frame so bulk can be used to do short loads when you don't want 72 exposures. So there are still some advantages to bulk besides cost.
 
zuiko85 said:
But wait, you have to add cartridges. You cannot just go to the local 1 hour lab to get used carts with the end of the film sticking out, there are no more 1 hour labs.
Click to expand...


Yes you can, you get them on eBay. I have bought a few batches of 100 for about $12 each. Which comes to $0.12 per roll, not really worth calculating.
 
For anyone interested there’s a report with links to test images of the film at Photrio. Looks promising.
 
Having looked at the examples, it really looks more to me like Ilford Pan 400 than Fomapan 400. It's definitely not Fomapan. The grain is pretty mild and the whites glow too much.
 
relistan said:
Having looked at the examples, it really looks more to me like Ilford Pan 400 than Fomapan 400. It's definitely not Fomapan. The grain is pretty mild and the whites glow too much.
Click to expand...


Makes sense since both Ilford Pan 400 and Kentmere 400 are both produced by Harman Technology.


Easier to work with the same supplier rather than with a new one.
 
If the new Ultrafine film is in fact Ilford Pan 400 I'll be happy.
Then I won't have to order it from overseas.

However I read that Ilford Pan 400 has been discontinued... :confused:

Chris
 
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