FomaFomapan 200 Creative

Fomapan 200 Creative is an ISO 200 panchromatic black-and-white negative film made by Foma Bohemia in the Czech Republic and developed in common black-and-white developers [1]. Its emulsion combines traditional grains with T-crystals [1] [4], and reviewers describe a softer, more vintage look than most branded films [4] [7]. It is reportedly also sold as Arista EDU Ultra 200 [9] [10].

Look and color

Fomapan 200 turns colors into grays according to its own spectral sensitivity, not the eye’s:

• Blue and sky. In our conversion, made from Foma’s spectrogram, a sky comes out 4.0 L* lighter than in the base render. Skin comes out 2.7 L* darker [15]. This rests on an assumption, because Foma’s chart has no scale (see below).
• Red sensitivity. Blue Moon Camera notes an extended response to red, up to about 720 nm, so that “red objects will naturally overexpose slightly” [8]. This is not what our conversion shows for skin; see the spectral section.
• A vintage look. Casual Photophile finds the “lower-contrast effect we see in older black-and-white photographs” [4]; Analogue Wonderland calls it a “distinctly vintage” film with softer tones than Ilford Delta or Kodak T-Max [7]. Parallax reports “a nice complete range of tones” [5].

Tonality

• Development. Foma’s times aim at “medium-contrast negatives”. The datasheet publishes characteristic curves for Microphen at 20 °C, exposed to daylight, but no gamma value for them [1].
• Softer than the 400. Reviewers describe lower contrast, but not a flat film. Casual Photophile says it is “not flat either” [4]; Parallax finds “more balanced contrast than the 400 ISO” [5]; Blue Moon Camera sees a “very soft and even look to its contrast” in even light [8].
• The reviews disagree. Japan Camera Hunter, testing the Arista-branded film, found the negatives “quite contrasty” and the exposure a little hot at box speed [9].
• Shadows. Blue Moon Camera finds it unforgiving when underexposed, and says half a stop to one stop of overexposure improves shadow detail [8]. Cockroft had trouble with shadows in high-contrast scenes and got “splotchy” blacks after lifting them [6].
• Latitude: the maker and the reviews disagree. Foma promises good results from 1 stop over to 2 stops under without changing development [1]. Casual Photophile writes of a range from ISO 100 to 800 [4], while Cockroft found the latitude more limited than claimed [6].
• Long exposures: no correction from 1/1000 to ½ s, then ×3 at 1 s, ×9 at 10 s and ×18 at 100 s [1].

Grain and sharpness

• Foma measures its RMS in Microphen, developed to a gamma of 0.6, and gives a resolving power of 110 lines/mm [1]. RMS values from different developers are only roughly comparable.
• Foma claims “very low granularity” from the T-crystals [1]. Reviews are mixed. Casual Photophile finds “a lot of the grit from the traditional films without sacrificing the sharpness” [4]; Cockroft, who usually dislikes tabular grain, finds it “subtle and pleasant” [6]; Blue Moon Camera finds it coarser than expected for a tabular film [8]; Analogue Wonderland calls the grain “unapologetic” across the frame [7].
• Grain depends on the developer: Cockroft used Rodinal [6] and Parallax used Xtol [5], so their impressions are not directly comparable.
• Halation. The datasheet lists an anti-halation backing for 120 and sheet film, not for the 35 mm film, which is coated on a gray or gray-blue base [1]. We found no review that measures halation on this film.
• Fragility. Foma warns that the emulsion is more sensitive to mechanical strain in some medium-format cameras, which can leave desensitization marks [1]. Blue Moon Camera reports black marks in the 120 version [8].

Spectral sensitivity

Foma publishes a wedge spectrogram made under 2850 K tungsten light, with no scale on the sensitivity axis. The curve rises from 400 nm with small bumps near 458, 525 and 580 nm, then climbs steadily to a broad maximum around 685 nm and falls to zero at about 715 nm [1]. That is further into the red than the 100 (about 667 nm). Blue Moon Camera also reports a response extending to about 720 nm [8]. Part of the rise toward red comes from the tungsten light itself. Once that is corrected, and assuming the curve spans about one log unit as on Ilford’s charts, skies render lighter and skin slightly darker than in a luminance conversion [15]. Blue Moon Camera’s remark that reds overexpose slightly points the other way for skin, and the unscaled chart cannot settle it.

Names, status and history

• Maker. Foma Bohemia is based in Hradec Králové, in the Czech Republic [1].
• Introduction: Wikipedia’s list dates it to 1996 and says the emulsion was revised in 2015, describing it as using both cubic and tabular grains [10]. We found no statement from Foma on either date.
• Also sold as (reported, not confirmed by Foma). Arista EDU Ultra 200, sold by Freestyle Photographic in the United States: Wikipedia says it is currently the same as Foma’s ISO 200 film [10], and Japan Camera Hunter calls it “currently repackaged Fomapan 200” [9]. The datasheet’s “ULTRA 200” edge markings fit that naming [1].
• Status. On September 30, 2026, Foma’s catalogue listed Fomapan 200 Creative [2]. In June 2025, Foma added 35 mm cassettes of Fomapan 100, 200 and 400 in retro packaging [3].
• Formats. The 05/22 datasheet lists 135-24 and 135-36, bulk lengths of 17, 30.5 and 50 m, 120, and sheets of 10×15, 13×18 and 18×24 cm [1].
• Datasheet. The current datasheet is marked FOMA 05/22 [1].

Also sold as

• Arista EDU Ultra 200 (Freestyle Photographic, USA) (reported) [10]