Neopan 100 + Perceptol

bvy · Jun 28, 2014

I shot three rolls of Neopan 100 Acros in my Yashica Mat 124G this month. I thought I would second guess the meter, as I had just put a new battery in the camera and I felt it was reading on the low side. So I set the camera to 64 and took my pictures accordingly. Well, it turns out the meter wasn't so far off after all, and so I think I've overexposed these rolls by 2/3 of a stop -- maybe more in a few cases, if the 1/500 shutter setting turns out to be sluggish (hadn't considered that until just now). My plan was to develop these rolls in Perceptol, as I've used this combination before and like it very much.

Given that the film is slightly overexposed, can someone suggest if I should reduce the development time and/or use some dilution of Perceptol? Thanks.

Tom1956 · Jun 28, 2014

Sounds like a good plan. Use normally, IMO.

polyglot · Jun 29, 2014

A stop over on a negative is practically irrelevant. Just develop it normally and you'll have a little more shadow detail. Just be careful not to overdevelop.

Simonh82 · Jun 29, 2014

Perceptol often doesn't give true film speed anyway as the emphasis is on fine grain rather than speed. You should be fine developing it normally.

Richard S. (rich815) · Jun 29, 2014

If the scenes or subject matter shot were in fairly contrasty light I'd pull development time by 15-20%.

bvy · Jun 30, 2014

Richard Sintchak (rich815) said:
If the scenes or subject matter shot were in fairly contrasty light I'd pull development time by 15-20%.

Thanks. I know that's true in general, but wanted to confirm as Perceptol is a different beast among developers...

Richard S. (rich815) · Jun 30, 2014

Generally I'll shoot Acros at about 64-80 but you mentioned 2/3rds to a full stop overexposed or more so yes even with Perceptol I stand by my recommendation of pulling your development time some, especially if you plan to scan the negs and especially if the light was contrasty.

JW PHOTO · Jun 30, 2014

bvy said:
Thanks. I know that's true in general, but wanted to confirm as Perceptol is a different beast among developers...

I don't call Perceptol a "beast", but maybe a "lamb in wolf clothing" type developer. I like it a lot! Easy to use, somewhat forgiving, but developing times can be a little long. I don't mind the times being long and would rather have a longer developing time than a short developing time, which can be less forgiving. I usually always use it diluted, but I'd guess you're going to use it at full strength or at the least, 1:1. I think you'll be just fine, but I could be wrong. JW

bvy · Jun 30, 2014

Thanks Richard. These are outdoor portraits in bright overcast or shade (with a few exceptions). Just to be clear, you're talking Perceptol stock (no dilution), right?

Richard S. (rich815) · Jun 30, 2014

If you were in bright overcast or shade then no change in time should be fine. Diluted or stock. Personally I always prefer moderate contrast in my negs so I usually pull development time10% all the time from what most charts recommend, but that me.

Tony-S · Jul 2, 2014

With Acros I use Perceptol at 1+2 for 16 min at 75F.

John Wiegerink · Jul 3, 2014

Tony-S said:
With Acros I use Perceptol at 1+2 for 16 min at 75F.

Tony-S, I'm with you and it's 1:2 and many time 1:3 for me with Acros for some really great negatives, but I rate the Acros at 80-125 EI when I use those dilutions. BVY has the problem of over exposed film and probably should use Perceptol straight. I don't really know if the film would really need any "pulling" or not. If it were me I'd just go with Perceptol straight no pull, but that's just me. JW

bvy · Jul 3, 2014

Right. I think I'll be trying it stock at the prescribed 12+ minutes or slightly less. I just ordered three boxes of the stuff (Perceptol).

I am curious, though, as to why Tony-S develops at the slightly higher temperature.

Tony-S · Jul 3, 2014

Only one reason - Bill Spears here on the forums has done a lot of testing and he recommends those parameters. I have been quite pleased, too. But to be clear, that's with Neopan Acros - I have never shot Neopan 100.

bvy · Jul 3, 2014

Tony-S said:
Only one reason - Bill Spears here on the forums has done a lot of testing and he recommends those parameters. I have been quite pleased, too. But to be clear, that's with Neopan Acros - I have never shot Neopan 100.

Thanks. I've read some of Bill Spears' posts and know that he has extensive experience with this combination.

Your last line confuses me though. Aren't they one and the same?

DREW WILEY · Jul 3, 2014

With Perceptol I'd probably deliberately use ASA 50 for ACROS. But of course all this is contingent upon exactly how you personally meter and develop it. There's nothing particularly odd about Perceptol at all. Nice developer. I personally prefer PMK pyro with ACROS, but would still rate
it around 50 to get deep shadows up onto the straighter part of the curve.

Tony-S · Jul 3, 2014

bvy said:
Your last line confuses me though. Aren't they one and the same?

If I recall correctly, there was a Neopan SS that was EOL a couple of years ago that is different from Neopan Acros.

Neopan 100 + Perceptol

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