1982 expired Technical Pan in 1986 expired Microdol-X

grobbit · Feb 9, 2013

Normally I shoot Tech Pan at 25 and develop in 1:3 Microdol-X for 30mins at 25C, it gives a nice tonal range and tames the contrast. However, this roll I made a mistake and exposed it at 64. Therefore I extended dev time to 45mins, 20C and this seems to have done the trick.

Zenitar M2S 2/50 on EOS 10qd. This small plastic Russian lens is excellent, really sharp and contrasty and has a good deal of pop at f4.

Happily these rusting Jaguars are awaiting restoration. Baby is my friend's 3 month old son.

Alan W · Feb 9, 2013

Nice shots and good developing info to have.Thanks.

grobbit · Feb 9, 2013

Cheers Alan. I just wish they still made Tech Pan.

brucemuir · Feb 9, 2013

Looks liked you pulled it off. Congrats.
Luckily you were outdoors and had some sun.

What do the negs look like? Are they thin?

I would risk old film but wouldn't use old developer but it worked for you this time so...

grobbit · Feb 10, 2013

There wasn't a lot of sun but Tech Pan works well in dull conditions. The microdol-X was one of the 5 litre metal cans so it was still good, I've used 2 litres of it so far, just mixed up a third litre tonight. I've found a suppler in the UK where I can buy a copy of Microdol-X for 15ukp for 15 litres so I;m gonna stick to it, it gives me the best tonality and grain I have managed.

The negs look fine, maybe a little thin but not much.

StoneNYC · Feb 10, 2013

grobbit said:
There wasn't a lot of sun but Tech Pan works well in dull conditions. The microdol-X was one of the 5 litre metal cans so it was still good, I've used 2 litres of it so far, just mixed up a third litre tonight. I've found a suppler in the UK where I can buy a copy of Microdol-X for 15ukp for 15 litres so I;m gonna stick to it, it gives me the best tonality and grain I have managed.

The negs look fine, maybe a little thin but not much.

You must have a lot of tech pan...

So, why 25°C that seems a big high for B&W emulsions no?

~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

Trask · Feb 10, 2013

I've got a 150' roll of TechPan in the freezer, so I'm always interested in learning new ways to develop it -- so thanks for posting this information. May I ask -- who is the US supplier you refer to as providing Microdol-X to you? I haven't used Microdol since I was a hight school photographer in the late 1960's...

Vaughn · Feb 10, 2013

Congrats of some fine images! Panatomic-X in Microdol 1:3 was my roll film (120) standard in the late 70's.

grobbit · Feb 10, 2013

Actually, I've only got about 80ft of this Tech Pan, which makes me sad, but you never know, some more might turn up on ebay, people seem to ignore really old bulk rolls, but if it's something slow like Tech Pan, it's usually fine in my experience.

Hi Vaughn, I'm going to be shooting 70mm Pan-X and souping it in M-X 1:3 soon, so any tips you recall, I'm all ears!

StoneNYC · Feb 10, 2013

I would soup it in something fast in the 4-6 minute range to cut down on fog. That's my only advice.

~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

Vaughn · Feb 11, 2013

grobbit said:
Actually, I've only got about 80ft of this Tech Pan, which makes me sad, but you never know, some more might turn up on ebay, people seem to ignore really old bulk rolls, but if it's something slow like Tech Pan, it's usually fine in my experience.

Hi Vaughn, I'm going to be shooting 70mm Pan-X and souping it in M-X 1:3 soon, so any tips you recall, I'm all ears!

I can be no help to you -- way too long ago! I just used the published times and made 15"x15" from 120 film (Rolleiflex) until I got captured by large format in 1979.

1982 expired Technical Pan in 1986 expired Microdol-X

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