Forest path
Camera: Rollei 35
Lens: Tessar f/3.5 40 mm
Film: Fomapan Action 400, rated @ ISO 200
Exposure: 1/125 sec and f/5.6, hand-held
Film developed and scanned by Foto Brell, Bonn
Edited under Adobe Lightroom
Fomapan Action 400 has a quite different look and seems to be a suitable alternative for specific intensions and photographic subjects. This classic film emulsion delivers more distinct grain, more sooty dark tones and some blooming of the highlights, which can emphasize the mood of a picture favorably. However, the sensitivity of this film emulsion seems to be lower than box speed, because the shadows tend to lose detail.
The more distinct grain results from the cubic grain structure of the emulsion. In contrast to the softer grain pattern of the tabular grain of modern films like the Ilford Delta or the Kodak TMax film series, cubic grain is more apparent. The softening effect by overexposure is said to result from a poor anti-halation layer. The light bouncing around causes halos and glowing highlights, creeping into the darker areas and tending to wash out the highlights.
The darkening of the foliage and the shadows seems to pretend the higher contrast. Fomapan Action 400 has much more sensitivity to the red end of the spectrum than in the blue and green region, so to speak a built-in orange or red filter. As a result, green leaves and shadows in general come darker in tonality. However, the contrast and graininess can both be reduced by overexposure. Meanwhile, I expose Fomapan 400 at ISO 200 (rather than rating the film at box speed) to open up the shadows for showing more detail.
This film definitely has a unique look, which is much appreciated by many photographers. Together with its deep black and the glowing highlights, Fomapan Action 400 can produce the beautiful and timeless look of classic film emulsions, different from other b&w films and quite different from digital rendering. This film and a vintage camera seem to be a good combo.
Forest path
Camera: Rollei 35
Lens: Tessar f/3.5 40 mm
Film: Fomapan Action 400, rated @ ISO 200
Exposure: 1/125 sec and f/5.6, hand-held
Film developed and scanned by Foto Brell, Bonn
Edited under Adobe Lightroom
Fomapan Action 400 has a quite different look and seems to be a suitable alternative for specific intensions and photographic subjects. This classic film emulsion delivers more distinct grain, more sooty dark tones and some blooming of the highlights, which can emphasize the mood of a picture favorably. However, the sensitivity of this film emulsion seems to be lower than box speed, because the shadows tend to lose detail.
The more distinct grain results from the cubic grain structure of the emulsion. In contrast to the softer grain pattern of the tabular grain of modern films like the Ilford Delta or the Kodak TMax film series, cubic grain is more apparent. The softening effect by overexposure is said to result from a poor anti-halation layer. The light bouncing around causes halos and glowing highlights, creeping into the darker areas and tending to wash out the highlights.
The darkening of the foliage and the shadows seems to pretend the higher contrast. Fomapan Action 400 has much more sensitivity to the red end of the spectrum than in the blue and green region, so to speak a built-in orange or red filter. As a result, green leaves and shadows in general come darker in tonality. However, the contrast and graininess can both be reduced by overexposure. Meanwhile, I expose Fomapan 400 at ISO 200 (rather than rating the film at box speed) to open up the shadows for showing more detail.
This film definitely has a unique look, which is much appreciated by many photographers. Together with its deep black and the glowing highlights, Fomapan Action 400 can produce the beautiful and timeless look of classic film emulsions, different from other b&w films and quite different from digital rendering. This film and a vintage camera seem to be a good combo.