Photodissociation dynamics of formamide (HCONH2) at 205 nm has been investigated by measuring laser induced fluorescence spectra of H(2 S) especially for the hydrogen atom production channels. The translational energy releases in the H+HCONH and H+CONH2 channels were measured from the Doppler broadened spectra, which are 96.0 +/- 15 and 108 +/- 5 kJ/mol, respectively. From the measured channel branching ratio and translational energy releases, it was concluded that the dissociation should take place on the triplet surface with considerable recombination barriers along the reaction coordinates. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.