I first got interested in photography at school in the 1970s. I was hopeless at most forms of art; I couldn’t draw or paint or sculpt. But the school had a darkroom, and one of the art teachers brought in an old SLR for the small group of us who wanted to learn the entire […]
Tag: Foma Bohemia
Posted in5 Frames...
5 Frames… On my grandparents’ Kodak Brownie No. 2 Model E (120 format / Fomapan 400 Action) – by Ross Gardner
Shortly after my mom passed, I came across my grandparents’ Kodak Brownie. I also found some 6×9 negatives of my mom when she was a child in the 1930s. A thought crossed my mind – could this camera possibly be the one used to photograph my mom? I discovered I had a Kodak Brownie No. […]
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6 Frames… Of Prague on six films on a Plaubel Makina 67 (120 format / EI 100-50 / Nikkor 2.8/80mm – by Frédéric Schneider
In the summer of 2022 I had a fantastic photo week in Prague (Czech Republic) with my friend João. I used six different films with my Plaubel Makina 67. The weather was sunny and warm (up to 38°C on one day, but Czech beer helped a lot to keep cool) with some clouds all over […]
Posted inArticles
510 Pyro. My new favourite developer? – by Chris Chinnock
One of the things that I love about film photography is how the decisions you make have an impact on the final image — choice of camera, lens, film stock, and developer as well as how you decide to apply these elements give us creative control over the final outcome. The same logic applies to […]
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5 Frames… Of golden hour on a Balda Baldi 29 and Fomapan 100 Classic (120 format / EI 100 / Baldanar 80mm f/2.9 Triplet) – by Leon Blankenhorn
Where your comfort zone ends is where you discover something new and fun. Keeping that euphemism in mind, I decided against a slow and cozy morning one Sunday in this past August, and went to get my bike out of the shed instead. The lockdowns in recent history have blessed many of us with new […]
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5 Frames… At the races on Fomapan 400 Action with a Pentax P30 (P3) + Tamron 28-200mm f/3.8-5.6 (Adaptall-2 171A)
We decided a fine brisk November morning called for a day trip to a nearby annual charity horse race meeting at Exeter Racecourse, one of England’s oldest racetracks. It’s also the highest, which can mean it’s swept by bitingly cold winds. On that day these were happily tempered by late autumn sunshine, which prompted the […]
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5 Frames… Of sepia transparencies with Fomapan 100 Classic on a Homemade 4×5 camera + a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 150mm f/4.5
Last winter I built myself a 4×5 camera, mostly from plywood and aluminium. I bought a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 4.5/150 for it on eBay, which was made in 1939 but already has an anti-reflex coating. My go-to film is Foma Bohemia’s Fomapan 100 Classic and I have shot about 100 sheets of it. I […]
Posted inFoma Bohemia Film Stock Reviews
Shooting 4×5 in 2021: Affordable Czechnology with Fomapan 200 Creative
Like many commodities affected by the COVID pandemic, photographic film prices have soared to unprecedented heights. I acutely remember 25 sheet boxes of ILFORD Delta 100 Professional 4×5 film selling for $45 at my local camera store in 2019, only to see that price rise almost 70% to $65 in September 2021 — before tax. […]
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5 Frames… Photographing Beau with a Rollei Heidosmat 150mm f/2.8, Graflex Speedgraphic Pacemaker and Arista EDU ULTRA 100 4×5 film
If you go back and read my Return to Film article, you’ll see I mentioned I wanted to get into large format. Well, I have done just that since 2017 and I am now on my second large format camera. This portrait session found me switching to black and white film — Freestyle Photo’s Arista […]
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5 Frames… Of Ireland’s North East Coast on Fomapan 400 Action and a Canon FD 50mm f/1.8 S.C (35mm Format / El100 / Canon AE-1 Program)
These 5 Frames tell the story of how a budget black and white film, an accidental ISO reading, and a last-minute trip to the NE Coast of Ireland turned out to be the perfect storm.
