Fortepan Sheet film

[William Levitt]

Has anybody tried this film? Is it to be considered a "modern" type film along the lines of a T-Max or is it more like Efke, nice and thick?

Thanks!

[David A. Goldfarb]

I've been using the 400 speed Fortepan sold under the "Classic Pan" label. It is theoretically supposed to be like Tri-X, being produced in an old Kodak plant. I've been processing it in PMK, and I haven't gotten it to look like Tri-X looks in PMK (not enough contrast), so I'm going to try it next in ABC pyro. It's also on a thinner base than Kodak sheet films. It does not seem to have the density range I would expect from a thick emulsion film of the Super-XX variety, though I think it is in fact a single emulsion, traditional film and not a T-grain film.

[William Levitt]

Thanks David.
I too don't think it's a T-Grain film, but from your description, I think I'll either stich with HP5+ when using a 400er film, or, I'm still thinking about giving the NP27 film from the Webphota Website a try. I've heard it's comparable to the Efke films, (which I just love using in ABC) thick based and single emulsion, but the stuff is pretty expensive. Any experience or knowledge of the NP27 film?

[David A. Goldfarb]

Haven't tried NP27, but I will have to test out the Efke at some point.

[avandesande]

William, the np27 film may be the same as the efke kb25. If you read through the deja threads there seems to be much confusion about this.

I have used the classicpan 400 and it is not as nice as nice as efke in pyro, even at 100 asa it is very thin and lacks contrast. It picks up tons of stain. I have scans of classicpan and efke negatives on my website if you would like to compare (www.post-modern.net)...

Classicpan 400 behaves normally in D76 and is a good film for someone who wants something that is relatively fast and inexpensive.

--Aaron

[David A. Goldfarb]

Thanks for posting, Aaron. The Efke looks much nicer!

[William Levitt]

Thanks Aaron,

I am currently using the PL100 from Efke in ABC and can whole heartly reccomend it! I was hoping to find a "companion" for it in the 400ASA range. One that would provide the same qualitites as the PL100 (ASA 100 8X10"), but it looks like I'll be sticking with the HP5+.

[avandesande]

I should mention that these were done with Weston pyro, which will magnify the differences between the films. BTW, is anyone out there using Weston pyro or am I the only nut doing this?

--Aaron

[c6h6o3]

William-

Do you like the PL100 more than Bergger BPF 200? If so, what qualities lead you to prefer it?

Jim

[William Levitt]

Jim,

I went from Ilford FP4 to Efke PL100 and prefer the Efke because of its apparent forgiving nature, especially when dealing with extreme lighting situation. It also works very very with PMK, taking on a stain, but not an overwhelming amount of general stain, more inage stain. And when I used it for the first time with ABC pyro, there was no looking back. There is an accutance to the Efke that is found in (IMO) very few films these days, and I can rate ASA 100 film at 80 with excellent results.

It's also considerably cheaper than FP4. I've never tried Bergger film. I've read many fine reviews and raves concerning the Bergger products, but bottom line, they are IMO, over priced. Now if I were not such a cheap bas***d, I'd break down and buy a box to experiment with, but hey, there is one thing I've learned, it doesn't have to be expensive to be good.

Bergger 200 / Euro 65.00 25 sheets 8X10
Efke PL100 / Euro 75.00 50 sheets 8X10

If the good folks at Bergger want to send me a box or 2 in order to change my mind, well that's a different story.