Charlotte Makes Photos

One thing I’ve learned since returning to using film in 2020 (near exclusively) is that sometimes the sensitivity a film is sold at is …well, a little hopeful. Or perhaps the manufacturer has a different opinion for the amount of light needed to achieve pleasing results.

Perhaps somewhat legendarily, Foma’s Fomapan Action 400 seems to be one of them. When Kathleen and I went to Montreal in 2022 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) for a little break and some piercings, the forecast called for clouds. And faster film. With a brick of Fomapan 400 in the vegetable crisper, it seemed like a good idea.

It turns out that, notwithstanding the box proudly saying “400 ISO/27°”, metering at 400 was not a good idea. Sharing my lament on Twitter when my negatives and scans returned, I was helpfully informed that it’s not really a 400 speed film and that better results could be had by giving it a bit more light: meter somewhere between 200 and 320.

While there was nothing I could really do about the underexposed rolls from Montreal, I was able to tease a little more out of the very thin negatives by scanning them again.