Fomapan 400 Review at Salon Privé
Salon Privé is one of the best places to see early 20th Century cars in pristine condition like this Berliet 20hp. A good example of how well square format worked when photographing these cars. 1/500s 80mm F8.0 Bronica SQ-A.
As we all know film is getting more and more expensive and at an alarming rate. Some stocks are now double the price that the were just two or three years ago and many are wondering whether or not they can continue to afford the cost of shooting film. Thankfully black and white is still in the realms of affordability and a few manufacturers are still making rolls that cost as little as £5-6 in both 35mm and 120 roll film. Chief among them is perhaps Fomapan, hailing all the way from the Czech Republic.
Ferraris like this 275 GTB/C were front and center as 2022 was the 75th anniversary of Ferrari. 1/500s 80mm F8.0 Bronica SQ-A.
What makes this film stock even more enticing is that it is also available in 4x5 sheet film, in boxes of fifty that are as cheap as Ilford’s boxes of twenty-five. It’s the cheapest way to shoot in large format, but first I wanted to try it out in a camera I had a better understanding of – the Bronica SQ-A. What better test subjects than the classic cars on display at Salon Privé (2022), hosted at the impressive Blenheim Palace.
My first attempt at shooting a panorama with my Bronica SQ-A by stitching together two images I shot handheld to show off the grand Blenheim Palace. 1/250s 80mm F8.0 Two shot panoramic Bronica SQ-A.
Now I believe this was the first time I’d taken my Bronica to a car event (beyond my local one) and seeing as I was shooting Fomapan 400 this also gave me the rare opportunity to try shooting my Bronica handheld. Normally the camera sits firmly attached to a tripod, but as I was trialling low-cost film, I wasn’t too worried about perfect framing. Square also proved to be a surprisingly effective way to shoot cars, having them sit in the lower third of the frame with lots of space above them. Perhaps in this instance the high peaks of the marquees surrounding emphasised height which suited this framing well.
Judges pour over each and every car entered into the Concours d’elegance. With their dress style this image looks very vintage on black and white film. 1/500s 80mm F8.0 Bronica SQ-A.
With regards to the film itself I was very impressed. Despite being a cheaper, higher speed film, the detail was good, the grain present but not too intrusive, and I was very happy with the balance of contrast. The dynamic range of the film means you still get decent blacks, but the highlights are held well, and the rendered image is not overly flat. I’d say it is more inline with Ilford Delta 400 than HP5+ which is great as I generally prefer the look of the former over the latter. Although I would say the detail levels are not up to more modern T-grain films and the direct competitor of this is certainly HP5+.
Legendary rally car builders Prodrive had their own dedicated stand. 1/250s 80mm F8.0 Bronica SQ-A.
Prodrive’s first Subaru Legacy that was driven by the late, great Colin McRae. 1/250s 80mm F8.0 Bronica SQ-A.
There is however one major catch that isn’t apparent when shooting in daylight. Reciprocity failure. It’s perhaps the worst of any film stock you can currently buy and by quite some margin. Down to 1/2s there is no need for correction but after that it quickly scales up. A metered exposure of 10s requires a correct exposure of 60s. Crazy when you think there are films available like Fujifilm Acros that require no correction up to two minutes! But the latter is much pricier, sometimes three times as much so you get what you pay for. Amazingly of the three offerings of Fomapan 100, 200 & 400, 400 offers the best reciprocity failure of the three by a significant margin. Probably not the film range of choice for pinhole photography.
Super car legends like the McLaren F1… 1/250s 80mm F8.0 Bronica SQ-A.
… sit nearby to potential future legends like the hydrogen powered Viritech Apricale hypercar. 1/250s 80mm F8.0 Bronica SQ-A.
That aside though this film stock is great for daytime shooting and while the poor reciprocity failure is a bigger problem when shooting large format at tiny apertures like F32 or F45, it’s not such an issue when shooting in 35mm or medium format. Although there is a possible creative advantage here, of being able to do very long exposures without the need for expensive neutral density filters. Perfect for those tiny large format apertures and something that I will have to play around with. Even more savings with Fomapan!
Looking at how light the shade of grey of this F40 is, it can’t have been the standard Maranello red. Perhaps it was yellow. 1/250s 80mm F8.0 Bronica SQ-A.
If you are looking for cheap black and white film, whether it’s to try new gear or just to save a bit of money then I do highly recommend you take a look at Fomapan. Shot it before? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section down below.
You certainly wouldn’t be a hard-up farmer if your pick-up was a Bentley. 1/500s 80mm F11 Bronica SQ-A.
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