HC-110 and expired film

[Cholentpot]

I have a freezer full of expired film, Tmax-100, Tmax-400 some Plus-X and now a roll of very old Tri-X. Over the past while I've used D-76, Tmax Dev, and Rodinal. For the Plus-X and Tmx-100 D-76 and stand Rodinal has been fine. The Tmx-400 though comes out pretty foggy.

My question is, would the HC-110 give me significantly better results? I've read that HC-110 is pretty neutral and has lower fog. I have a liter of the stuff and I'll probably be passing it on to my kids and grandkids in 30 years.

 

[Pentode]

No personal experience here, but I've been reading up on this very topic as I have a stash of expired film as well. From everything I've read recently, HC-110 seems to be the go-to developer for old, expired film specifically because of it's ability to reduce fog.

Some useful info here: https://www.lomography.com/magazine/169603-expired-film-developing-ancient-black-and-white-film

and here: http://www.themarysue.com/expired-film-photos/

and here: Dead Link Removed

 

[Cholentpot]

No personal experience here, but I've been reading up on this very topic as I have a stash of expired film as well. From everything I've read recently, HC-110 seems to be the go-to developer for old, expired film specifically because of it's ability to reduce fog.

Some useful info here: https://www.lomography.com/magazine/169603-expired-film-developing-ancient-black-and-white-film

and here: http://www.themarysue.com/expired-film-photos/

and here: Dead Link Removed

That third link was very informative, thanks!

 

[Jim Noel]

I have a freezer full of expired film, Tmax-100, Tmax-400 some Plus-X and now a roll of very old Tri-X. Over the past while I've used D-76, Tmax Dev, and Rodinal. For the Plus-X and Tmx-100 D-76 and stand Rodinal has been fine. The Tmx-400 though comes out pretty foggy.

My question is, would the HC-110 give me significantly better results? I've read that HC-110 is pretty neutral and has lower fog. I have a liter of the stuff and I'll probably be passing it on to my kids and grandkids in 30 years.

I use HC110 with outdated film, some 15 years OOD, with good results.

 

[Cholentpot]

I use HC110 with outdated film, some 15 years OOD, with good results.

You pull or shoot at box?

 

[trythis]

I use it for tri-x that expired in 1969. I shoot the film between EI 12 or 50 and develop using dilution A or B with a very small ratio (1%) benzotriazole at colder than normal temps (50 to 60 F) I haven't been experimenting as much lately but here is my contribution.

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

 

[kb244]

It depends on the film (and condition of storage, it's like darwin's grab-bag, gotta test to see what you'll get, or hope for the best) for me and the results you're looking for. I prefer HC-110 generally for film, but I've found that with really expired film, that hasn't been cold store, I've been getting better results from using Ilford Microphen (either stock, 1:1, or 1:3 dilution depending on the desired result).

If you have a bunch of the stuff, I say strip tests. I have nearly 40 rolls of Tmax P3200 that expired in 2004, so I had a little more freedom to throw 3 or so rolls at testing it. With that specific film on HC-110 (either Dilution B or H), I'd have to shoot for an EI400 to get the image dense enough on the emulsion to make up for the dark fog on the base (ie: lower contrast), but with Microphen 1:1 at 9 minutes at 20C/68F I've had very decent results shooting for EI1600 (mainly metering for the shadows to be least a stop to stop and a half under, but not much more than that).

With Plus-X bulk roll that expired in 1972, I got rather decent results with Microphen 1:1, 68F, for 10.5 minutes (normal times is 8.5 minutes) with an EI of 50, but after testing I'll get the best results with that aiming for EI25.

I've seen smoother grain, and lower fog with HC-110, but with some of the older stuff I been trying, I either have to overexpose quite a bit or risk ending up with a rather thin emulsion.

Though I have not tried using a very high dilution (1:100 for example) and doing stand development (usually 15-30 minutes of no agitation other than the initial one), that's something I've seen being a viable option depending on the film.

At least I never have a problem with extremely old HC-110 itself, as long as it hasn't crystallized, the stuff seems to last indefinitely (and if it has crystallized, in theory should be able to heat it up to disolve it again).

 

[Cholentpot]

I use it for tri-x that expired in 1969. I shoot the film between EI 12 or 50 and develop using dilution A or B with a very small ratio (1%) benzotriazole at colder than normal temps (50 to 60 F) I haven't been experimenting as much lately but here is my contribution.

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

This photo is some unknown Tri-x in Rodinal @ 1:50 for 30 min with a flip at 15. Water, something like 60 degrees. Besides for the massive amount of pinholes the stuff came out pretty good. I shot it at f/3.5 for about 5 seconds under indoor lights at night. No clue what the rating of the film would be. This stuff is by far the most expired and abused film that I've shot as of yet.

Another question.

I bought a bottle of what I thought was HC-110 a while back and it turned out to be replenisher. I read vaguely about massively pushing film with HC-110 and replen. Is this possible and how it is done? Otherwise, I'm still stuck with a full bottle of replenisher that I have no clue what to do with.

 

[MattKing]

I bought a bottle of what I thought was HC-110 a while back and it turned out to be replenisher. I read vaguely about massively pushing film with HC-110 and replen. Is this possible and how it is done? Otherwise, I'm still stuck with a full bottle of replenisher that I have no clue what to do with.

You could use it to replenish HC-110 .
If you were closer, I would be keen to take it off your hands, even though I probably have enough of the now discontinued replenisher to last me for years.