Coming to the end of my first 100 feet of Fomapan 400, I feel as though I am beginning to get to ‘know this film. I still have a long way to go and so I set about ordering another 100 feet. However, I started looking around for another 400 ISO black and white film in addition, that I could try out. It was then that I discovered Rollei Retro 400S(what a great name!)
But why Retro 400S? Two main reasons
- It comes in 100 feet lengths, thus saving me money🥳
- According to Rollei it is a “Highly sensitive, panchromatic black-and-white negative film, with high sharpness performance ..” 🤔
There is more, but that can wait untill another time😉
I followed the developing time suggested;
22 minutes in Fomadon R09 diluted 1:50
Agitation for first minute the for 5 seconds every 30 seconds
IlfoStop 30 seconds
Ilford Rapid Fixer 7 minutes 30 seconds
Wash 5 minutes
Rinse Aid 1 minute
The first thing to notice is how the negatives look quite different to Fomapan as seen below. The Retro 400S negatives, top, lack the purple tinge of the Fomapan.
But what about the images themselves?
I have to say that my first impressions are very positive. I am delighted with how much sharper the Retro 400S images appear straight out of the camera compared to my memory of the ‘look’ of Fomapan. I will be looking at that in another post. The grain is not as pronounced either. I can see this being very useful with some types of photography I enjoy.
I’m certainly not giving up on the Fomapan, I have 100 feet of it to enjoy! But I’m also looking forward to exploring another interesting film emulsion and discovering it’s hidden qualities.
arhphotographic 