Film in used Film Loader: How to determine which one it is?

Gregory_Nolan · Oct 30, 2017

Hello Community,

today I bought a used film loader from a woman whose dad had sadly passed away. The loader is at least 20 years old, but in perfect condition. When I had a closer look, I saw that there were still more than 20 feet of film loaded from the previous owner.

The indicator on the film loader says it's a 400 ISO color film – I know nothing more about it. The back of the film is sort of brownish. I usually shoot b&w - I haven't seen a film like that before.

Is there a method how to determine which film this is? Can I do this myself? Can a lab do this? Or should I just remove the film and load it with my own?

Thanks in advance for your contributions to this topic!

Greetings from Austria,

Norbert

Wallendo · Oct 30, 2017

If you can develop at home, take out a few inches of film in the dark and develop it, black and white developer should be OK although C-41 is preferable if it is color film, and then look at the printing along the edges.

Gregory_Nolan · Oct 30, 2017

Hi Wallendo, I tried that right away - and it worked, thank you very much. Surprisingly, it is Ilford HP5 film. Unlike my other HP5 films, the printing on this film's edge says "safety film" - maybe an older version of this film?

Regards, Norbert

Svenedin · Oct 30, 2017

Gregory_Nolan said:
Hi Wallendo, I tried that right away - and it worked, thank you very much. Surprisingly, it is Ilford HP5 film. Unlike my other HP5 films, the printing on this film's edge says "safety film" - maybe an older version of this film?

Regards, Norbert

Quite old if it says "safety film" on it (to differentiate from nitrate base)

Carriage · Oct 30, 2017

The HP5+ bulk roll I shot last year said safety film in the rebate so that doesn't tell us much.

Svenedin · Oct 30, 2017

Carriage said:
The HP5+ bulk roll I shot last year said safety film in the rebate so that doesn't tell us much.

OK. I didn't think it had been marked that way for a long time.

Carriage · Oct 30, 2017

I wouldn't have thought so either but I had a vague recollection and happened to have some of my contact sheets nearby to have look.

Sirius Glass · Oct 30, 2017

Gregory_Nolan said:
Hi Wallendo, I tried that right away - and it worked, thank you very much. Surprisingly, it is Ilford HP5 film. Unlike my other HP5 films, the printing on this film's edge says "safety film" - maybe an older version of this film?

Regards, Norbert

Well your problem is solved. I do not think the film is really all that old.

MattKing · Oct 30, 2017

Gregory_Nolan said:
Hi Wallendo, I tried that right away - and it worked, thank you very much. Surprisingly, it is Ilford HP5 film. Unlike my other HP5 films, the printing on this film's edge says "safety film" - maybe an older version of this film?

Regards, Norbert

Is it HP5, or HP5+?

Theo Sulphate · Oct 30, 2017

From this roll I would load about 5 exposures into a cassette, make 5 quick photos in different lighting, develop it, then examine the results to determine if the rest of the roll is worth loading.

mshchem · Oct 31, 2017

I had someone give me a bulk loader, i processed a strip only to find no edge markings and REMJET, my guess its some really old stuff that they were pedaling in the 70's and 80's. I have c-41 chemistry, I might give it a try, or I might just leave it till I really have nothing to do
Mike

Gregory_Nolan · Oct 31, 2017

It says HP5, not Plus. When was HP5 discontunued - in 1989?

Theo Sulphate said:
From this roll I would load about 5 exposures into a cassette, make 5 quick photos in different lighting, develop it, then examine the results to determine if the rest of the roll is worth loading.

Great idea, will do exactly that.

pentaxuser · Oct 31, 2017

Gregory_Nolan said:
It says HP5, not Plus. When was HP5 discontunued - in 1989?

Great idea, will do exactly that.

Correct. That was the year that HP5+ was introduced according to the Ilford chronology section of the site known as Photographic Memorabilia. An interesting site.

pentaxuser

guangong · Oct 31, 2017

I wanted to reload some Minox and Minolta 16 cassettes along with some Leica and Contax cassettes and discovered some 400 asa film that I forgot about and couldn’t remember when put into this bulk loader. Trashed it and bought a fresh 100 ft of Delta 400 from B&H for knowable results.
In the 1960s and 1970s I used a wide variety of films and developers. Still have some Agfa, etc in the freezer but for the most part limit myself to 3 films for still photography:a 100, a 400 and a color reversal, and one movie film: Kodak tri x. However, I still enjoy reading about other people’s experiences with different films and developers and it is sometimes difficult to resist temptation.

Gregory_Nolan · Nov 1, 2017

I developed the film using Rodinal 1+25 and the same time as I‘d use with HP5+. The negative came out pretty thin. I think I‘m going to trash the rest of the film and carry on with new material.

Anon Ymous · Nov 1, 2017

Gregory_Nolan said:
I developed the film using Rodinal 1+25 and the same time as I‘d use with HP5+. The negative came out pretty thin. I think I‘m going to trash the rest of the film and carry on with new material.

If you use the "1 stop of sensitivity lost per decade" rule of thumb, then it will be around ISO50. Bracketing around that value would give you better results. You can also expect excessive grain. Perhaps you could use it for special cases/effects where you want that kind of grain, so don't trash it yet. Regardless of that, using fresh film is obviously a wise choice.

Gregory_Nolan · Nov 1, 2017

Okay, I‘ll give it another try with a few frames. I developed Pan F the other day which expired in April 1984. Aside from rather high contrast the pictures are okay.

Wallendo · Nov 1, 2017

I definitely wouldn't through it away unless there was other damage to the film. A few years ago I bought several bulk loaders off eBay and three contained film (fortunately labeled on the loaders). I had a lot of fun shooting some very old Tri-X (I liked the result at EI 100). I also got some old Tech Pan, which I could never tame.

The worst part of the whole deal with a loader almost full of Panatomic-X. I loved the results and can't bring myself to shoot the last roll because there won't be any more after that.

Gregory_Nolan · Nov 1, 2017

Anon Ymous said:
If you use the "1 stop of sensitivity lost per decade" rule of thumb, then it will be around ISO50.

I made tests with ISO50, 100 and 200 - and ISO 50 looks quite good!

Wallendo said:
I definitely wouldn't through it away unless there was other damage to the film.

I'm glad I didn't. I'm really looking forward to the results I'll get.

And by the way: Can this thread be moved in the right forum? I postet it in "Color: Film, Paper and Chemistry", because I thought the film in the loader was a color film. As it turned out it's black and white. Thank you!

Anon Ymous · Nov 1, 2017

Gregory_Nolan said:
And by the way: Can this thread be moved in the right forum? I postet it in "Color: Film, Paper and Chemistry", because I thought the film in the loader was a color film. As it turned out it's black and white. Thank you!

Report your own post in order to draw a moderator's attention and explain that you'd like to move the thread.

Film in used Film Loader: How to determine which one it is?

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