On this developing adventure, I’ve shot a roll of Arista EDU 400 at box speed. Previously, I have shot Arista EDU 200 and liked my results, so I thought I would try this one. It is a very affordable film stock, therefore it is perfect to test in my quest to find an everyday film to shoot in my home.
Developing the Film
The instructions say that with Kodak D-76 stock, you develop the film for 7-8 minutes. Massive Dev Chart said 8 so that was what I went with.
I processed this roll in Kodak D-76 stock solution for 8 minutes. Then, I agitated according to the instructions on the box, the first 30 seconds and then 5 seconds every 30 seconds after.
My Results with Arista EDU 400
The first thing I notice is this film has a pretty wide dynamic range. Since it came a bit dark, this gave me the opportunity to see what this film can handle. By the way, I have found this page by Ilford really helpful as I am learning to process film. I am always referring to it when I don’t know something, like if over processing makes the film lighter or darker. Thought I’d share it.
First, I noticed the highlights hold a good amount of information as you can see in the bright sun lit area of the photo below. You can still see the bricks.
Next, I was glad to see that although the photos I took inside the grocery store came dark, the film still retained enough detail for me to be able to lift the exposure in post without it looking badly under exposed.
Arista EDU 400 has the same grain and contrast as Fomapan 400 in my opinion. The contrast wasn’t too strong and I was able to add some more in post. I like having that ability.
Final Thoughts
This film is manufactured by Foma Bohemia, so maybe that’s why it resembles Fomapan. I really liked my results with Fomapan so that’s not a bad thing. Also, I like the price and the tonal range, and that I can somewhat control the contrast at ISO 400. I’ll have to test it under pushed conditions. Stay tuned.
Until next time, stay motivated and keep shooting.
After reading different reviews on Arista EDU 400 and debating if Arista EDU 100 fits my taste better (I’ve shot Arista EDU 100 before), I found your article, and I think I would buy Arista EDU 400 due to its higher speed and wider latitudes. Did you shoot at box speed or 320, 200?
I shot it at box speed