H&W control film and developer

Paul Howell · Jun 23, 2019

Saw an odd roll of H&W 35mm on a auction site, must be from the 70s, I only have a vague memory, don't think I ever tired it. Anyone have found memories of it and it's matched developer?

mshchem · Jun 23, 2019

Paul Howell said:
Saw an odd roll of H&W 35mm on a auction site, must be from the 70s, I only have a vague memory, don't think I ever tired it. Anyone have found memories of it and it's matched developer?

A couple of us were discussing this over lunch the other day. It was like Technical Pan film. IIRC a microfilm thin emulsion developed in H&W developer. I shot a few rolls, I have a nice print somewhere I made. It was a nice very fine grain slow film. There was a rep who gave a lecture out here in Iowa in the early 70's. Had some beautiful large prints from small film.
Promoted shortest wet times, no stop....use water, keep chemicals and wash at constant temperature start to finish, and twist and invert agitation. Seems like these guys were from Massachusetts? I think I have a bit of literature somewhere.

Paul Howell · Jun 23, 2019

I did find a post that stated that the the film was a microfiche film, the developer was developed by H&W, Bluefire is an updated version of the developer? Thinking about I remember adds in a few of the photo mags of the time, claimed 4X5 resolution from 35mm, that would fit microfiche film. Should have tired it, sounds interesting.

voceumana · Jun 23, 2019

The developer was originally used with Kodak High Contrast Copy film--a panchromatic, high contrast film for use for copying documents; available in 35mm only; to give very fine grain results and continuous tone contrast. H&W then came out with their own film (perhaps a private brand arrangement with a film manufacturer) in 35mm and 120. Results were good, but perhaps not much improved over Panatomic-X but similar speed.

Murray Kelly · Jun 26, 2019

Holden and Weichert invented the developer and matched it with the then current version of Agfa Copex Rapid. Later it was matched with Tura copy film. I have a can of it here, still. I got better results with Rollie RO80s.

Carter john · Jun 26, 2019

I used it starting probably 1970. It was really nice for grainless prints, but even properly using the H&W developer you had to watch contrast. I live in Panama' when I started using it and the outdoor contrast was brutal, so I tended to not use it out doors (or at least a noon). I remember it being slow, I had to use a tripod at least half the time. I really never refined my printing with H&W. But I have had better luck with my old negatives scanning and post processing digitally. Here are some of my shots with H&W:

https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=8178676@N04&sort=date-taken-desc&text=hw&view_all=1

Fujicaman1957 · Jun 27, 2019

H & W was based in St..Johnsbury VT. H & W Control Pan and Control Pan Ultra was available in 35mm and 120. It was in fact respooled Agfa Copex in the early 1970's.

JPChopper · Mar 6, 2020

I know this is an old post, but Bluefire Police film and developer are still available.
The documentation I got with the film about a year ago said it was Agfa Copex. I used it to cut down and respool Minox cassettes, and was pleased with the results.

Jefro53 · Jun 12, 2022

I shot a few rolls of it in the 70's, believe it was also used in aerial photography. I developed in D-19, film was tan colored after developed, could make 20x30 enlargements without seeing any grain. Printed on grade 3 or 4 contrast paper to get better range otherwise prints look flat.

Eric Rose · Jun 12, 2022

I shot one roll of it in the 70's. Amazing sharpness. I blew up one neg and could read the printing on the side of an airliner that was very small on the neg.

Beyond doing silly things like that I really couldn't find a purpose for it.

Paul Howell · Jun 12, 2022

The ads of day claimed that you could shoot 4X5 results with 35mm film. I guess that was accurate if your only criteria was gain and resolution. I did find some prints that I made from EKF copy film that I shot and developed using a low contrast developer, tones are all wrong. I'll put Bluefire on my list of experiments. .

H&W control film and developer

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