Forte Pan 100

Forte's plant in Vac, Hungary started in 1922 as a Kodak subsidiary, got nationalized in 1948, and ran on its own for the next half-century. Fortepan 100 was the slow B&W stock in the lineup, sold across Eastern Europe and, through importers like Freestyle and Bergger, on shelves in the West. Forte filed for bankruptcy in 2004 and stopped coating for good in January 2007.

The character is old-school cubic grain, closer to a pre-tabular Eastern European emulsion than anything Kodak or Ilford makes now. Tonality is creamy through the midtones with a slight contrast lift that some shooters love and others compensate for in development. HC-110 dilution B is a popular pairing; published times put fresh Fortepan 100 around 5 minutes at box speed, and stand development in Rodinal 1:100 brings out a compensating effect that softens the contrast bump.

Compared with FP4+, Fortepan 100 has more pronounced grain, slightly higher base fog, and a tonal signature that reads as vintage rather than clinical. Foma 100 is its closest spiritual sibling, though Forte was generally considered a step cleaner through the mid-1990s. Quality slipped at the end. Late production rolls show emulsion specks and dust that Forte shooters learned to live with.

There is no fresh stock. What circulates now is freezer film and estate sales, often expired since 1995 or 2001, and most of it benefits from rating down to ISO 50 or even 25 to compensate for speed loss. The film also curls aggressively after long storage. Be ready for that at loading.

Formats included 35mm, 120, and various sheet sizes during the working years. The 35mm cassettes are by far the most common find today.

Reciprocity exponent is 1.31. Zone Light Meter applies the correction past one second. A metered 30-second reading becomes about 90 seconds at the negative, which comes up routinely on a tripod at f/16 in winter window light, the kind of work Eastern European document photographers used this film for in the first place.