Exposed film from the 1960s

Hello all,
Looking for some help.

I have some old 120 film that is my parents.
It will have been taken in the 1960s and seems forgotten about.
My folks are no longer around I'm sad to say.

As for storage, I found it sitting in a draw. I think it's black and white.
Will have been constantly in room temperature for decades.
I'm from the UK so not humid, but have lived in Japan for 4 years, so it's had those few years of humidity.

Any advice on getting this developed and what I might expect in terms of results would be grately appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

There are several trains of thought on which developer to try. First issue is fog, cosmic radiation will fog film over time, regardless of where or how it is stored. Second is loss of film speed. In your case do you know the brand of type of film, fast, like HP5 or slower like PF4 or PanF? If the wrapper is nondescript you can do a very long stand development, the intent is develop to as high a contrast as possible and print or scan at a very low contrast. The thinking is that you will not under develop. Second is try a divided developer. I don't know what you have access to in Japan. A divided developer the chemistry is divided into to parts, the A part has all the ingredients except the activator in a part B. You soak the film in part A, for a given time then return part A to the container , no stop or rinse then fill the tank with part b for given time, again no stop then fix and wash. Because a divided developer uses a set time regardless of the film what ever is on the negative will be developed to max. Last is use a developer that has low fog, Kodak HC 110 is often used for old exposed film.

Paul, thanks so much for your detailed response.
I did forget to mention that I won't be undertaking this myself, but will try a photo lab.

I will post up a photo of the reel.
It is likely Ilford or Kodak.

Edit: Kodak 120.

That's not Kodak film. The Kodak marked spool is the one left in the camera by the previous roll. Kodak film would have the Kodak name conspicuously on the closing tape and backing paper.

It is Kodak, most likely candidates are Verichrome pan or Plus X. both popular consumer grade 120 films in the 60s, ASA/ISO for both was 125 a mid range film. In the 60s Kodak made 7 rolls film in 120 and 620. Kodak film had edge marking, if you want to take a chance you can cut off a frame or so develop it to see if the roll can be salvaged and see what it is. What developers do you have on hand or can find? I'm not all that familiar with what is available in Japan. If you can import Photographers Formulary in the U.S sells a kit for divided D76, don't know if they will ship overseas or not. Here is a link the tech page for divided 76, you might be able to find the raw chemistry in Japan to make a batch.

Forgot the link

As Donald posted, the fact that the spool is a Kodak spool doesn't mean that it is a Kodak film, because that take-up spool came from the film that was used in the camera immediately preceding the film you have.
The spool that the film was on when it came from the factory may still be in the camera.
There is some information stamped in ink on the yellow backing paper under the white paper tab, but we can only see part of it. Is there more visible? Don't take the white tab off unless you are able to replace it with some tape.

Your right, makes sense as the paper backing does not match any Kodak backing I recall from the 60s, even more important to sacrifice an end for test clip. Also another reason to think about a divided developer.

You say you’re going to use a photo lab. Quiz the people at the lab to see if they know anything about developing expired film. Don’t just drop it off with a clerk. I was photographing in the 60s and don’t remember any film backing that looked like that. I have no idea what it is.

I will be very surprised if anyone in Japan would even attempt to prices it for you, not knowing what it is. I'd do it myself. It's pretty precious.

If you don't have the gear or chemistry, all you can do is send it out and hope of the best, or email Rocky Mountain Film Lab see if they will develop and return to you in Japan. I've used Rocky Mountain in the past to develop old rolls of Anscochrom, they managed to get a few usable images.

Educated guess here, take with grains of salt as needed: Agree with Paul Howell above, the non-descript mien of the backing paper looks like it could be government-surplus Kodak film, bought in bulk and re-rolled by an outside jobber. I had some very old 127 film like that a few years back, which (thoughtfully) explained its origins on the box it came in (There was no inner sealed envelope in that unopened box, so it was in pretty much unusable shape). The fact that yours specifies itself as 'PAN' film, rather than 'ORTHO', leads me to believe it's re-rolled Verichrome Pan, which had lately (1956 or 57) replaced ortho Verichrome, so the Pan designation would be meaningful.

If it is VP, it's a pretty long-lived, easy to develop emulsion. I know exactly how I'd do it (30 min semi-stand in Caffenol C at 20c, agitate for 1st min, then 3x at 2, 4, 8, and 16 minutes, 30ml /liter Benzotriazole optional to help fog-- my starting point on any old Kodak B+W film), but I'm a Caffenol person and many on this site are not. But RMPL and other old film development labs have their own issues, and careful Googling and reading of reviews is mandatory, plus be very cognizant of the wait time and expense, which can be considerable, especially from overseas.

Everyone, thanks so much for all of your comments and suggestions.

Looking through family photos and packaging of the same era my mum and dad were using Kodak and Ilford.
I need to do some more research, clearly.
I don't want to tamper with the tab myself.

I won't just drop it off at a chain store lab, instead I will try one of the second hand camera shops here in Tokyo and see if one of the old heads might have an idea or indeed know somewhere that will tackle it.

It seems like it will develop, but need to find the best way.

And a further comment on the film; it states 12 exposures and also has the size printed.

Given it was probably bought in the uk then kodak or ilford seems more likely although both would probably have branding on the sealing paper. A related possibility is selochrome pan film (also produced by ilford) which had yellow backing paper around this time or an off brand produced by ilford/selo.

Example here;

A good resource for information on contemporary films of this era here;

I have developed some film from the 60s (verichrome pan) in fomadon excel (kodak xtol equivalent) and this came out ok.

My guess is, no, not Kodak. Maybe Agfa. Possibly Ilford. If my memory hasn't quite faded on this, the Agfa B&W films from the 1950s had yellowish backing paper like your roll. Was there a film called Ilford Pan? I didn't use Ilford back then, so I'm no help there.

Kodak film backing papers were bright colors (I recall Tri-X Pan was green, Verichrome likely red, Plus-X - dark red, burgundy, purple? I don't really remember, as I didn't use much of it until the late '60s.

There may be hope in another way. When you have spooled your ancient film into a developing tank, the front of the backing paper may provide valuable clues about the brand and name.

This is turning out to be quite a mystery. Keep us posted on the outcome, please.

I think you should ask around to find someone local with a darkroom. Development by inspection (uses a dark green safelight for a very quick examination of the film) might be a good idea. I'd use a phenidone/hydroquinone based developer with a healthy dose of benzotriazole to cut the fog.

Thanks again for those that further commented.
Arcadia4, i can't find any branding on it.

Ozmoose, I found this old Agfa 120 film on the Darkroom site.
Could be onto something.