Good training film for TechPan?

Hi there,

I have some Kodak Tech Pan 2415 that I want to shoot. I have 4x5 and 35mm.

What would be a good training film for getting technique down before using my stock of TP?

This is especially important in the 4x5 area.

I am looking at using Rodinal since I have a nice size stock of it.

Subjects will be mostly people and landscapes.

Cheers!

25

Just to clear it out: do you understand that Technical Pan was supposed to be used with the companion extra-low contrast developer Technidol, and that the negatives you would get by using a conventional developer would have no grey tones?

I'm also interested in answers to this question as I also have a box of 4x5" TechPan film. For development I almost always use Rodinal (or F09) too.

Marco Gilardetti said:

Just to clear it out: do you understand that Technical Pan was supposed to be used with the companion extra-low contrast developer Technidol, and that the negatives you would get by using a conventional developer would have no grey tones?

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From what I have read so far, it's possible to develop TechPan in Rodinal (for normal photographic use) using stand development and lower concentrations. Would not this be the case?

Thanks

Jiri Vasina

I believe Rodinal or R09 (both are essentially the same using the same dilutions despite the metaphysical doubts some will try to lodge in your brain!) at 1+300 or so is required with a very long stand development period to get reasonably usable contrast levels but I could be wrong. BTW jandc sell a similar hi-res document film made by Kodak called Imagelink which is essentially Tech-pan with more normal red sensitivity. If you want to try pyro then Tech-Xactol looks like it could be the answer - It is available from Peter Hogan in the UK but I don't know if the formulary are stocking it yet.

Hope this helps,

Lachlan

I've developed Tech Pan in D76 with no problems. Been a while since I shot it though. I should shoot what's left of my 4x5 box and 35 mm & 120 rolls sometime soon.

PKM-25 said:

Hi there,

I have some Kodak Tech Pan 2415 that I want to shoot. I have 4x5 and 35mm.

What would be a good training film for getting technique down before using my stock of TP?

This is especially important in the 4x5 area.

I am looking at using Rodinal since I have a nice size stock of it.

Subjects will be mostly people and landscapes.

Cheers!

25

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Speedibrews Celer Stellar is one of the finest developers ever formulated for Technical Pan. I`m baffled why it is so over looked when people want a high quality developer for this film.

There are many films that give good results in landscapes and portraits. Tech Pan was a great film for making dramatic fine grain negatives of low contrast subjects such as clouds. It also works well for some graphic arts. I'll treasure my dwindling stock of Tech Pan for those applications, and use conventional films for conventional photography.

Jim Jones said:

There are many films that give good results in landscapes and portraits. Tech Pan was a great film for making dramatic fine grain negatives of low contrast subjects such as clouds. It also works well for some graphic arts. I'll treasure my dwindling stock of Tech Pan for those applications, and use conventional films for conventional photography.

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Exactly, use Technical Pan for special subjects like Macro-work etc under controlled lighting conditions where maximum resolution of detail is required and stick with regular emulsion for general use.

To answer the original question, J&C (forum sponsors) sell Kodak Imagelink HQ film in 35 mm cassettes; it's the nearest thing to Tech Pan I'm aware of in current production. They also have Agfa Copex and an ADOX branded product (the latter much cheaper), all with similar characteristics. All use the same kinds of low-contrast developers that Tech Pan calls for, and all can also be processed in high dilution, low agitation solutions of HC-110 or Rodinal, or in my own Caffenol LC+C. I haven't tried Technidol or the dedicated developers sold for these products by J&C, but I have tried Imagelink HQ in Caffenol LC (before I added the ascorbic acid) and Copex Rapid in both Caffenol LC and LC+C, as well as the ADOX CMS 20 in Caffenol LC+C -- of that lot, I like Copex Rapid in LC+C best, followed closely by ADOX CMS 20 in LC+C (the Copex Rapid is about 1 to 1 2/3 stop faster and otherwise almost indistinguishable).

Honestly, unless you have an application where the extended red sensitivity of Tech Pan is a critical part of its appeal, the only loss I really see is the 120 format. Imagelink is available in both 35 mm and 4x5 (recut from microfiche sized stock), Copex in 35 mm and sheets that could be recut, but haven't been commercially offered that way, and CMS 20 comes in 35 mm cassettes. All excellent films with resolution that can easily exceed the capability of 99% of the lenses in use, none so expensive they necessarily have to be reserved for special applications, and all readily available in at least some common formats.