Development time for 50 yr old superxx

[Bioflex]

I plan on developing some very old Kodak SuperXX in Photographers forumulary FA-1027 @68 degrees. This film was purchased at a flea may and is supposed to be from the Korean War. Any suggestions on development time?

 

[DREW WILEY]

Use a tea strainer. The emulsion might frill off. Good luck getting anything. But try to keep all temps consistent and mild including wash, and have the stop just barely acidic. You want to avoid as much expansion/contraction stress as possible. Hopefully your prescribed dev time won't be terribly long, but a certain amount of overdevelopment might be necessary to offset reduced sensitivity.

 

[Bioflex]

Use a tea strainer. The emulsion might frill off. Good luck getting anything. But try to keep all temps consistent and mild including wash, and have the stop just barely acidic. You want to avoid as much expansion/contraction stress as possible. Hopefully your prescribed dev time won't be terribly long, but a certain amount of overdevelopment might be necessary to offset reduced sensitivity.

 

[Bioflex]

Thank you,I see what you mean. I developed one of the rolls yesterday and was left with a blank film.Do you think “see-saw” development might be less aggressive than tank development with agitation?

 

[MattKing]

Blank film may mean that it has never been exposed.

 

[Bill Burk]

I am using the same film. Expect some frustration. Film speed is very low. I am using Exposure Index of 2.

Do you have a green safelight? I am considering using one for developing by inspection. (I currently use an infrared viewer but how can I tell my friends they have to go out and buy one of those).

A green safelight probably wouldn’t add “significantly” to the fog considering how much exposure is required for a picture.

My best result is in cold (to slow it down), strong (so fog doesn’t creep up) developer.

For example 50-degree F Dektol straight, between 2 and 3 minutes.

For see-saw you will want to have shorter 24-exposure rolls. 36-exposure rolls will be hard to handle.