Fomapan FomaOrtho 400

FomaOrtho 400 is one of those films you can't quite predict until you scan it. I'll admit I had my doubts — a few of the frames on this roll were ones I really wanted to nail. But I was surprised. Let me show you.    

FomaOrtho 400

This is the only orthochromatic film on the market (not sensitive to red light) that comes in ISO 400 — exactly the speed I want for street photography, where I need shutter speeds of 1/200 and above. I like to freeze motion in most of my shots, so that speed matters.

The film is made in the Czech Republic and ships in a metal canister — unlike most current Foma stock, which has moved to plastic, though functionally there is no difference. The price is excellent, though that likely depends on where you're buying. I get it in Prague for about 7 euros a roll, which is remarkable given current film prices.

I can't speak to how it compares to Fomapan, since I have very little experience with that line. But FomaOrtho 400 is absolutely worth the money. It's not a perfect film — but the imperfections are what give it an old, retro, warm character. Photography was never about perfection anyway.     

Equipment used and processing

I shoot with one film camera: a Pentax Spotmatic F, probably from 1973. For this roll, I paired it with a Super-Takumar 135mm f/3.5 lens (non-SMC) and focused on candid street portraits.

To scan the film, I use my Valoi Easy 35 mounted on a 7Artisans 60mm macro lens, shooting with my Fujifilm X-T50. It's a setup I trust, giving me 40MP full-resolution scans and complete flexibility in editing. Lab scans tend to be either cheap and low quality, or high-quality RAW and expensive — for roughly the price of seven lab scans, I bought the Valoi and now scan everything at home.

Because I rarely shoot film, buying chemicals to develop it myself isn't worth it. I send my rolls to a lab I trust instead.

Editing

I edit in darktable, using negadoctor, exposure, local contrast, and tone equalizer. I don't spend much time in editing software — I believe an image needs to speak for itself straight out of the camera, not after heavy processing. There's a lot of photography online where the edit is the only interesting part. Strip that away, and what's left is either a cliché or an ordinary snapshot.

Conclusion

It's hard to put the results into words, so I'll let the photographs do the talking. This film has character: it's sharp, the grain is pleasant, and the contrast is fantastic. Because it's not sensitive to red light, you can't fully predict how a scene will render once developed — and that unpredictability is exactly what I love about it.

Would I use it as my daily driver? No — I like knowing roughly what to expect from a roll. But as a film to build a niche project or two, FomaOrtho 400 has earned a permanent spot in my bag. Which reminds me, I need to go buy a few more...

Until next time,

Tero

PS...

If you feel you are stuck and have no idea what to photograph anymore, get yourself a FomaOrtho 400 film. The raw joy and satisfaction you will get once you hold the photographs in your hands will inspire you and motivate to go out and shoot.