Old Plus-X I just found

[Wade D]

I was going through the garage a few days ago and found 2 unopened boxes of Plus-X 4x5. Obviously being in the garage they were not stored in optimal conditions. The expiration date is 1989. I'm going to load up a few sheets and see what I get. If there is a lot of age fog I will add some KBr to the dev.
Any thoughts on what I might find or has anyone run across old film that worked or didn't? Thanks for any comments or advice.

 

[bobwysiwyg]

I recently found some film (Verichrome Pan) in my father's old folder cam that had been exposed more than 25 years ago. I developed it and there was a lot of base fog, but believe it or not, very recognizable images. I didn't add anything to try and reduce the affects of fogging, so you might be pleasantly surprised. It might not be the film to use for that once in a lifetime shot, but..

Let us know how it goes.

 

[JonPorter]

I was recently given several bricks of 35mm Plus-X with an expiration date of August 1997. The donor said they'd been refrigerated since purchase. I've shot several rolls and developed them in Rodinal or HC-110 and haven't had any fog, and the tonality looks pretty good. They do seem grainier than I remember Plus-X being, but that could be the developers; when I last shot Plus-X, in the 1980s, I used D76 1:1.

 

[Phillip P. Dimor]

I've used Plus-X pack film that expired in 78/79. A few sheets were fogged pretty bad but I did get several usable images. Also had some Tri-x, same storage conditions and exp. date that came out perfectly. Just a little bit of base fog but they were nice. I guess it's a gamble.
This stuff was stored in an air-conditioned room though. I think it's the cycling of hot and cold, damp and dry that really takes a toll on film but you never know how it'll turn it out.

 

[Mark Layne]

While Xtol is not my first choice for Plus-X, it does seem to give lower fog levels with older film
Mark

 

[Paul Howell]

A friend found 4 rolls of Varichrome pan in his mother house, she though they were shot in the 60s or 70s, fashion looked to be 60s. I developed in Dianfine, 3 mints, 3 mints, not much base fog, some negative were about right on others somewhat thin, not sure of the camera, most likley some sort of a box camea. Dianfine seems to make sense to me, most film that old will have lost speed, if not better to over develop than under develop.

 

[Maine-iac]

I also dug out some old (Jan. 1996), unrefrigerated Ilford FP4+ the other day and shot a roll and developed it in PC-Glycol (with metaborate instead of carbonate or borax) at 7:30 at 70 degrees. I rated it at ISO 64 since I normally shoot with a yellow filter over the lens.

All negs came out fine with no fogging, except they were slightly underdeveloped. Next time, I would increase the developing time to 8:00 or use carbonate at 6:30 if I wanted to accept the slight increase in grain that the faster developer would bring. I might also lower the ISO to 50 just to give it that tiny bit extra exposure. But it's still very usable.

Larry

 

[gainer]

Some of the old films had thicker emulsions which would require increased development time.

 

[Nathan Smith]

Some of the old films had thicker emulsions which would require increased development time.

When dealing with a REALLY old film (I have some ancient Super-XX which may be from the 30's or 40's even) does it make sense to use stand development for a really long time?

Also, have you used Orthazite to help clear the base fog in old film?

Thanks,
Nathan