old b&w film, need help processing

$modelman$ · Nov 14, 2004

I was given (3) 100 foot rolls of Kodak 2479 RAR film buy my uncle, who was a photographer from the 40's thru the 80's. the film exp date is 1969. He says that it is 400 speed and still good. I would like to try a roll, so I have one in a bulk loader. I would like to know what chemicals to use for developing and times etc. Can someone help. I am new to this forum and really love doing darkroom work. I have been doing darkroom work since 1970.
Thanks,
Bart

raucousimages · Nov 14, 2004

This is what I have done with very old or even unknown films. Load seven rolls with about 5 or 6 exposures plus leader. Pick five test subjects and shoot all rolls the same (all frame 1 on subject 1, 2 on 2.....) at ISO 400. so you have 7 identical rolls. develop in D-76 or ID-11 at 68f for 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 and 18 min. pick the best time and do the test again with three rolls shot at ISO 400, 200, 100. this will give a good idea of yout best time/ISO combination. Then check other charts for films in that ISO that develop near that time in D-76 and check out what other developer/time they use. 35 year old film may still be good but the ISO should be slower and development might not be the same as it was. Good luck

Ed Sukach · Nov 14, 2004

$modelman$ said:
I was given (3) 100 foot rolls of Kodak 2479 RAR film buy my uncle, who was a photographer from the 40's thru the 80's. the film exp date is 1969. He says that it is 400 speed and still good. I would like to try a roll, so I have one in a bulk loader. I would like to know what chemicals to use for developing and times etc. Can someone help. I am new to this forum and really love doing darkroom work. I have been doing darkroom work since 1970.
Thanks,
Bart

I THINK that is a more or less "special" High-Speed "Recording" film intended, primarily, for use in low-light surveillance cameras, a few years ago. Those cameras were pretty much wiped out by video cameras.

I remember using it ... Hazy memories now ... but I seem to remember exposure indices of 6400 -- up to 12,800 or so. Thus stuff had LARGE grain.

I don't remember anything special about developing ... Probably used D-76 or Microdol. *NO* idea of developing times - other that nothing really unusual.

Helen B · Nov 14, 2004

The 'recording film' I'm familiar with was 2475 (developed in DK-50), not 2479 unfortunately. I believe that 2479 may still be available - but probably different stuff from that which expired in '69!

Tetenal give a time (for 2479) of 8 minutes in Neotetenal liquid for a gamma of 0.55 and a speed of 250 to 320. I think that it was/is usually developed to higher gamma after exposure at a higher rating. You could look in the masssive dev chart to get an idea how this time compares with other films.

Here's a Kodak document from 2002 that includes rapid-processing info for 2479.

Best,
Helen

rjr · Nov 14, 2004

Uh. If it is that old and that fast, Bart would have to live with a high amount of fog - certainly not the way I´d start bw processing as a beginner or long-time absentee.

$modelman$ · Nov 14, 2004

Thanks Ed, Now that you mention it, I always wondered why my uncles b&w pictures were grainy (ha ha).

Ed Sukach · Nov 14, 2004

Helen B said:
The 'recording film' I'm familiar with was 2475 (developed in DK-50), not 2479 unfortunately. I believe that 2479 may still be available - but probably different stuff from that which expired in '69!

Best,
Helen

So ... I only missed by four.

I have the 1992 Kodak Professional Photographic Catalog, L-9 - and neither 2475 or 2479 are listed - that's why I was trying to fly by memory.

Tried a search on Kodak's site for RAR 2479 - came up - essentially - empty. Waht the heck did "RAR" stand for, anyway?

$modelman$ · Nov 14, 2004

I've done a lot of net seaches for this film. Never found any reference. oh well, I will shoot it at 400 and develope in d-50 starting at 6 minutes and see what happens.
Thanks
Bart

$modelman$ · Nov 14, 2004

Thanks Helen, I'm not familiar with these chemicals, but will do some research
Bart

stephen · Nov 14, 2004

Ed Sukach said:
Waht the heck did "RAR" stand for, anyway?

From this site:
http://www.pauck.de/marco/photo/infrared/traffic_surveillance_films/traffic_surveillance_films.html

Came this...

Kodak's TSF SO-033 is quite new on the market. A former similar product was Kodak RAR (for ‘radar’) which is inferior compared to the new emulsion.

old b&w film, need help processing

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency