Author Topic: Scored some decent films, now some questions (Read 6772 times)

SLVR · « **on:** April 03, 2012, 04:57:35 AM »

Hey all. I recently was browsing kijiji and found a listing for 4 rolls of ektachrome for 40$. I offered 25 not expecting the offer to be accepted and sure enough i was on my way to pick up the film. As i was there i was chatting with the lady selling and she ended up selling me 5 more rolls of BW 35mm. I think i scored some good rare films actually. I ended up getting (on top of my 4 rolls of ekta100VS) 1 roll of Kodak technical pan, 1 roll of kodak infared, some agfapan apx, a cheapie roll of C-41 BW and some delta 400. I know the delta and the C41 BW arent too special but the rest ive never seen or heard of before.

Now heres my question. I opened up the canister on the IR film just to see what it was. After doing some poking around i read its really important not to expose even the canister to light. Its not like i left it out on my windowsil or anything like that, maybe 1 min out of the canister, no daylight. How screwed am i?

Also how about the rareness of the other films? the technical pan looks really interesting. I cant wait to get out and shoot that stuff. Is there anything i should be concerned about after shooting such uncommon films?

LT · « **Reply #1 on:** April 03, 2012, 07:52:29 AM »

What speed is the APX?

The techpan is supposed to be amazing film - 4x5 type resolution in a 35mm frame - but it needs some very careful processing using specialist developers otherwise all you end up with is pure black and White with no gradation at all. I think the developer you need is called Technidol, but there were also some workarounds with standard developers. Worth a google I'd say.

Provided you didn't expose the IR to direct sunlight you'll be fine. I used to load HIE in the shade with no fogging at all.

Late Developer · « **Reply #2 on:** April 03, 2012, 08:31:46 AM »

If it's Kodak Tech Pan 2415, it's wonderful film - if you can get the processing right. I never quite managed to do that but the detail that was present was awesome.

Don't knock C41 processable B&W film until you've tried it. Phil Bebbington uses Kodak BW400CN, Peter R only uses Ilford XP2 Super and I'm quite partial to Fuji Pro 400CN. Check out some of the results on the "weekend" threads and I think you'll be amazed at the tonality and flexibility of these films. It doesn't have to be silver to be proper B&W.....

LT · « **Reply #3 on:** April 03, 2012, 10:31:24 AM »

Paul - chromogenic films are still silver halide based - in fact, they usually have several layers of silver halides with different dye couplers, so they are even more silver than trad B&W

I think it's a bit misleading to cite Peter's use of XP2 cos he develops it in standard B&W chemistry (Aculux I believe) so effectively he is using it as a standard B&W film - that's not to take away from the effect of his photography though.

Sandeha Lynch · « **Reply #4 on:** April 03, 2012, 11:38:02 AM »

Technidol is the stuff for Tech Pan, but on the only roll I ever got mitts on I used Rodinal at a 1:300 dilution for 14 minutes at 22C. Worked well.

Late Developer · « **Reply #5 on:** April 03, 2012, 11:53:35 AM »

Hi Sandeha.

The stuff I was recommended to use on TP2415 was Tetenal Neofin Doku. I managed to get a huge amount of detail but the negs were very flat and no amount of contrasty paper seemed to help. I was young and impressionable in those days and maybe should have experimented further but eventually gave up and resorted to PanF or whatever the equivalent was in the early 80s.

Leon, I hadn't realised that XP2 was silver halide. To be honest, I'm not a great one for the chemistry these days. Nevertheless, whether Peter develops his in C41 chemistry, Aculux or whatever, the point I was making is that XP2 Super is great film and capable of providing results as good and as caharacterful as the more esoteric, older or discontinued film stocks.

TinTin seems to have made a very lucky strike and I wouldn't mind stumbling across such a treasure trove...

astrobeck · « **Reply #6 on:** April 03, 2012, 02:27:32 PM »

Sandeha, what kind of inversion times did you use for that Tech Pan?
Thanks!

Francois · « **Reply #7 on:** April 03, 2012, 02:43:08 PM »

Tech pan was really a marvel of film making. Just looking at the Kodak datasheet for it is mind boggling!
The speed is very variable depending on which developer you plan on using.

If you have a very sharp lens (like the Nikkor 50mm f/1.

and use a tripod, the quality you can get out of it will simply blow your mind!

Here's the data for it

Francois · « **Reply #8 on:** April 03, 2012, 02:43:30 PM »

and the rest.

Aim for a density of anywhere between 0.8 and 1.25 depending on the type of enlarger you plan on using. Since diffusion heads are lower contrast, 1.25 is better suited for them. Use 0.8 for condenser enlargers.
This makes negs that are easy to print. Higher contrast is good for effect.

A scanner is pretty much like a diffusion enlarger.

SLVR · « **Reply #9 on:** April 03, 2012, 03:56:27 PM »

the APX is 25 i believe. Quite slow stuff!

lots of great info guys thanks a bunch! Im a little hesitant now as to where i should take this stuff to get processed. As much as i know how rewarding and fun it is to process your own BW at home (i used to when i had the space at my parents place when i was still in highschool) i just dont have access to the space or a dark enough area to do it. Not to mention all my chemicals expired before i could use them all.

