Foma reversal developing question

[mr_x]

Hi,

Am trialling a Bolex H8 + zoom lens. I have two reels of Standard 8 film ready to develop but this is going to leave half the Foma chemicals unused. The liquids can't be stored. Can I develop stills with Foma chemicals please? I have some asa 3200 Ilford 120 film I want to develop and it would save me wasting developer if I could include that with the Standard 8 batch?

If it's a 'yes', where's the best place to look for 3200 developing times?

Thanks,

Ric

[71er]

I can not imagine that Ilford ASA 3200 film is good for reversal developing. You can try but you won't find times for it anywhere.
If you are talking about negative developing: the Foma developer of the reversal kit will lead to very contrasty negatives, which you will not be happy about for printing.
Any way: you will have to go for trial and error. Why don't you buy some Ilford FP4 or PanF - they are much better suited for reversal development.

[nikonr10]

Hi,

Am trialling a Bolex H8 + zoom lens. I have two reels of Standard 8 film ready to develop but this is going to leave half the Foma chemicals unused. The liquids can't be stored. Can I develop stills with Foma chemicals please? I have some asa 3200 Ilford 120 film I want to develop and it would save me wasting developer if I could include that with the Standard 8 batch?

If it's a 'yes', where's the best place to look for 3200 developing times?

Thanks,

Ric

Hello Mr X ,
I would shoot more 8mm Film , then at least you get more bang's for the buck's !
The forma bleach is the weak point on this b/w/r kit , So bear this in mind if you don't/ a ready know !

[beaunizo]

Hi,

Am trialling a Bolex H8 + zoom lens. I have two reels of Standard 8 film ready to develop but this is going to leave half the Foma chemicals unused. The liquids can't be stored. Can I develop stills with Foma chemicals please? I have some asa 3200 Ilford 120 film I want to develop and it would save me wasting developer if I could include that with the Standard 8 batch?

If it's a 'yes', where's the best place to look for 3200 developing times?

Thanks,

Ric

What tank are you using?

The Foma kit is one-shot. It is divided in 8 parts for 300ml. A 15 meter S8 takes only 600ml in a LOMO UPB-1. So just make up what you need. There is no need to make up the 2400ml in one time. The tricky soup is the bleach whichs is truly one shot and is fouled by the film with a gritty residu. Don't use it again!

[mr_x]

What tank are you using?

The Foma kit is one-shot. It is divided in 8 parts for 300ml. A 15 meter S8 takes only 600ml in a LOMO UPB-1. So just make up what you need. There is no need to make up the 2400ml in one time. The tricky soup is the bleach whichs is truly one shot and is fouled by the film with a gritty residu. Don't use it again!

Hi,

Thanks to all. Yes, sorry, I am negative developing stills so I'd only use the first stage of the Foma kit for this, but it sounds like the chemistry will make a dog's dinner of the 3200 so I'll probably go for some Ilford-recommended chemistry. I am using 3200 for an informal indoor project without flash or tripod, so I need that ultra fast emulsion.

Why don't I shoot more Standard 8 to use up all that developer? Good question, the answer being I am trying out a new second-hand H8 plus second hand zoom lens, so I need to analyze this footage before I can proceed. The camera or lens - or both - might be defective, I have turned up glitches on cameras in the past, micro debris in the film gate and so forth.

I am using the smaller Lomo tanks which must have been designed for Standard 8 because 33 feet fits them exactly. I only have two of these anyway and the second one was brought out of mothballs only a couple of days ago, and a spiral knocked together for it from the many bits and pieces I have collected over the years. I generally load 0.75l of liquid to these tanks.

How long will unused stock solution be good for if kept in the original bottles please - so there's a chance I could shoot more film immediately afterwards and develop it with the remaining kit?

Thanks again,

Ric

[nikonr10]

What tank are you using?

The Foma kit is one-shot. It is divided in 8 parts for 300ml. A 15 meter S8 takes only 600ml in a LOMO UPB-1. So just make up what you need. There is no need to make up the 2400ml in one time. The tricky soup is the bleach whichs is truly one shot and is fouled by the film with a gritty residu. Don't use it again!

Hi,

Thanks to all. Yes, sorry, I am negative developing stills so I'd only use the first stage of the Foma kit for this, but it sounds like the chemistry will make a dog's dinner of the 3200 so I'll probably go for some Ilford-recommended chemistry. I am using 3200 for an informal indoor project without flash or tripod, so I need that ultra fast emulsion.

Why don't I shoot more Standard 8 to use up all that developer? Good question, the answer being I am trying out a new second-hand H8 plus second hand zoom lens, so I need to analyze this footage before I can proceed. The camera or lens - or both - might be defective, I have turned up glitches on cameras in the past, micro debris in the film gate and so forth.

I am using the smaller Lomo tanks which must have been designed for Standard 8 because 33 feet fits them exactly. I only have two of these anyway and the second one was brought out of mothballs only a couple of days ago, and a spiral knocked together for it from the many bits and pieces I have collected over the years. I generally load 0.75l of liquid to these tanks.

How long will unused stock solution be good for if kept in the original bottles please - so there's a chance I could shoot more film immediately afterwards and develop it with the remaining kit?

Thanks again,

Ric

Why not send one test film off to a lab ? and if all is well then you have more soup to cook with ie dev more films ,
you can also dev your film's in buckets ?

