Instant Mytol shelf life. Development failure?

I just used some Instant Mytol that I mixed up 16 years ago and haven't used in a dozen years (just getting back into film!!). Originally advertised as "infinite shelf life" for the glycol stock solution. I assume the sodium sulfite powder I have is still good.

Also used it to develop a roll of Delta 3200 I exposed over a decade ago.

I think I had a development failure. Very minimal image (negatives mostly clear with some slight image).

The film does have the some visible labeling.

Another clue: usually I squeegee wet rinsed film with my fingers before hanging to dry. Some silver halide came off and was deposited on my fingers and I don't recall that happening before.

Any thoughts as to whether this is a development or exposure failure? Or just old degraded film?

Also besides Rodinal, is there any small quantity commercially available film developer available that mixes from a long-lasting concentrate?

I think my next step is to just shoot a few frames of fresh film, rewind that...cut off the leader and try developing that....so as not to waste a full roll of film.
I wish they still sold HC-110 concentrate!!

What color is the Instant Mytol concentrate? In my experience, such glycol formulas starting turning yellow after 6 months, and then become orange, and then reddish, all indicating oxidized developer that is becoming weak. Glycol developers last longer when stored refrigerated or frozen. How did you store yours?
High speed film tends to fog over a period of years, and I see much fog in your filmstrip. That tells me the Instant Mytol was performing tolerably well.
Also, film experiences latent image decay -- the slow loss of the image.
All told, I think your development went surprisingly well given the circumstances, and I think you'll be able to get some presentable prints from that film.

Mark

albada said:

All told, I think your development went surprisingly well given the circumstances

Click to expand...

Indeed, but let's agree it's close to death in any case.

ppg677 said:

Some silver halide came off and was deposited on my fingers

Click to expand...

Whatever scum you wiped off of the film, silver halide it was not. What kind of fixer did you use? Anyway, it's conceivable that your old developer deposited something on the film; maybe even a very thin layer of metallic silver. So dichroic fog, basically. It's rare, but under the conditions you describe, it seems plausible.

Welcome back to film photography! Brew up some new developer and enjoy!

Edge markings look good. But it seems like you can really see some strange stickiness on the film...
There are too many variables in this case - old chemistry, old high-speed film, latent image many years old. Perhaps the problem is more than one. It is probably not known how the film was exposed - was it at 3200 or was there a push? In fact, the actual speed of this film is 1000/31. Normal development requires a long time, 18 minutes 1:1 at 23 degrees...