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Ferrania P30 alpha


sumolux

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Hello all, 

No brilliant shots, just tests made with the first batch of Ferrania's P30.

Sumolux

 

 

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And another..

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Finally finished and processed my first test roll yesterday. Nothing "post-worthy" but it can have good tonality, and seems better in soft lighting. Nice fine grain. The film feels "old-time" when handling and loading onto a reel, as it seems thicker than today's films, so it loads easily. I exposed at box speed (80) and processed per their table in Rodinal 1:50 (I normally use 1:25 for Ilford films.) - so I was outside my normal routine. The negatives seemed a bit thin. I think I'll do the next roll in DDX.

If I get the hang of it in the rest of the 5 rolls I may add this to my standard films, but for now I still prefer PanF - but it's worth supporting Ferrania to have another film supplier.

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Finally finished and processed my first test roll yesterday. Nothing "post-worthy" but it can have good tonality, and seems better in soft lighting. Nice fine grain. The film feels "old-time" when handling and loading onto a reel, as it seems thicker than today's films, so it loads easily. I exposed at box speed (80) and processed per their table in Rodinal 1:50 (I normally use 1:25 for Ilford films.) - so I was outside my normal routine. The negatives seemed a bit thin. I think I'll do the next roll in DDX.

If I get the hang of it in the rest of the 5 rolls I may add this to my standard films, but for now I still prefer PanF - but it's worth supporting Ferrania to have another film supplier.

 

Normal - Ilford B&W film negatives are much thinner than Kodak counterparts. I like it because Ilford film is easier to roll onto the plastic development tank reels and dries much faster after the washing of the film is done. 

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  • 1 month later...

Shot two films of the alpha P30 batch. Very rich in contrast but under retention of the main grey tonal range. But you need to be quite careful with the exposure - more compared to other B&W films. Had an issue with scratches on the films which was confirmed by Ferrania as sporadic production issue with the alpha batch. Removed the horizontal scratches in PP. 

Development: Rodinal (1:50) followed by Xtol (1:2) in two-step development procedure

 

Leica M3, CV 28/2

p2552805232-5.jpg

 

p2552805367-5.jpg

 

Leica M3, Leica 50/2 Summicron-M (Vers. V):

p2552805346-5.jpg

 

p2552805311-5.jpg

 

p2552805241-5.jpg

 

Leica M3, Leica 90/2.8 Tele-Elmarit (Version I)

p2552805235-5.jpg

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Shot two films of the alpha P30 batch. Very rich in contrast but under retention of the main grey tonal range. But you need to be quite careful with the exposure - more compared to other B&W films. Had an issue with scratches on the films which was confirmed by Ferrania as sporadic production issue with the alpha batch. Removed the horizontal scratches in PP. 

Development: Rodinal (1:50) followed by Xtol (1:2) in two-step development procedure

Fantastic B&Ws Martin - some PP'ing here and there, but excellently done. No wonder you teach film.

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I ran some test shots on a grey-card target and used a densitometer.  I tried rating the film at various speeds, but even at ISO 25 I still could not get the film to record threshold density at Zone I.

 

Then I tried for Zone V and was consistently unable to get the appropriate density there, without thereby producing a totally blank negative at Zone I.

 

In sum, I either got no shadows, or no mid-tones.

 

I was mainly using my normal Ilford DDX mix (1+4).  I then tried the same thing with the recommended dilution (1+5), but with little success.

 

In the end I just got frustrated working as one of Ferrania's unpaid beta-testers, and placed my rolls in the refrigerator for the moment.

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I ran some test shots on a grey-card target and used a densitometer.  I tried rating the film at various speeds, but even at ISO 25 I still could not get the film to record threshold density at Zone I.

 

Then I tried for Zone V and was consistently unable to get the appropriate density there, without thereby producing a totally blank negative at Zone I.

 

In sum, I either got no shadows, or no mid-tones.

 

I was mainly using my normal Ilford DDX mix (1+4).  I then tried the same thing with the recommended dilution (1+5), but with little success.

 

In the end I just got frustrated working as one of Ferrania's unpaid beta-testers, and placed my rolls in the refrigerator for the moment.

 

As I mentioned above, this P30 film is a bit tricky. I didn't even bother to expose for zones - I only used a light meter app with reflective light measurement from my cellphone and added one stop of longer exposure when I used the orange filter (I shot with Leica M3 which has no internal meter - next time I will shoot with my M6 using this film). 

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My findings of this P30 film so far:

 

+ very low and fine grain (which I personally like)

+ film does not curl and is quite flat after drying - ideal for scanning

+ vintage feel of the photos taken with this film

 

- alpha batch had some scratch issues with the films (might derive from defective cartridges or some issue during manufacturing).

- richness in contrast can easily lead to under- or overexposure. Controlling it is difficult - best is to average out the scene with high contrast elements for fairly correct exposure

- a bit limited in grey scale - Ilford FP4 in comparison has a much wider grey scale tonal range but is much less contrasty.

- very limited in shadow details (probably comes with having the high contrast advantage)

 

I will add later how the P30 film does for silver gelatin printing which I will examine soon. 

 

Overall I really like this film so far - it is different than most other B&W films which I have used before and leads to photos reminding me of early 20th century B&W prints but with low grain. Regarding development, it seems quite similar to other low speed B&W films. After I developed my first roll of P30 film, my first thought was that I did something wrong - a lot of blanked out areas on the negative. Turned out that this is a film property with the high contrast (black) areas. More tests with some rolls of the second batch of produced P30 film will follow. 

Edited by Martin B
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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm wondering when Ferrania P30 will be available at retailers, even Ferrania's online shop is 'closed'.

 

later in December, with 120 format expect next year...

The contrast levels vary meaningfully depending on what lens is used.  e.g., my 75mm summilux captured a LOT of midtones

 

75 lux

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50 dr cron

 

 

 
50 dr cron
Edited by A miller
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