Acquiring and Developing Kodak Technical Pan film in 135

[TheoLeakas2005]

Hey folks!
I have been doing a bit of digging into Kodak Technical Pan film after finding some images online. I've mostly only shot color and never been one to bat an eye at expired film, but the results are so otherworldly that I almost need a definitive answer on if this can be done without spending an idiotic amount of money, or wasting an ungodly amount of film on test strips. Working backwards:

At this time, there are kits of Technidol available on ebay in the $120-140 USD price range. Exploring other developers, any phenidone/hydroquinone with glycol solvent should do the job as that is more or less what technidol is. Recipes for H&W (a developer I have never ever heard of before) are available online, and B&H stocks many ingredients in "photographers formula," total price much less than the original technidol, around $75.

Now the real problem seems to be getting the film in the first place. Ebay yields depressing results of unrefrigerated, well expired T-Pan for high high prices. I am weary of shooting expired film especially rolls of different batches with different expiry dates stored in different conditions, because this makes any and all testing nearly impossible. I am wondering if any folks here know of a vendor.

Worst comes to worst: are there other ultrafine grain films with a similar look (extended red base) that I should be aware of?

 

[Sanug]

Forget expired TP, the prices are much too high, and the risk of frustrating results, too.

Try Adox HR-50 from Fotoimpex. It has an extended sensitivity for red to near infrared. Very sharp and fine grain. Available for an affordable price. You may order the special HR-DEV developer as well, but there is no need. I have good results with Adox XT-3 (aka Xtol), dilution 1+3, 16 min.

Canon 7s, Jupiter-12 2.8/35, red filtre.
Adox HR-50, XT-3, 1+3, 16 Min.
Flatbed scan from silver gelatine RC print

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

I still use TP on a regular basis. I develop in Technidol with no problems. I will, however, soon run out of my hoard of Technidol and then will have to find a replacement. Photographers' Formulary sells a developer for use with TP at a reasonable price. I haven't tried it yet so I can't comment outside saying it doesn't have a super long shelf life - unlike Technidol which seems to last forever.

Most of my TP has been frozen since purchase - I stocked up with enough to last for a few decades more though I will have to start bulk loading it. I still find the odd forgotten roll in some old box or gadget bag. TP works 'as new' even when well sauteed in the attic and 25 years past expiration.

If you go the TP/Technidol route then experimentation won't be required. Just follow the processing instructions to the letter and everything will be copacetic. I do, however, shoot at ASA 12 and pull development time 15% as I like to print on Grade 3 paper and I find this combination produces a better film/paper match.

I started playing around with ultra-fine grain starting in the late 60's with Kodak's High Contrast Copy and H&W control. After trying each new whiz-bang combination as it came out I have not found anything that works as well as TP. I find microfilm based systems to be abysmal - yeah, the grain is OK but the gradation is horrid. It is important to realize that TP is a continuous tone film, not a microfilm. Yes, TP can be processed to a very high CI for, well, technical uses such as electron microscopy where the image contrast is very low, but the end result is a normal looking continuous tone image.

The downside to TP are the prices asked for the film and developer.

 

[Mark J]

I just gave a roll of 120 Technical Pan to a young colleague of mine at work. He is busy trying to find a decent 6x6 folder on EBay for bargain money.
I warned him that the film has been in a fridge for over 20 years and not to shoot anything really important.

I have four bottles of Technidol in the darkroom, unopened, but they have been stored at room temperature over the same period.
Did I read somewhere that they are likely useless by now ?
Info appreciated.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I second HR-50, even though it's sensitive to the IR spectrum.
There is also Delta 400, not as fined grained, but pretty darn good tabular grain. Its sensitivity is out to about 700nm. I use it in 120. I believe TP (which I used to use in 4x5 in the 90's) is sensitive out to 690nm.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

I have four bottles of Technidol in the darkroom, unopened, but they have been stored at room temperature over the same period.
Did I read somewhere that they are likely useless by now ?

If they are the small plastic bottles they may have gone off - the liquid should be clear, if it has discolored then it may not be much good any more.

If they are the small foil pouches liquid then they are more than likely good. My stock of Technidol is 20+ years old and still works fine.

