5 Frames with Foma Fomapan Retro 200 Black and White, Pentax 645N and FA 75mm f/2.8

I will start with something about Foma Fomapan Retro 200 Black & White that I said in a blog post about another film.

What is that you say? Lower price and acceptable results?

Yes, please.

As a part of my Father’s Day/Birthday film haul I picked up a roll.

Developed at home with Cinestll df96. For a camera to run it through I chose to reduce human error as much as possible by using the nearly bulletproof Pentax 645N and 75mm f/2.8. This is one of my all time favorite film cameras… Scratch that one of my all time favorite cameras regardless of format or technology. While being one of the simplest and most consistent cameras I have ever used it is also capable of creating fantastic images. AF is spot on in my experience as well as auto exposure. On top of that, you can take full manual control of the camera. All of the lenses I have used with it are great. That being said the 75mm f/2.8 is so good that I eventually sold on my other lenses. And the 645N is so good that I kept it even after selling off my digital 645D.  I could go on for a while. It takes plain old AA batteries. It is relatively small and light considering that it is a fully automatic medium format camera. It is so easy to use I can hand it off to anyone with minimal instruction. That cannot be said for my Hasselblad 501c, Yashica MAT LM, or some of my 35mm film cameras. I can also bring it along on family outings without having to bring proceedings to a halt while I meter and focus a scene. It also squeezes out 16 exposures instead of the usual 15 for a 645 camera. Ok, I will stop there.

There are plenty of other great cameras out there. But if you are looking for a decent crossroad between usability, features, and image quality you could do much worse.

Here are 5 images courtesy of the 645N. I took a spin through a local town. Will add some thoughts afterward.

I really like the look of Fomapan 200. Pleasingly sharp. A bit moodier compared to the brighter films I have used before. But I like it. Look at the dragon images for Pete’s sake. I was happy with the whole roll, but I really like those images in particular.

Will stop here and let the sample images above speak for themselves. If you like the sample shots it would not hurt to give it a try. The fact that it is very reasonably priced is an added bonus.

I appreciate having this opportunity to share my experiences with these lenses.

Eric L. Woods

I shoot a variety of new and old digital and film cameras. Industrial Engineer by education, IT is my vocation, and I really enjoy using, testing, and writing about cameras. All three of the latter are very therapeutic exercises for me. If you are so inclined my blog address is ewoodsphoto.com and I can be found on twitter and Instagram. All the best to you.

Share this post: