My Techpan!

I was using 120 Tech Pan and TD-3 two weeks ago: at ISO 25 the negatives look quite thin. They scan fine though. Next time I might try ISO 12. I use Paterson tank and TD-3 recommend agitation method.

TD-3 is a waste of time. You’re better off with POTA or one of its variants.

Milpool said:

TD-3 is a waste of time. You’re better off with POTA or one of its variants.

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TD-3 works well for me, but it's kind of costly and does not keep for more than a few months, in my experience (tightly capped bottles, but not refrigerated). C41 developer at 20C and semi-stand with dilute Rodinal are convenient and do an acceptable job, but they don't really provide that crazy-sharp almost 3D look that you can get with Technidol or TD-3.

I've never tried POTA, but I've been told it works well. The main drawback is that you have to mix it from constituents shortly before processing. The working solution is only useable for an hour or two after mixing.

Since I'm running out of Technidol and getting tired of spending money on TD-3 I'll likely switch to POTA in the near future.

I used TD-3 from Photographer's Formulary, and it's still available from them. Way better than Technidol for me, for pictorial applications at least. It was easy to use and predictable. Tech Pan is not an ideal general photography film by any means, anyway. A lot of loss to highlight and shadow gradation, the proverbial "soot and chalk" syndrome, no matter how you develop it. I used it primarily for actual technical purposes, and sold off my big stash of 8x10 sheets a few years ago to an 8x10 photographer who did want to try it pictorially. Being so thin, it's not ideal in conventional sheet film holders, being prone to sagging.

I had a friend who shot Tech Pan for a number of years in his 6X6 SLR with expensive Zeiss lenses. He got incredible detail, but at the expense of routinely blanked out deep shadows and upper highlights. Plus micro-films like this have quite a few tiny zits or whatever in open skies if seriously enlarged, like from 35mm. Once I turned him on to Efke R25, that was the end of his Tech Pan addiction. But when that film went away, he simply reverted back to FP4 where he had started.