found roll of verichrome (not pan) film

[winger]

My next-door neighbor goes to flea markets and you never know what he's going to find. Today, he found an old Kodak folder (Vigilant junior six 20) for $5. It had film in it - actual 620, too. My neighbor had opened it (didn't know he could tell from the window there was film) and it could have been opened before, too. It wasn't too far from the end, so I wound it the rest of the way. It says Kodak verichrome film on the tab.
I did a quick search on here and found info on verichrome pan, but not the earlier. Is it worth developing it? I do have some old and untested HC110 (found in a closet at the lab before I left). How do I test the HC110, too?

 

[Lee L]

Hey Bethe ...

To test the HC-110, dilute a few drops of it with several drops of water and put that on a film leader (guess I'd better say emulsion side for completeness for other readers, but please don't take that personally ) in daylight/room light. It should start turning darker within a few minutes. If you don't dilute the syrup with water, it won't develop anything. HC-110 lasts a very long time, even in partially full bottles.

Verichrome went pancromatic in 1956, and was produced from 1931 until 1956, I don't know what times might be, but I'll see if I can find something for you. I'm sure others will chime in in the mean time. HC-110 was introduced about 10 years after Verichrome production stopped, so you'll have to work out some scheme for finding approximate development dilution and time.

Lee

 

[Lee L]

Found this, which appears to be helpful:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Lee

 

[winger]

Thanks, Lee. I'm copying the last post from that thread readers don't have to go back and forth:

OK, the printout from the guy (whoever, thanks!) says he gets consistantly good results with this formula of high concentration HC110 and low temperature.

Pre-soak in water for 30-60 minutes
One more rise to get rid of anti-halation
HC-110 dil A for 5 minutes
Agitation: 5 inversions every minute + one more every 30 seconds
Stop 2 minutes
Kodak non-hardening fixer 8-10 minutes
Water rinse
Hypo solution 2 minutes
Water 5 inversions
Water 10 inversions
Water 20 inversions
Photoflo 15-30 minutes

But what temp? And any guesses if this will work with the pre-pan version?

 

[Lee L]

Looks like Whiteymorange in post #2 on that thread used HC-110 Dilution B for the older film, unless he forgot to include the word Pan in his post. He's still active around APUG, so you could ask him.

Unless otherwise stated, I'd assume 68F, but it does look like the poster you quote forgot to say exactly how cold "cold" is. He's in State College, so if he didn't answer a PM request for info you could drive over and wake him up.

I used to use HC-110 B with VP-120 and liked the combination a lot. It was something of a classic matchup, like Tri-X and D-76.

Lee

 

[nworth]

My ancient (late 1940s, early 1950s) PLI says says that for average contrast (a gamma of 0.9 at that time), Verichrome should be developed in D-76 (undiluted) for 18 minutes at 20C with agitation once every 2 minutes (14 minutes (20 percent less, for continuous agitation). For a more conventional gamma of around 0.7, the development time was about 13 minutes with intermittent agitation. Scaling times for other developers isn't straightforward, but looking at the massive development chart I would guess that a time of about 9 minutes in HC-110 (B) would be a starting point.

 

[winger]

Looks like Whiteymorange in post #2 on that thread used HC-110 Dilution B for the older film, unless he forgot to include the word Pan in his post. He's still active around APUG, so you could ask him.

I know Whitey and he's done some good stuff with really old film (though usually involving shooting it recently). I checked that last poster's profile and they haven't been on here since August (how can anyone not come here in that long?!).
I think I saw a reference somewhere about using 15 degrees C for the cold method with HC110 dil A. Since I don't have any D76, I'd like to keep it to what I have around (the others are Sprint and Ilfosol S).
Of course, after all this effort, how much do you wanna bet that the whole roll was exposed by people playing with the camera over the years?

 

[Lee L]

Of course, after all this effort, how much do you wanna bet that the whole roll was exposed by people playing with the camera over the years?

Yeah, and then you'll be responsible for overseeing the loss of some stranger's precious memories. Just trying to take the pressure off.

Have fun. Hope you get some good/interesting surprises.

Lee