Is this a deteriorating film emulsion?

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Hi,

I'm just messing around with some film that was kindly given to me. I've come to find out that the aging characteristics of Agfa film is awesome, while that of Kodak is not. This is from a roll of Ilford Pan-F+ 120 that I processed in Pyrocat-MC and printed on Fotokemika Emaks G2.
There is a spotty pattern all over this print that looks bad. I don't know how old the film is, for some reason I cannot find a date on it. Is this possibly a film emulsion that's starting to break down with age? I'm clueless to what it looks like, but I thought it should be more of a uniform problem with fog.

Thankful for insight...

- Thomas

 

[mcfactor]

Ive found with Pan-F that if i underexpose it a lot (if the negative is really thin) then i get a spotty negative. Perhaps the film has lost some speed and did not receive enough exposure.

 

[Ian Grant]

Thomas, Ilford used to use a letter & number code for the date of production so something like E72 would indicate 1972.

I've seen that mottling pattern before on film stored badly, in humid conditions seems to be where it contacts the backing paper.

Glad to hear those rolls of APX25/APX100 are ok.

Ian

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

mcfactor - the negs are a bit underexposed, but not by more than maybe 1/2 to 1 stop, so not a disaster. I'll try some more punchy exposures and development, see if that helps.
Ian - I'll check the letters... Thanks again for the Agfa. I've tested them with great success, and I'll be bringing them with me on an APUG gathering in Northern Minnesota at the end of this week. It was very kind of you to send them to me!
- Thomas