Fomapan DS8mm 100ft rolls USA

[David M. Leugers]

Get your 100ft rolls of Fomapan DS8mm here in the USA by ordering it from Freestyle (the exclusive Foma dealer in the USA). $46.99 per roll, no miminum even though it is a special order. If orders are made within a week, they will be in the next shipment from Foma in July. Call 800-292-6137 ext. 119 for Kristina who will handle your order.

Both Cinelab and Yale have done excellent Fomapan development for me. Save a boatload of money by processing as a 100ft roll of 16mm film and slitting it yourself.

Thanks to Marcella Hanouskova of Fomapan and Emmalee Garcia of Freestyle for their help making this possible.

[Mmechanic]

Great to read this. I was the first importer of Fomapan R to my country in 1999 after long years. It’s an old-time stock with a lot of silver in it, an anti-halo undercoat, a thick photographic layer, and a colourless triacetate base, the right stuff for home movie makers. It connects directly with the 1920s.

[mr8mm]

Actually i was the first importer of Fomapan 8mm in the USA in the 90's and early 2000's. I used to go to SF airport and pick it up by the pallet load. After 911 things got complicated and had to go through a lot of paperwork and driving between airport and customs in SF. I guess I wasn't big enough to keep Foma happy because now they won't speak to me.

Actually Yale moved the lab several years ago and gave up the wet chemistry because of environmental considerations. They now farm out to Spectra Film and Video processing. So, you should add Spectra Film and Video to your list of Foma processing labs. I know that Doug at Spectra has tweaked Foma processing to get best results.

[aj]

ONe would assume that any factory would glad to supply film by the pallet-load. Was it only the paperwork or is this air-lifting the troublemaker? I.e it might work better if things were shipped per sea-container. Spending a few months on transfertime would be that bad when there is a steady flow.

[Gabe Agoado]

Cinelab can process this? That's good to know. I just spent a small fortune getting some Fomapan processed/scanned at Spectra and they claimed to be the only lab in the US that can still do it.

[David M. Leugers]

Cinelab does a very good job processing Fomapan, and any other B+W film in my experience. It is claimed that Cinelab helped Spectre with problems they had developing Fomapan. I would guess they both do a similar quality job.

[Spectra]

I thought we should toss on our two cents on this topic to help clarify.

A couple of years ago we attempted to alter our black and white formulation for better overall results running all the various film types. This involved use of different chemicals, formulas and dwell times rather than strictly adhering to the Kodak ideal. During this stage, we reached out to Cinelab to see if they might have some insight on resolving a stubborn spotting issue we were having (we thought it was related to bleach). They seemed reluctant to provide solid information and were unable to give us the help we needed (which was perfectly understandable since we technically compete). The help we needed actually came from Kodak who examined test samples and suggested we try an anti-spotting agent in final rinse. After testing final rinse formula additives and switching to final RO/DI water, we had perfect results! So, on this subject, Beverly Persterczyk from Kodak actually deserves the credit for helping Spectra!

In addition to this, there were numerous methods we needed to discover on our own involving creative experimentation and reading up on different developing procedures. We feel our determination to get it right finally paid off and we are very pleased with our overall developing.

With regards to Foma, while we have the processing down it does have some built in flaws due to manufacturing standards. This sometimes includes embedded particles, white speckles, and other imperfections. ORWO UN54 and Kodak Tri-X tend to provide much more consistent results. Nonetheless, the affordable price of Foma and its old school look are appreciated. We feel fortunate to have Foma included within the black and white portfolio.

[studiocarter2]

I would really like to order some 100 foot rolls of Double Regular 8mm Foma to shoot in my Bolex H series cameras. I do not have a Double Super 8mm Bolex.
BTW, I got really good results developing Foma R-100 myself using the developing kit from Freestyle and then switching to the tech sheet from Foma using Fomadon LQR as a developer. Great results in a LOMO tank.

[Krasnogorskistan]

Hi there, how does the Fomodon LQR compare to the R09 that I think I read you have used, (R09 is their version of Rodinal I believe)?

[studiocarter2]

Unknown. I only have un54 to try it on and have not done so, yet.