FOMA-r factory issue.

[dr5chrome]

Note to those using this film - FOMA-r [new stock]. EM#017676-01 exp.2014-08
http://www.dr5.com/fomar.jpg [large file]

This EM is producing black spotting throughout the image. We have triple confirmed this with 3 separate clients.
Old stock, prior to this new, does not produce this problem.
http://dr5.com/blackandwhiteslide/fomar.html

Regards.

[Rudeofus]

Thanks for the heads up! Just a brief question, are you in contact with Foma about this? As you seem to be quite an authority in the field of b&w reversal processing and Foma R is directly aimed at this market you may be in a better position to do this and might get better responses than random Rudeofuses would get ....

[dr5chrome]

..yes, absolutely.

The film companies and suppliers take our reports with a grain of salt [pun intended]. No thanks is ever given for keeping this kind of problem under wraps or making the effort by bringing it to their attention 1st. Usually nothing gets done about it.. Since we are a quality-first based lab, public announcement to steer clear of offending product is best for our clients and anyone else that uses the film. We used to be able to get test films to check them a few times a year - this no longer happens.

What ever film product is used, it is no longer cheap, the lab service is not cheap, the shipping is not cheap. If the companies that make and sell poor product do nothing, then we have to help each other in this regard.

dr5

[Michael R 1974]

Why am I not surprised. And yet people are still determined to not use Ilford and Kodak products.

[thegman]

Why am I not surprised. And yet people are still determined to not use Ilford and Kodak products.

Indeed, Much better to stamp out the small companies trying to serve a photographic niche.

[TheFlyingCamera]

Folks-

let's remember to keep things upbeat, and not provoke needless (and already beaten-to-death) arguments. Kodak/Ilford vs. Foma/Efke/Adox is as tired, old and valueless as Canon vs Nikon vs Leica vs Zeiss. People will choose which film is appropriate to their needs, not based on a political dogma. I think it's sufficient to state that it's a shame Foma is not being more attentive to reports of QC issues from high volume, long term customers like DR 5.

[railwayman3]

Folks-

let's remember to keep things upbeat, and not provoke needless (and already beaten-to-death) arguments. Kodak/Ilford vs. Foma/Efke/Adox is as tired, old and valueless as Canon vs Nikon vs Leica vs Zeiss. People will choose which film is appropriate to their needs, not based on a political dogma. I think it's sufficient to state that it's a shame Foma is not being more attentive to reports of QC issues from high volume, long term customers like DR 5.

I keep mainly to Ilford, occasionally Kodak, but had thought to try Foma-R for reversal slides, since, I understand, it is the only film made-for-the-purpose with a clear base?
Disappointing (but very useful) to hear of this problem, with no action or even interest by the company.
I bet that, if there were a film from Ilford/Harman with an apparent emulsion problem, that you would get a prompt examination of the product and an honest report back!

[coigach]

I keep mainly to Ilford, occasionally Kodak, but had thought to try Foma-R for reversal slides, since, I understand, it is the only film made-for-the-purpose with a clear base?

Apologies if this is a little off-topic, but just wanted to let you know that Ilford film reverses very well. I use dr5 processed Delta 100 - see my APUG gallery.
http://www.apug.org/gallery1/browsei...mageuser=12991

Also, HP5 has a massive range when reversed in dr5.
http://www.dr5.com/blackandwhiteslide/filmreview.html

Anyway - thanks for Foma heads-up Mr dr5...

[railwayman3]

Coigach - Thanks for that info. I used Scala while it was available (and even one or two of the last rolls of Agfa Dia-direct), but hadn't taken any B&W reversal since then. I always liked these films as an alternative to color slides for some subjects, and I'll certainly give Ilford a try, particularly if the Foma issue isn't sorted with future batches.

[MDR]

Weird that this is happening with their new stock just like with Efke. Never tried the film outside a movie camera were it gave unique and good results. I would be very sad if this film would be lost as an alternative to Kodak's offerings due to Q.C. Issues.
Has someone tried to develop the same batch in Foma's own Reversal developer?

Dr5 thank you for your constant updates.

Dominik