Kodak Process Pan Plates

[Enrico Scotece]

I have a bunch of glass plates that I will expose soon. 12x Panatomic X, and 12x Kodak Process Pan.
They are 'new' sealed in box. No idea how old these are but would not be difficult to figure out.

Has anyone here had experience with glass plates?
Anyone know or have any notes/literature on Kodak Process Pan? I have no idea what to process these plates in.

Thanks,
Enrico Scotece
Email me directly at enrico@thinknegative.com.au if you wish.

 

[rjmeyer314]

Try Diafine. You can develop all films and plates for the same times (directions on the box). Diafine is a 2 bath developer. I think you develop for either 3 minutes or 3.5 minutes in each bath. As for the plate speeds, try shooting one plate at ASA=10 and one plate at ASA=100. Those will usually get you a starting point. The slowest glass plates I ever tried were Kodak Metalographic plates, which I found had a speed of about ASA=0.01. Diafine will usually give you good pictorial quality negatives even from high contrast scientific plates.

 

[Schlapp]

I either is Rodinal !;100 for an hour or, use print developer and use one to get time right

 

[Mike Wilde]

Panatomic X on film was EI 25-EI 32 when new, so I would suggest try at EI8 as a starting pont for the panatomic X if old.

Process pan suggesta a graphic arts panatomic type film. I would try exposing it at EI6, since it is likely means for use in a process camera for copying colour materials.

If it is graphic arts oriented than DK-50 can work, as can Dektol 1:3 in a pinch, but then you will get gobs of grain. It would tell you if the stuff is fogged.

Try pulling from the middle of the pack for your first test, unless each is wrapped individually.

The emulsion face facing the wrapping can age differently than those against other film/photo paper/plates.

 

[Enrico Scotece]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will be back once tested! Im not hoping for perfection.. after all they are aged. I'm looking forward to the idiosyncrasies and imperfections.
Diafine I have much experience with (didn't even think to use it!).

until then.
Enrico

 

[rjmeyer314]

I looked in my 8th Photo Lab Index (dated 1946). For Kodak Wraten Process Pan plates it lists a tungsten film speed of Weston 24, which translates to ASA 29. No daylight speed is listed.

 

[John Shriver]

1945 Kodak Films handbook shows Wratten Process Pan as Weston 20 or GE 32, but this is from metering white subject. So the film is really four stops slower than that! However, it's a high-contrast film, thus "process" in the name. Developers are D-11 for 5 minutes. For "high" contrast, D-8 (2:1) for 2 minutes! (D-11 and D-8 are high-contrast developers that make D-19 look like a wimp.)