Dev. ancient film..age fog, restrainer?

PHOTOTONE

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I've got some 5x7 Luminos Press Pan ISO 200 film which expired in 1966, but is in sealed boxes. I have tried some of it, and the speed is very low now, but there is quite a bit of age fog. Can I use benzotriazole to curb the fog, like one would do with paper? Is there another recommended fog control?
 

glbeas

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That and potassium bromide are most commonly used for film. A nonstaining developer is also recommended so stay away from the Pyros. A personal thought, a solvent type developer like Microdol might also help reduce the fog level some. Anybody know anything that might back this up?
 

maxbloom

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I might think the opposite actually...microdol is low contrast, no?
 

glbeas

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No, it's a normal contrast developer. It just gives mushy looking grain due to the solvent effect. It may be a vigorous developer with a little fixer mixed in similar to a monobath would be the way to go. Slide developers are supposed to be formulated in such a fashion to get rid of the halide that normally would never get enough exposure to develop and dull the highlights. I think this would be an interesting line of investigation in the darkroom. I have the materials, just have to make the time for it.
 

Jim Jones

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I've used potassium ferricyanide for a controlled fog reduction after processing. By giving the film plenty of exposure to get shadow detail above the fog, it salvages old film for some purposes for this old cheapskate.
 

steven_e007

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Fine grain developers always seem to make fog worse, to me. D-76 always seems to have a bit of base fog...

A recommendation for low fog development I read about many years ago (Micheal Maunder) was Kodak DK50.

I can't buy it in the UK (I'm not sure if it is still available elsewhere...) but it is easy to mix. I have made many batches of it and it is very squeeky clean and contrasty. I think it was designed for Royal-X pan, which was an early high speed film and therefore prone to be a bit foggy. I've used it with some out of date Forte pan and it certainly gives less fog than most other developers I've tried. It worked well with pushed kodak recording film, too.

Steve
 
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