[mr_x]

Why not send one test film off to a lab ? and if all is well then you have more soup to cook with ie dev more films ,
you can also dev your film's in buckets ?

Thanks,

The last lab I used took an eternity to turn the film round - a different company to the one who splits my film - and I know of no UK labs who advertise for Foma development; I only know of one single outlet in the whole of Britain for Foma film and that is Silverprint, Waterloo (London), and they don't process cine film. You can't even get Foma on eBay which is bizarre; I had to wait 6 months for my current Standard 8 film to come back into stock.

Yes, the bucket technique has its attractions but I prefer the Lomo spirals, they are also cool for drying the film after processing since the spirals also double as airing cavities for the wet film.

I have now processed all my film and will get a peek at it tomorrow when I load it onto formal drying racks, just to make sure there are no damp stretches of film left. Can already see several centimetres of developed film on the spirals. So far so good. If my luck holds I will spool the film and send it off for splitting to a very reliable film company http://www.theoldfilmcompany.com/

Ric

[mr_x]

Well the film came out alright.

I've noticed a mystery 'spandrel' in one of the frames, what is causing this please?



Was it the Som-Berthiot lens hood, which wasn't used on the indoor shot of the test sheet?

Thanks,

Ric

[beaunizo]

Why not send one test film off to a lab ? and if all is well then you have more soup to cook with ie dev more films ,
you can also dev your film's in buckets ?

Thanks,

The last lab I used took an eternity to turn the film round - a different company to the one who splits my film - and I know of no UK labs who advertise for Foma development; I only know of one single outlet in the whole of Britain for Foma film and that is Silverprint, Waterloo (London), and they don't process cine film. You can't even get Foma on eBay which is bizarre; I had to wait 6 months for my current Standard 8 film to come back into stock.

Yes, the bucket technique has its attractions but I prefer the Lomo spirals, they are also cool for drying the film after processing since the spirals also double as airing cavities for the wet film.

I have now processed all my film and will get a peek at it tomorrow when I load it onto formal drying racks, just to make sure there are no damp stretches of film left. Can already see several centimetres of developed film on the spirals. So far so good. If my luck holds I will spool the film and send it off for splitting to a very reliable film company http://www.theoldfilmcompany.com/

Ric

There has been a disruption in the ciné Foma production. Which may have been the cause for your long wait.

Try this:
http://www.fomafoto.com/index.php?optio ... e&Itemid=1
You could roll you own from 30meters

It is outside EU so import regulations apply
I suppose envelopes with a pack of films arranged side by side could fly in under the RADAR.
The photographic paper does.

Best would be to travel to Prague (by car) and stock up from a local shop for a few years.
Check/order ahead to make sure they have all in desired quantities.
Unfortunenately the Foma webshop in Chechia doesn't ship outside CZ

[mr_x]

Thanks,

Am slightly fazed. What is the FOMAFOTO | Hemsveien 23 | 3090 HOF | NORGE address at the bottom of that page please - thought Foma were a Czech company?

Also, if Fomapan are widening their operation - this is hot news, a month ago it was suggested to me that Foma had potentially serious problems with hardware - obviously not the case - but why oh why are they not fielding their products on eBay?

Mind you, I notice Wittner eschew the bay as well.

My Fomapan film went through the H8 a treat - a Gossen 6 is my light meter.

MORE FILM PLEASE!

Thanks again,

Ric

[beaunizo]

Fomafoto seems to me as an active reseller in Norway. They advertise on APUG and are partner too.

The advantage is that the goods get exported from the EU which allows for easy reselling fourther on. Small quantity end-users inside EU may have the advantage that small quantities could escape sales/import taxes.
But that is only my guess.
The Fomakit is a bit too heavy for such advantages. Can these even be shipped though standard post?

[mr_x]

Fomafoto seems to me as an active reseller in Norway. They advertise on APUG and are partner too.

The advantage is that the goods get exported from the EU which allows for easy reselling fourther on. Small quantity end-users inside EU may have the advantage that small quantities could escape sales/import taxes.
But that is only my guess.
The Fomakit is a bit too heavy for such advantages. Can these even be shipped though standard post?

Many thanks Beaunizo,

Well, things may be looking up at last for me and Standard 8, I can get the chemical kits in London but the film supply is capricious. This futher option in Norway is great news - I must put in a trial order and see what happens.

Back to my tests I realised with horror that asa 100 was too fast for a sunny day but my Gossen 6 indicated filming faster dropped the light ratio, so I pushed up from 16and3/4 to approx 54fps which reduced the light enough for the smallest diaphragm. This H8 has no filter slot that I can see so I am going to have to give this some thought.

Bests,

Ric

[mr_x]

The Fomakit is a bit too heavy for such advantages. Can these even be shipped though standard post?

Have absolutely no idea - I doubt it, because apart from the weight the chemicals are hazardous so they probably need some form of special postal arrangements?

[mr_x]

How long will unused stock solution be good for if kept in the original bottles please - so there's a chance I could shoot more film immediately afterwards and develop it with the remaining kit?

Thanks again,

Any ideas please?

Bests,

Ric

[beaunizo]

What is the problem?

Just measure the quantities for the ready mix you need. Use this once and toss it.
It is all intended as one shot. The bleach is certainly gone.
The developer, clear, fixer might work a second time or even more.
Test before you put in anything valueable.

The opened factory bottles should keep the concentrates for months.