Topic: Developing Polaroid 51 myself

[Mojave]

I bought a box of very expired (88) Polaroid 51 film. It was very cheap and I pretty much figured the goop would be dry, but the price was good enough for me to try to develop it on my own. I probably should have checked here first.

Anyway, my question is, does anybody have any suggestions on what kind of developer to use for this film? The goop is totally dry so there's no hope for that, but Im really hoping there are some regular chems out there to try. Im kinda of excited to shoot on this very expired black and white film to see how it looks.

[original_ann]

I had no idea that one could develop the negatives in non-instant film chemicals - shows how far from thinking outside the box I am!  (I hope someone knows how, because it will come in handy for a lot of very expired film stacked shelf after shelf in my basement cabinets). 

[sapata]

This is something new to me as well... looking foward to hear more about that!

[moominsean]

i developed type 55 in d-76. the film is slightly larger than 4x5 so it doesn't really fit well on a spool, but pan developing would work fine. develop it like you would any film! it's a panchromatic film, so i read that panchromatic developers (typically older style) work best.

watch for sheets that still work. i had one that i was expecting to be dry and it wasn't, so it completely dried after developing, making the neg useless.

[Mojave]

Thank you so much Sean!!! This is exactly the image I was thinking of when I got this film. I think I have some D-76. I cant wait to try it out!

[Mojave]

Oh yeah, the Pola negs fit great in the combiplan tank. They are a bit taller but the width is fine.

[original_ann]

Awesome Sean.  Report back Erin - this is great news; doesn't mean all is lost once the chem pods desiccate!

[Ed Wenn]

Is there a how-to online anywhere? If not could someone write one for us? Pleeeease :-) I have a few sheets of Type 51 lying around, but suspect they'll need this type of development if I'm to get anything from the negs. I'm not sure what the mechanics are though. My only previous experience with Pola pos/neg is Type 55 and 665 where I just washed the goop off.

[Mojave]

I actually dont have any older developers like I thought I had so I am going to try HC110. I read on another forum that this developer works well with very old films to reduce fogging. I am still not sure what time to develop it at but I am going to look up some films on the massive dev chart to get some ideas and go from there.

I heard that Polaroid used Kodak film. Does anybody know if that's correct or not?

[Francois]

That is quite beyond me...

But I know for sure that it is a regular grain film (not T-grain).

Going through Wiki, I found this:
Type 51, ISO 640 print, ISO 80 negative, black and white (very high contrast print, reusable negative)

So, processing for an ISO 80 with regular film should be about the same...

But since the film is somewhat expired, I wouldn't be scared to overdevelop a bit...

(If I just had that old Kodak paper computer for film sensitivity and processing type...)

[Mojave]

Ok, then I am going to find a Kodak b&w sheet film on the massive dev chart at ISO 80 using HC110 and push it a bit.

[Ed Wenn]

Erin, what's the blow-by-blow for getting the neg in a state ready to process? That's the bit I'm missing.

[Mojave]

Well, my plan is to expose the neg, push the paper back, leave the lever in the L position on the 545i, hit the release button, and pull the cartridge out without going through the rollers. Cartridge? What are those things called anyway?

Then I'll pull it apart in my film changing bag and stick it in my combiplan tank for processing.

Im feeling a bit under the weather so I hope I understood and answered your question right. 

And since I was told by some dude I ran into at the Salton Sea who said that Polaroid used Kodak film for their p/n film, I am going to process this film like Tmax 100 in HC110, Dilution B, for 6.5 mins. We'll see how it goes. Going to see about getting the pic this weekend.

[moominsean]

yeah if the goop packs are dry you just treat it like you normally would except wait until you get home and peel it open in the dark. your negative will be exposed but undeveloped until you run it through the chemicals.