Cheap can be interesting

While cheap and technically good don’t usually mix in photography, sometimes a cheap lens or film stock can surprise us. I ran out of film on my last trip to Poland a few years ago and ended up buying a local brand called Fomapan for $3 dollars per roll. Fomapan is made by the old Fotochema (now FOMA Bohemia Ltd.), a company out of the Czech republic. While they are not new and have a long tradition of making film, they are relatively unknown in North America.

I did not have any development instructions for this film and I ended up processing it myself in good old Rodinal (a very bad choice for most modern films). The grain is huge but I find the tonality quite interesting.