Do a snip test on a bit of TP leader (or any old film, really) and see if the developer turns the film dark.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

If fine grain is all you are after then TMX-100 in Microdol-X will produce TP levels of fine grain. With the latest versions of TMX I find plain-ole Microdol works just as well as the film has some black magic in it to preclude dichroic fog. Plain Microdol is just D-23 with the addition of salt - "Pickling Salt" from the grocery store is pure salt without any anti-caking ingredient. Google for recipe.

However, TMX will not produce the creamy gradation that TP is capable of producing. It is the LF-like gradation that sets TP apart.

 

[Mark J]

No the Technidol I have is in small glass bottles ( like HC110 ? ) . Checking them now, it still looks clear, as much as I can judge through the slightly brown glass.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

No the Technidol I have is in small glass bottles ( like HC110 ? )

Ah, we never got it packaged like that in the US. I'm jealous. My guess is it will be fine.

 

[Mark J]

Cool . We'll give it a go and report back. Might be a few weeks.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

I just gave a roll of 120 Technical Pan to a young colleague of mine at work. He is busy trying to find a decent 6x6 folder on EBay for bargain money.

I think the days of bargain 6x6 folders in working condition may be over.

I have had great results with Zeiss Nettars with the plebeian Novar Anastigmat lens. There is also the Ikonta range to consider. A lot of people don't like guesstimating distances and so want a camera with a rangefinder. I've gotten so used to scale focusing cameras that it doesn't bother me - the DOF scale on the lens is my friend who saveth* me from blunder.

I stay away from the Agfa line - the focusing helixes are invariably frozen with green goo and the bellows can be used as a kitchen strainer. But if the camera has been overhauled it should be fine.

If you get an old camera at a reasonable price - in line with ebay's 'sold' listings - there is every chance of selling it on after you have used it for a project. Or keeping it, if you have become enamored.

--
* When I checked the spelling of 'saveth' I was informed it is the 'third-person singular simple present indicative of save' - good to know. I wonder what the pluperfect subjunctive is?

 

[uranylcation]

I still use TP on a regular basis. I develop in Technidol with no problems. I will, however, soon run out of my hoard of Technidol and then will have to find a replacement. Photographers' Formulary sells a developer for use with TP at a reasonable price. I haven't tried it yet so I can't comment outside saying it doesn't have a super long shelf life - unlike Technidol which seems to last forever.

Most of my TP has been frozen since purchase - I stocked up with enough to last for a few decades more though I will have to start bulk loading it. I still find the odd forgotten roll in some old box or gadget bag. TP works 'as new' even when well sauteed in the attic and 25 years past expiration.

If you go the TP/Technidol route then experimentation won't be required. Just follow the processing instructions to the letter and everything will be copacetic. I do, however, shoot at ASA 12 and pull development time 15% as I like to print on Grade 3 paper and I find this combination produces a better film/paper match.

I started playing around with ultra-fine grain starting in the late 60's with Kodak's High Contrast Copy and H&W control. After trying each new whiz-bang combination as it came out I have not found anything that works as well as TP. I find microfilm based systems to be abysmal - yeah, the grain is OK but the gradation is horrid. It is important to realize that TP is a continuous tone film, not a microfilm. Yes, TP can be processed to a very high CI for, well, technical uses such as electron microscopy where the image contrast is very low, but the end result is a normal looking continuous tone image.

The downside to TP are the prices asked for the film and developer.

I got a few packs of Technidol but could not find the film with known storage history at reasonable price. Want to trade?

 

[Vaughn]

It almost seems a waste of the technology, but 120 TP in a Diana Camera and an accidental double exposure worked out just fine for this carbon print (1.75"x1.75"). I probably used Technidol, but wanted a very high contrast neg for carbon printing.

PS...this is a straight contact print in a process that can handle high contrast wonderfully, and it produces a very sharp image, so the image below should give a little bit of an idea of what TP does. There just happen to be a plastic lens in between to mellow things out.

I have some Kodak Professional Copy Film, 4x5 and 8x10, that I save for times of low contrast scenes...but it is a whole different ball of wax.

 

[oxcanary]

I used TP quite a lot in the late 1980s and 1990s. Always developed it in Rodinal 1:300 at 20c for 12 minutes. Always came out great and produced lovely prints, some I still have on my wall. I got this method from an article in the Royal Photographic Society Journal in my local library.

 

[destroya]

the best developer I found after i finished my Technidol is straight C41 developer. metered at 32 for about 8 min 68 degrees.

john