Neopan1600 replacements

After the ground was taken away last year I'm now able to get things on a row again. Saying this: the now disappeared Neopan1600 was my favorit B&W film in my SLR and compact shooting.
I'm getting to solve problem no.1: how to replace this 1600 B&W film in my family of mju compact camera's as this film was top notch for shooting a 'slow' f/4.5-6.9 zoomlens.
These most pocketable olympus auto compacts aren't able to be dialed in on ISO manually. I want to stay on the high ISO of 1600 so the only high ISO B&W 'push' film left is the Ilford Delta3200 which has to step in here. But it's DX code has to be altered.
I examined the DX code of all 3 a.m. films:

DX3200 for Tmax3200 and Delta3200, DX1600 for Neopan1600 . See attachments.

Luckily I think I will be able to tape the Delta housing to get a DX 1600 for the mju's. I just have to "brake the bridge" which I did just now and hopefully will be able to shoot a delta roll tomorrow @ EI1600 without big issues. :joyful:

I don't want to ask Ilford to throw away a couple of thousand DX 3200 housings and replace them by DX 1600 housings right now but if you want to get all neopan1600 lovers over to the Ilford side, think about it Simon... I think EI1600 is a highly loved ISO level for many of us... ISO3200 is giving too much of a gritty grain pattern ...

Any of you having other solutions in mind?

Perhaps a label with the dx1600 code could be printed and attached to the film canister to "fool" the camera.

The tape solution you came up with looks good.

Your tape solution will work just fine.

FYI, you can also make up new DX labels using aluminum metal duct tape that you can buy at hardware stores. You then tape over the duct tape with bits of electrical tape to make up the DX code. This is useful for bulk cassettes or completely changing the ISO rating. For instance, sometimes I like to underrate films by 1/3 stop so I hack the DX code to make up what I need. Works great.

Wikipedia has a page detailing the DX code.

Why not just go manual ISO and set it for 1600 or keep using Neopan 1600 which is back on the market and still being made...??? I use it only and all the time...
Logan

whlogan said:

Why not just go manual ISO and set it for 1600 or keep using Neopan 1600 which is back on the market and still being made...??? I use it only and all the time...
Logan

Click to expand...

No, Neopan 1600 has been discontinued. And there's nothing available now that's anything like it. Sigh.

I also was a big fan of Neopan 1600, but never will buy expired ones. I still haven't found a real replacement for this great film. And these highest speed films degrade much faster than you may imagine. A Delta 3200 f.e. at the expiring date is already noticeably worse than a fresh one. I only buy them as fresh as possible.

And I totally gave up shooting with cams that can't be adjusted manually for the film speed. Not worth the effort imho.

Can't you change the exposure compensation? Or are these completely non adjustable cameras?

What about just pulling the film down? D3200 should pull to 1600 nicely


~Stone

The Noteworthy Ones - Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1 / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic

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Olympus mju's are the smallest 35mm camera's around,especially the Mk2 serie, but nothing to be set manually. They fit my pocket like a mobile phone which is also a " camera " nowadays ...but I prefer the analog world!

Sigh......I wish I could have shot some Neopan 1600..........sounds like a wonderful film.