Do you like fine grain and very strong contrast? Ferrania P30 might be the black & white film for you. When shooting with this Italian made 80 iso Panchromatic film you want to be careful not to shoot in contrary light because you can easily blowout the highlights. We recommend shooting this film in even light if possible and with its’ high contrast it will bring dull, evenly light scenes to life! The Darkroom… a film developing lab (https://thedarkroom.com/film/ferrania-p30/#:~:text=Ferrania%20P30%20might%20be%20the,can%20easily%20blowout%20the%20highlights.)
Now that I have shot a roll of Ferrania P30, I have observations about the film. The high contrast creates shadow areas of little detail, if any. I thought after developing the film that pulling the film one stop might help. The Naked Photographer, a YouTube site, after testing the film came to the same conclusion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrXWK_AS7n8)
Ferrania has a web page noting all the developers that can be used with the film. Diafine was on the list.
Diafine stock 24ºC/75ºF – 6
Small Tank: Do not pre-rinse – Developer A:
Inversions or constant agitation for the first 5
seconds. Repeat every min for 3 minutes. Developer
B: Same as above. Stop bath with constant water
rinse for 1 min. (https://assets.website-files.com/6230f174d9792f5706c61c7f/6394eb54a8223370f9a83543_P30_Best_Practices_v3.pdf)
These images were shot at box speed with the Nikon N90s. I used 3 lenses, the Nikon 20mm 1:2.8D, the 50mm 1:1.8D, and the 85mm 1:1.8D Lenses.
I scanned the film with the PrimeFilmXEs Film Scanner, using SilverFast software. I first tried to use VueScan software but found the Silverfast software better with this particular film.
I will buy another roll and pull it one stop. I did shoot a couple of images that were pushed one stop. The results were not usable.
There was a barcode on the film canister…
| Unique ID# | 00000342 |
| Film Type | FERRANIA P30-135 |
| PRODUCTION INFO | |
| Batch | 155 |
| Pancake | B4 |
| Production Date | 24/06/2022 |
Steven Lawrence Pictures 