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5 Frames… Of Dundee on Fomapan 100 Classic and a Zeiss Ikon Contina LK (35mm / EI 100)
The woman with the mobile phone must think I’m creepy. Or possibly daft. Perhaps both. She is sat on a bench in the sunshine, having a chat with a friend, and I am stalking around the arches of the building with a camera as old as I am. Precisely, as old as I am, in […]
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5 Frames… Of detached Frisian church towers in the Netherlands on Fomapan 200 Creative (120 Format / EI 200 / Ernemann Film K)
As a collector of classic camera’s made in Dresden, Germany I try to use each of my camera’s at least once. No problem as long as the camera is more or less functional and the film it takes is still available. However, in the early 20th century there was a baffling array of different film […]
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5 Frames… From a car boot sale win on Fomapan 400 Action (35mm Format / EI 400 / Olympus MJU)
A few months ago on my Sunday routine at car boot sales looking for old and vintage film cameras I stumbled upon 2 (yes 2) cameras, lovely and in good looking condition Olympus MJU 35mm point and shoot cameras. I had previously read on the internet many times about the cult there is with the […]
Posted inOpinion
Over the hill or here or there: My adventures getting started in a large format film photography wonderland
It’s mid-December 2020 and a bearded, touqued figure stands silently on the side of a frozen lake looking off towards the rising peak of a distant mountain as the sun begins to rise. A wooden camera stands atop a carbon fiber tripod waiting for the film holder to be slid home and its shutter to […]
Posted inFoma Bohemia Film Stock Reviews
Foma Retropan 320 Soft: A valuable way of seeing
I recently wrote an article for 35mmc reacting to my inability to obtain one of my favorite films, Foma’s Retropan 320 Soft in 35mm format .In it, I touched briefly on why I shoot film and how Retropan has helped me understand that inclination more clearly. It has inspired me to consider this issue in greater […]
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5 Frames… Of in-focus shots with a Nikonos III on Arista.EDU Ultra 100 (120 Format / EI 200)
Most of us that have been around film photography for a long time know the Nikon Nikonos underwater camera. It was always a bit of a mysterious camera, reserved for fantastic journeys into the great depths of the oceans. These days, Nikonos cameras seem to be more of a curiosity of the past. Sadly, these were precision-engineered […]
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5 Frames… Of Laurel Hill Cemetery on Fomapan 100 Classic (120 Format / EI 100 / Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta A 531 + 7cm Tessar)
The weather is getting colder so any temperate day is a good excuse to go for a walk. With the pandemic worsening, the only crowds I felt safe visiting were those interred in Philadelphia’s Laurel Hill Cemetery. Founded in the first half of the 19th century it was meant as a park for the living […]
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5 Frames… Of Lucca, Tuscany on a Bilora Bella 66-3 (120 Format / EI 400 / Fomapan 400 Action)
I was fascinated by the compactness and vintage colors with which this machine was built and also by the extreme simplicity of the commands with which to take photographs. I currently use medium format cameras, even in formats smaller than 6×6 but none has the weight, dimensions and compact like Bilora Bella. I decided to […]
Posted inReviews
Still life in lockdown: Yashica MAT-124 and Fomapan 200 Creative
Greetings and salutations from Quentin Quarantino at Club Lockdown! I’ve always appreciated still life but never really practised it at a photography level. If you need encouragement may I recommend having a look at the work of Josef Sudek. What this master can do with just an egg and a glass, is outstanding! Even though […]
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5 Frames… With Fomapan 100 Classic (EI 100 / 120 format / Yashica 635)
When someone from Saint Petersburg Russia sends you a few rolls of film, I think they have to be shot with something interesting. Thanks to my EMULSIVE Secret Santa last December 2019 (@gyrdin) for these gifts. My smile reached up to my ears when I opened up the package and saw those bunch of BW […]
