Kodak TechPan film?

[Conor]

i understand that this film has been discontinued, however i was wondering if anyone has or know's of someone who has a large(small) supply of kodak tech pan film. i will buy all that i can!

 

[wildbill]

i check on ebay or adorama or b&h for 100' spools

 

[fhovie]

try e-bay

 

[Loose Gravel]

Freestyle still has sheet film. J&C has Imagelink. There is 35mm Maco that is supposedly like techpan, but I don't know about it. Are you looking for the slow speed, hi resolution, or the hi contrast ability, or the red sensitivity?

 

[htmlguru4242]

Apparently, imagelink is pretty good, and yeilds very high contrast and incerdibly fine grain, though it needs a special [expensive] developer.

The Maco film that Loose Gravel refers to is probably Maco Ort25c, which supposedly is close to Tech. Pan, though not quite. It is also orthochromatic, so you'll lack red sensitivity ...

I've never tried either, though I've heard about (and seen) excellent results from both.

 

[collect888]

i understand that this film has been discontinued, however i was wondering if anyone has or know's of someone who has a large(small) supply of kodak tech pan film. i will buy all that i can!

Too late. This film is getting so expensive lately it is better used for museum display . As a regular seller of this film I don't even recommend you to try it unless you are really good at it and can make full use of it, and willing to pay big bucks.

A few buyers each bought large quantity TP from me this year. One is from Japan, one is from France. A few from the States. Cannot believe last year it was sold around $2 a roll for 35mm and under $5 a roll for 120 and in fact no one wanted it. That was the time just before Kodak decided to discontinue the production.

Every time when there is big order for TP coming I usually ask why they want to pay so much for this film and which film developer they are using. Most people answers without much reservation. One nice buyer from DC even emailed me the step-by-step detail of his personal workflow. Only one customer, I remember he is from Japan, which paid a few thousand dollars for 350 rolls of TP120, sent me to Kodak website to satisfy my curiosity.

Interesting.

 

[Conor]

well thanks for the info.

 

[Daniel Lawton]

Tech-Pan is a tough film to use for pictorial applications being that it is a high-contrast document film. For flat and even lighting it can produce great results, but for anything else you are likely to ruin more shots than you successfully capture. I have about a dozen rolls stored in the freezer not because I am rationing them out, but because I come across very few situations in which this film would excel compared to a standard 100 speed film. If you need to make mural-sized enlargements from a small frame negative Tech-Pan can't be beat. Otherwise you would probably be better served by something else.

 

[jimgalli]

Strictly FWIW. Recently I shot tech-pan, Efke 25, and some of my personal stash of asa 32 Aerial Recon Panatomic X together. Same camera, same scene etc. Under a microscope....the grain is the same for all 3. I can't tell the difference. The easiest to use is the Efke. 2nd easiest is the Aerial Panatomic X, and perhaps the prettiest negative too. 3rd and usual PITA was the TP. If you get lucky and see a 5" wide long roll of the Panatomic X sometime on Ebay, you'll love it. Think 5X7 tech pan for about 18 cents a sheet. I don't know if that can be duplicated any more, but I'm personally hoarding a freezer full of this stuff as my hedge against the future. No, it isn't for sale.

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

Strictly FWIW. Recently I shot tech-pan, Efke 25, and some of my personal stash of asa 32 Aerial Recon Panatomic X together. Same camera, same scene etc. Under a microscope....the grain is the same for all 3. I can't tell the difference. The easiest to use is the Efke. 2nd easiest is the Aerial Panatomic X, and perhaps the prettiest negative too. 3rd and usual PITA was the TP. If you get lucky and see a 5" wide long roll of the Panatomic X sometime on Ebay, you'll love it. Think 5X7 tech pan for about 18 cents a sheet. I don't know if that can be duplicated any more, but I'm personally hoarding a freezer full of this stuff as my hedge against the future. No, it isn't for sale.

Same developer for all 3 films, Jim?

 

[Woolliscroft]

I have lots in the freezer, but sorry I'm keeping it. I use it in Technidol, shot at 12 ISO then underdeveloped for low contrast and find it a great film for making copy negs from prints. I hate it for normal photography. If you want something better suited there, have a look at the October 2005 issue of Black & White Photography magazine, they have some interesting film and dev combinations from Retro Photographic (Dead Link Removed): Kodak Imagelink HG and Agfa Copex Rapid in Spur Imagespeed dev. I have never tried either, but they seemed to have some nice results. They prefer the Agfa, so I suppose that's on the way out too.

David.

 

[jimgalli]

Same developer for all 3 films, Jim?

Yes. Trying to remember if it was Pcat HD 1:1:100 or Rodinal 1:100. Either works well to limit contrast build up on these. I think it was the Rodinal.

 

[craigclu]

A few years back, I did a couple of test rolls in WD2D+ and was very impressed at the contrast control and how well the highlights held up. I never got back to it but it was the best I recall and only had good results with the Technidol prior to that. Just one more undone project, I guess!

 

[Woolliscroft]

Silverprint in the UK still have Tech Pan in 5 x 4 for 54.26 (pounds) for 50 sheets including tax.

David.

 

[bobfowler]

I have about a half dozen rolls of 35mm TP in my film freezer that I'm holding onto to pay for my 6 year old grandaughters college eductaion...

hehehe

 

[BradS]

I've a roll of 135-36 in the fridge...I'll pobably never use it. Anybody want it? Send me a PM and you can have it...free.

 

[Conor]

check your pm box.

 

[PKM-25]

Techpan is a Beetch to use. Like one user said, low contrast situations work best. Paired with the right subject and technique, it has a rarely matched look. I am doing some long term fine art work with it in a few years in my Hasselblad XPan. Funny thing is, I bought the XPan and 3 lenses to shoot the 1,200 feet of bulk rolls of it in my freezer over the next 20 years.

I paid $75 a roll from B&H awhile back...wonder what they are worth now?

Not for sale either way, I can't put a price like that on my career...

 

[NikoSperi]

I love it and have my little stash. It does wonderful things in portraits as the extended red-sensitivity gives lovely skin tones. If anyone wants to get rid of that "beeach" to use film, send it my way?

 

[Soeren]

Just a silly Q
How about using the new Rollei Pan 25 or Ortho 25 instead ?
Cheers Søren

 

[tbm]

Studio City Camera in Studio City, California has a lot of Tech Pan still in stock. However, they do not ship and have counter sales only.

 

[pharquarx]

I noticed a box with 11 rolls of 35 mm in the refrigerator at Cal's Camera in Costa Mesa California 949 646 9383, ask for Ed, tell 'em Charlie sent you.

Also bought two boxes of 4 x 5 sheet film from B&H about two months ago.

ctr

 

[mcgrattan]

I've used the Maco ORT25c film as a very fine grain pictorial film.

I developed it in Rodinal using a 2 stage development process I read about online. One relatively long bath at 1:200 or 1:250 and then a very short bath of approx 90 secs at 1:25. I can't remember the exact details but I have them written down.

The results were fine.

http://www.mcgrattan.f2s.com/images/ort25c.jpg

extreme closeup here:

http://www.mcgrattan.f2s.com/ort25c_crop.jpg

This is a scan from the negative.

 

[avandesande]

efke 25 in 1:100 rodinal is a very easy combination to work with. i use semi stand development and rarely have contrast problems.

Yes. Trying to remember if it was Pcat HD 1:1:100 or Rodinal 1:100. Either works well to limit contrast build up on these. I think it was the Rodinal.