Work Portraits - Foma 200 & Ilford Delta 400

[Johnmcd]

A selection of informal portraits taken this week on Foma 200 and Ilford Delta 400. Both films developed in Fomadon LQN. Foma 200 is fast becoming my film for all occasions, with the Delta 400 for pushing to 1600 when necessary.

Winter in Australia produces a clear, lower angle somewhat harsh light. Both films handled the contrast well as can be seen in the shadow area on the face caused by the front of the helmet.

Camera: Leica R8 with 50/2 Summicron (Canadian).
Scanner: Plustek 8100 (scanned as slide film, inverted and resized from 3600 dpi).

Delta 400

Delta 400

Foma 200

Foma 200

Foma 200

Cheers - John

 

[John Bragg]

Good work John. Very nice tonality for harsh lighting.

 

[skopar steve]

Well done John! Beautiful handling of the shadows on the faces of the subjects with helmets.

 

[jmilkins]

Excellent John. I have some 35mm 200 ASA Foma rolls to get to and this is very encouraging! Do you rate at 200?

 

[lynnb]

Excellent portraits John! I prefer the Foma 200 results.

PS Thanks for putting me onto both the film and to Fomadon LQN.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

Very nice. I plan to try some of the Foma 200 or the Arista equivalent.
If my results are comparable this could become a new favorite film.

Chris

 

[Johnmcd]

Excellent John. I have some 35mm 200 ASA Foma rolls to get to and this is very encouraging! Do you rate at 200?

Thanks JM. Yes, I meter at 200 with LQN developer. I have heard however that with other developers it doesn't get full speed.

Cheers - John

 

[Johnmcd]

Very nice. I plan to try some of the Foma 200 or the Arista equivalent.
If my results are comparable this could become a new favorite film.

Chris

Give it a go Chris. It has a really nice 'old school' feel (glow?) but is nice and sharp as well.

Cheers - John

 

[Johnmcd]

Excellent portraits John! I prefer the Foma 200 results.

PS Thanks for putting me onto both the film and to Fomadon LQN.

No problems Lynn. BTW, when are you coming up to wet print all those great beach shots? 🙂

Cheers - John

 

[Johnmcd]

Well done John! Beautiful handling of the shadows on the faces of the subjects with helmets.

That's what really struck me also Steve. The images don't really show how harsh the light was. Great latitude.

Cheers - John

 

[Johnmcd]

Beautiful Portraits John ... Just Great !

Glad you liked them Helen 🙂

 

[Johnmcd]

Foma 200 in LQN

Zeiss Ikon ZI 50/1.4 Nokton

 

[michaelwj]

Nice work John!

I've never had much luck with Foma 200 but I think I developed in ID-11. The shadows were very empty.

I've settled on Foma 400 rated at 250* in LQN for 7 min (as per Foma's data sheet). Thanks for putting me onto Blanco Negro too, it's nice to be able to buy from a local supplier who actually cares. Top notch service every time.

*I find 250 gives better shadow tones than 320 and it makes it easier on my head to sunny 16 it. 1/250 just happens to be on the shutter dial, 1/320 is not 🙂

 

[Johnmcd]

Thanks Michael. I can't fault Foma 200 but I have only ever used LQN as bought 5 litres off Chris at Blanco Negro. I think it's the only developer that gives it the rated speed. I buy it by the 30m can and is my standard medium speed.

Yes, it's great to be able to buy local and such good prices as well. Each birthday my kids sent him some money for me to spent so I'll be heading there on Wednesday. This time some 200 in 120.

I just wish Foma had a film that pushed well, then I'd be set. Had to hit B&H for a couple of cans of Delta 400 which is working well for me at 800 in DDX. Unfortunately I've run out of DDX so I will try Microphen.

Cheers - John

 

[joeswe]

I've never had much luck with Foma 200 but I think I developed in ID-11. The shadows were very empty.

I've settled on Foma 400 rated at 250* in LQN for 7 min (as per Foma's data sheet).

As you have found, Fomapan 200 will loose speed in D-76/ID-11, it is closer to EI100 with that developer and also contrast builds up very quickly, so it's probably not the best choice for this film, at least when shadow detail is important. The Foma data sheet shows this very clearly. OTOH, in both LQN (1+10) and Xtol (stock) Foma 200 will reach a speed of around 160 (close enough to 200 for practical purposes) with a reasonable gamma (0.6). John's photographs illustrate this very nicely.