Film Washi "W" 120

Overview

"W" is the film Film Washi was founded on: an orthochromatic black-and-white emulsion hand-coated, one roll at a time, onto Moriki Paper's Tosa Washi — a 28 g/m² Kozo paper — with an anti-curl layer behind it, in the company's workshop in Brittany. The datasheet rates both texture and contrast as very strong and transparency as medium, so the fibres of the sheet are part of every frame rather than a flaw, and Film Washi notes that coating each one by hand creates small variations or accidents that contribute to the product's graphic effect. Sensitivity peaks at 545 nm — high to blue, less to green, none to red — so the maker recommends it for urban, portrait and still-life work, and advises metering directly on the subject in portraits because orthochromatism can trick the meter. Nominal speed is 25 ISO, but Film Washi's own table brackets the working speed from 3 to 25 ISO depending on developer, and the datasheet warns the film does not have a large exposure latitude and is not very sensitive to artificial light; long exposures are no problem, while flash works only at full aperture, close range and set to the lowest sensitivity. The rolls are hand-spooled, so a few very delicate 120 transports can have trouble with them — never force the winding lever — and the exposed roll should be secured with a rubber band or tape as you unload it. Because the base is paper it cannot be loaded onto modern plastic developing reels: Film Washi specifies tray development in paper developer under a red 575 nm safelight — pre-wash in clear water, 2 to 3 minutes in developer, a plain water rinse with no acid stop bath, fixer until the remaining white emulsion has fully dissolved, then at least 15 minutes in cold clear water with no direct stream on the film. An old Correx- or Souplinox-type stripe tank works, and so does Film Washi's own 120 Processing Leader, taped to the head of the film so both can be wound onto a conventional spiral — that leader is a separate item and is not included here. Film Washi lists "W" among the films that need special handling, so develop it yourself or check with your lab first; scanned by transparency it holds the most half-tones, while scanning it in opacity mode like a print raises contrast and shows a waffle texture.