FX developers and Arista/Fomapan films

[perfesserkev]

A few years ago when there was a lot of flux in the film industry — well, there still is — I went on an experimentation bender to find good box-speed developers for the Fomapan 100 and 400 films (aka Arista from Freestyle). These films are described by many as 2/3- to 1-stop slower than box speed in common developers. Like some of you, thinking about film speed with a certain developer isn't what I want to do in the field. ISO variation is a factor I'd like to eliminate when out there. One discovery I posted here a few years back was Harald Leban's Beutler Pyro, which gives box speed and great gradation on the Fomapan 100 film, among others.

But I also experimented with FX-11 and FX-15 based on Steve's descriptions in the good books. FX-15 is a marvelous mildly solvent developer for general purpose, and has very good compensation characteristics. Mix some and try it with Fomapan 100. It brings those shadows to box speed with about a 2/3-stop speed increase, shows pleasant grain, and prints beautifully at grade 2 1/2 (Ilford Multigrade with no filter).

For Fomapan 400 I highly recommend FX-11. Its 1-stop speed increase is just what this doctor ordered for that very classic-looking, gritty, high-speed film. I didn't experiment with pushing with it, as I'd rather use the tabular films or HP5 for that. But in FX-11 the Fomapan 400 shows a pleasant and classic grain structure and tonality, decent shadow detail, and a sharp contrast. Considering the affordable price of the Arista-branded stuff and the economy of the developer, it makes a nice combination for experimenting.

[sanchell]

Thank you for sharing this valuable information, perfesser.