How to process old verichrome film?

[spoolman]

I was given a number of rolls of Verichrome 116,616 and 620 by a friend who was cleaning out his freezer.I do know that Verichrome film was a orthochromatic film with a red base and emulsion as opposed to Verichrome Pan which is panchromatic.These rolls expired in the early fifties before the change took place.

I realize the chances of producing any sort of half decent images are very slim but the rolls have been frozen since then(My friend was a pack rat when it came to film).If the film is still good,what developer time should I use ?

Doug

 

[panchro-press]

Wow! What a find.

I'd check an old formula book, I don't happen to have access to mine at the moment, and use the times given for DK-50 or D-76 as a starting point.

-30-

 

[Jim Noel]

Use D-76, not DK-50. I used this film for many yearsw and found that developers sucjh as DK-50 and DK-20 did not work as well as D-76 straight. Irf the base fog is tooheavy, it was heavier than current films, add a small amount of benztirazole to the developer.
I am away from home and do not have times, but do as Doug stated to find times.

 

[Ian Grant]

9 minutes in D-76 @ 20°C was the old Kodak recommendation, but add about 15%-20% because of it's age and probable drop in contrast.

Ian

 

[railwayman3]

Great find, especially if the freezing has kept them in good condition.

If you do use the films, don't forget to keep the boxes and spools....they are becoming quite collectable these days.

 

[glbeas]

Obviously if it's an ortho film you can develop by inspection under a dim red safelight, I'd keep the exposure to the safelight to a minimum because of the speed of the film.

 

[mabman]

There's a guy (Gene M) in the "Classic Manual Cameras" forum of photo.net (yes, yes, boo, hiss) who processes a lot of old "found" film, and has reasonable results with HC110 dil H (sorry, don't know the time). His films are usually not as well preserved as yours, so your results should be even better.

 

[spoolman]

How to process old Verichrome Film

Thanks to all who have responded.I now know why I joined APUG.This is THE best resource tool on the web for topics such as this.It would have taken me weeks of searching for this info.But Iall I had to do was post it here and I get tmely and reliable info from experienced people.Thank God for APUG.

I've already accumulated a significant collection of film spools for 122,116,616,620 and 828 so I'm covered there.As for the boxes they will be stashed away for another day.

Thanks again,

Doug

 

[nickrapak]

If I had the materials, I would develop by inspection in a tray under a red safelight with HC-110 dilution H at a lower temperature, maybe 17-18 C (62-65 F). The cooler temp will cut down on base fog as well.

 

[stealthman_1]

I think you've got pretty good odds for success since the film was frozen. If you don't need the spools, you can sell them on that giant auction site and probably shoot the film for free...oh wait the film was given to you! Shoot the film for a profit and toss a few bucks back to the the great guy who hooked you up!