Fomapan Action 400 (35mm) Review & Photos

Fomapan Action 400 is a medium-speed black and white film, ideal for capturing images in low-light conditions or freezing fast-moving subjects. It is a robust choice for sports and action photography, as referenced in its name! The film has a low to medium contrast look with very strong gain. One distinctive feature of this film, is that highlights often glow due to halation within the film.

The film is rated at ISO 400 but can be pushed far beyond box speed. It is (reportedly) capable of delivering all the way up to ISO 3200, as long as you are happy to embrace the grainy nature.

 The film meets high requirements for low granularity, good resolving power and good contour sharpness. FOMAPAN 400 Action has a nominal speed rating of ISO 400/27⁰, but due to its wide exposure latitude the film gives good results even when overexposed by 1 EV (exposure value) (as ISO 200/24⁰) or underexposed by 2 EV (as ISO 1600/33⁰) without any change in processing, i.e. without lengthening the development time or increasing the temperature of the
developer used.

foma.cz

Key Features Of Fomapan Action 400

Pros

• Cheap, only a few pennies more then Kentmere 400
• Dries very flat, which makes scanning a breeze
• It can be pushed to ISO 800 or 1600 easily, or even up to ISO 3200
• Classic grain structure gives a vintage feel
• Highlights glow!

Cons

• It looks a little flat when shooting indoors, in a similar fashion to Kentmere
• Highlight blow-outs are common, detail loss may even extend into mid-tones
• Grain is super heavy in shadows or underexposed shots

A little more About Foma Bohemia, and this specific film stock

Foma Bohemia, Foma for short, is a film manufacturer based in Czechia. For certain, “Foma” doesn’t carry the same brand recognition as the well-known brands (I am looking at you Kodak, Ilford, Fuji or even Rollei films lurking in the corner!) Despite this, Foma has a long and rich history of producing film, paper, and chemistry since 1921!

Fomapan Action 400 is the fastest emulsion produced by Foma, with its close relatives Fomapan Classic 100, Fomapan Creative 200, and Retropan 320. One of its most distinctive (and commented on) features is its grain. Certainly, this is one grainy film! To put this into perspective, the datasheet rates it at an RMS Granularity of 17.5. Even higher than Kodak Tri-X, which is rated at 17 as a comparison. On top of the size of the grain, the type of grain is worth noting. The emulsion has a very “old school” tabular grain structure, a real throwback. Secondly, thanks to some quirks of the anti-halation layer, highlights often glow brilliantly!

A lesser-known fun fact, apparently, is that this film has near-infrared sensitivity. By attaching an IR 720nm filter and underexposing it by 6 to 8 stops, you can experiment with this film to produce some interesting photos! Conversely, the film has quite low sensitivity to blue and green.

Testing Out The Roll: Exploring abandoned places around England and Wales

This roll languished in my fridge for a few months before I finally loaded it up in my camera. As it is a budget black and white film, I decided not to take it on an exciting trip abroad.

Instead, I opted to shoot some pretty cool abandoned locations in northern England. Add in a little day trip to South Wales, and the roll was filled relatively quickly. I had a few trips to one of my favourite locations, a big abandoned colliery, as an added bonus. Shooting the old machinery in black and white was a lot of fun. Rendering the colourful machines in monochrome tones, creating simple images that focus on shape and the interplay of light/shadow.

My impressions after shooting a roll of Fomapan Action 400

These shots were lab developed, at box speed, back in the days before I developed my own film at home. In the future, I might re-shoot this film, to experiment to see if I can consistently reduce the grain. From reading online, if I overexpose by 1-2 stops and then compensate with a shorter development time, I can achieve a less grainy look. However, this will reduce the contrast as well. My biggest aesthetic issue (more so than the grain) is that this film stock looks a little flat for my tastes. Of course, it does not help that I shoot interiors away from glorious contrast-inducing sunshine. On balance, I think I should just continue experimenting with more film stocks (and writing more of these review articles!).

The photos are often softer in brightly lit situations, and can produce a highlight glow where bright areas are adjacent to darker areas (thank you, quirky anti-halation layer). I can certainly see this around bright windows, where I shot dimly lit interiors, which are of course a staple of abandoned places photography. This isn’t really a plus or a negative in my eyes; a bright window is always something I have to be aware of in my shooting.

Comparison to Kentmere 400

• Both are similarly priced, ISO400 black and white films
• Highlights are easy to blow out/less definition in Fomapan Action 400, and more detail is lost in shadows (of course, this depends on what you metre for)
• To my eye, the images have a little more contrast. Kentmere 400 can sometimes look “muddy”, with a smoother gradient in dimly lit situations. On the other hand, Fomapan Action 400 perhaps has more of a cut-off between light and shadows with less middling greys.
• Fomapan Action has a “old school” tabular grain structure, Kentmere is cubic. Visually, the Fomapan has a systematically more obvious and larger grain, in my opinion.

Example Photos I Have Taken on Fomapan Action 400

And now, to the photos! I shot this roll of film in the summer of 2023, making a visit to one of my favourite local spots as well as some trips to Wales and around Manchester. Enjoy!