And im not knocking CN BW film ive put a few rolls of kodak BW400CN through my leica with amazing results. Plus getting the film back in 1 hour is great! The reason i seem to knock is because im told its just cheapo evilbay film ive never heard of. like MooVue or something. the canister is spotted like a cow too. But you totally never know, it could be the same stock as 400BWCN or XP2.

I just hope that if i send the technical pan out that they dont mess it up. It may be worth it to take it to a known place in toronto that can do it.

Its all exciting, but at the same time i dont wanna mess it up or waste shots going to a boring place. Seems like most of those films are rather uncommon.

astrobeck · « **Reply #10 on:** April 03, 2012, 04:12:33 PM »

Let us know how the tech pan works out!
I've got an exposed roll I need to develop or send out....

LT · « **Reply #11 on:** April 03, 2012, 04:29:45 PM »

APX 25 - another superstar film apparently. It was discontinued before I got into photography so I never got the chance to use it, but it had a hardcore following.

It's got to be about 10 years out of date though I imagine.

I don't think you'll find a lab who will process the tech pan for you though ... it does require some special handling.

Sandeha Lynch · « **Reply #12 on:** April 03, 2012, 05:34:11 PM »

Quote from: astrobeck on April 03, 2012, 02:27:32 PM

Sandeha, what kind of inversion times did you use for that Tech Pan?
Thanks!

This was six years ago, and I can only guess my usual ... 5 mins plain water presoak; then dev with a Gentle Double Inversion at 10 secs and 30 secs, and then a GDI every minute.

Hope that helps.

SLVR · « **Reply #13 on:** April 03, 2012, 05:40:24 PM »

hmm. I'll call around. I know of one place in toronto thats kind of specialty. I think they do 1 hour D-76 and other black and white developing as well as slide and color. I could be wrong. If not i'll take a stab at it with fingers crossed.

Francois · « **Reply #14 on:** April 03, 2012, 06:01:38 PM »

If you have some mystery film, you can use the DX Code Simulator to decrypt it.
When you look at the barcode on the film canister itself, there is a number under it.
You go here
http://www.imageaircraft.com.au/DXsim/
and type in the code and hit enter. The system will tell you the manufacturer and even the product!

Photo_Utopia · « **Reply #15 on:** April 04, 2012, 08:34:17 AM »

I've used all those films Tech Pan was indeed a marvel but really hard work in the darkroom:

If you exposed it at say 40-50EI and developed it in low dilution HC110 results could be brutal:

An interesting film is the infra red is it the B&W or colour? The B&W had wonderful halation, that is the highlights would soften and the grain was quite pronounced.
The colour IR was great too:

Both of these films should be handled in darkness, some load them in a dark bag, although I'd still give it a try as my first roll I didn't do this and it looked OK.

APX is my favourite film of all, the 25 was like Kodak TP in resolution (well almost) but has a wonderful smooth tonal range as did the 100 APX which for Portraits looked quite wonderful.
I have quite a few rolls of both the 25 and the 100APX all dated about 2001-2005 still seem OK despite that.
Enjoy your films you have an interesting collection there.
Have fun!!
Mark Antony

Francois · « **Reply #16 on:** April 04, 2012, 03:19:19 PM »

Mark: First one is really nice... I just love the gradation and smoothness.

SLVR · « **Reply #17 on:** April 04, 2012, 04:06:38 PM »

i tried to check out my "MooVue" film and it didnt give me any info in that DXn Generator. We will see how it turns out. A quick google search revealed very little on the film and a few snaps that are soft and out of focus.

Photo_Utopia, those shots look sweet! They really get me excited to shoot this film. The infared i have is black and white. So i could be stoked to get some really great high contrast shots. I'll for sure post up my results once i get around to shooting all of this film! im thinking that these films may be cool to take to the beach since its so bright and contrasty.

Thanks everyone for your help!

Alan · « **Reply #18 on:** April 05, 2012, 12:03:48 PM »

tech pan is supposed to be the business all right, I have some in the fridge with some technodol developer.

here is a post i did on a photographer who used it a lot, might be wortha read >

http://www.filmwasters.com/forum/index.php?topic=4374.msg48336#msg48336

http://www.jeanmichelberts.com/Site_31/Home.html

SLVR · « **Reply #19 on:** April 11, 2012, 03:16:15 AM »

Heres some shots from the cheapo BW C-41. Thats all ive shot from the bunch so far. All shot with the LC-A+ Enjoy!

Photo_Utopia · « **Reply #20 on:** April 11, 2012, 09:21:50 AM »

Looks good, especially the skate shot. Did you develop them in normal B&W or use C41?

SLVR · « **Reply #21 on:** April 11, 2012, 02:03:00 PM »

these were C-41. Im not set up at home to develop BW at home yet. I have to get all my old dev tank and proper measuring stuff then new chemicals.