Expired Ilford Pan F+

[aca91]

Hello,

Recently I acquired some medium format rolls of expired (1996) Ilford Pan F+. I was told that the emulsion peeled off back then, and a refund was never possible. I bought a couple first and did some testing for reversal processing, which turned to be outstanding. However, I have not used them for a regular negative process. I did some testing last week, although I don't know if it is useful. I shot a blank exposure (testing base fog) and then I shot the remaining ones to my computer screen, in which I had done a gradient in photoshop from black to white (the exposure was made on a 128 gray, digital equivalent to an 18% gray card). Each exposure was made according to a different ASA, from 100 to 12, leaving also a blank exposure at the end. Although there is no big difference between them (?), I think that there is density at zone I around ASA 25, so that would be my EI. I developed with Rodinal 1:50 for 18m with Anchell's described minimal agitation (recommended time for Rodinal was 6m at 1:25, which lead me to think that it would be 12m at 1:50 and 18 at 1:50 with minimal agitation). I use 1:50 to save chemical, because I'm fearing that's the last bottle of Rodinal I will be able to get.

The highlights didn't turn out well. Instead of black towards the white part, I see just grays, what should I do?

 

[bwfans]

Can you share your process of reversal processing for Pan-F? It would be more interesting than the negative process if it does not yield an outstanding result.

 

[aca91]

Of course bwfans. Here is the process for fresh 35mm Pan F+ at EI 50 (everything at 20ºC):

1-Prewash 1m (maybe optional)
2-Dektol stock: 1l + 10g Hypo 20m30s
3-Wash 1m
4-Bleach R9: 1l water + 9.5g Potassium Dichromate + 12ml sulfuric acid (mix in that order, always add acids to water. Constant agitation 4m
5-Wash 1m
6-Clear (I used CB3 clearing aid, which is 750ml water + 10g sodium sulfite + 250ml water) 1m
7- Wash 1m
8- Reexposure 2m (take the film out of the tank and hold it next to a light bulb so that it recives light everywhere)
9- Dektol stock (without hypo) 7m
10- Wash 1m
11- Fix 5m
12-Clear 1m
13-Wash 10m
14-Photoflo 30s

Dry.

That's it for fresh 35mm Pan F+

 

[bwfans]

Thanks aca91 for the step-by-step instructions. I have some expired Pan-F+ in 35mm and always thought about what is the best way to utilize them. This is definitely one good way to consume them.

 

[polyglot]

If it works for reversal, it will be quite fine for normal negative processing. Many find it works best at EI25 in order to tame the contrast anyway.

 

[Luseboy]

I had a roll of pan-F 120 that had expired in the 90's and it was totally fine. Honestly i think film lasts way longer than they say it will. I have shot film that had expired 20 years earlier and the only downside of it is that there was a lot of curl to it. the lower the iso, the longer it lasts too because it needs more exposure for fog to show up...

 

[PhotoJim]

Pan-F Plus is a good film and it ages very gracefully (I'm shooting some 2006-expired stock with good results). However, how it has been stored makes the difference. Mine's been kept at -17 C for the last five years and it's doing great, but keeping it at room temperature would likely result in some fogging.

You can lower the ISo and shorten development time to reduce that fog, or add benzotriazole, but it will take some tinkering.