Oldest chemistry you've used?

[AJRoss47]

Hello all.

So a friend of mine who is also an analog user who LOVES film and I were talking the other day because he sent me a link for this newfangled superfluous gadget that's supposed to be much like a Jobo on the go.
You put the film in and somehow it's winds it, spools it, cuts it, then you just add in the developer, turn the crank, pull a plug to drain it, do the rinse and fixer, yada yada... I think it's dumb because there's been times I took my darkbag, dark tank, chems and water on a trip with me to process the film immediately after shooting. But after testing the temps (109F nope!) I was like "well... I guess I didn't think through the temperature and the dust. I'll just go home and do it".

Anyhow my friend and I were talking and I'm out of film and out of money and he's got about 23 rolls he's shot at shoots in the last 2 weeks but not much way to process them. So I asked when he was coming into town next and he said friday, I said "I've got some spare stock chemistry that should still be good plus what I've got mixed up in the cupboard that was good last time I used it (Thanksgiving). I've got everything you need to process and you've got a way to scan it. Why don't you swing by when you're in town and you can hold on to this gear until I'm back on my feet and able to afford film. You'll have more use for it than I do, the only think I have in the freezer is shot C-41 where,my chems are bad and I can't find the stock solutions... Which are probably had already. I've got E-6 film and new chems, but no batteries for my camera... Why don't you borrow it and take care of business for a couple months" so he was like "awesome! That would be great!"

So I dug around in the freezer and had 2 last rolls of BW I had shot but not processed. So this morning,when I got off work I pith them,on the tank and processed them. 1 roll of Delta 400 Pro shot at 160 (7 minutes in ID-11) and the other was Kentmere 100 shot at 200 (9 minutes in ID-11). Not knowing the condition of my chemistry I prebathed for 5 minutes, developed for 10 and did a quick water rinse followed by stop bath (vinegar water) for 3 minutes, 2 more rinsed and then fixed for 10:30 because the last time I did a tab test on my fixer it came out to 2.4 minutes so 7 minutes fixing time... Throw in a couple just in case. Washed for 6 minutes and did a hype clear (1 drop of dish soap to a quart of 70F water) for 2 minutes, then squeegee'd and him up.

I wash my tank and reels with hot water, dish soap and thoroughly rinse to avoid caking, calcifying, corrosion and contamination, store the chemicals in full (32oz Bud Light) sealed Amber glass bottles in a cupboard that stays dark and about 65-70 Degrees all the time and I use a separate dump container (1qt paint mixing/measuring tub) and funnel for each separate chemical to prevent cross contamination. I also wash these out after every use with soap and got water as well.

Surprisingly I good good results. Too bad I wasn't able to test the microphen. I was going to but realized that the K-100 calls for 8.5 minutes in microphen while the Delta 400Pro calls for 5. At that point I realized they're both in the same tank, in the dark, I can't tell which is which, I need to use a developer with a closer time/temp combo.

Anyway, all chems were mixed 1-11-2015. And obviously have lasted about a year or more longer than the marriage of the friends who's wedding photos was the reason that I bought them.lol

Pix related. Also surprisingly, the cheap K-100 turned,out better than the Delta 400Pro. The delta looks under processed slightly even though it had 2 minutes less of a recommended time.

So what's the oldest chemistry you've ever used with significant success?

This was ID-11 Stock with Kodafix (powder) stock film and paper

fixer.

 

[R.Gould]

Rodinal out of a glass bottle, must have been 30 or 40 years old, bottle was found at the back of my chemistry cubord, when I was searching for developer to develop some film while I was waiting for new supplies one holiday weekend, bottle was part used, the contents black as a coal hole, but still developed the films, so I used the rest up,

 

[removed account4]

red can of gaf universal developer from 15 years before i found it ( at least )
mixed it up ( made 5 gallons ) used it like mad, was the best developer in a can i ever used
and i have been looking for its formula ever since ( that was 1996-7 iso )

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

The oldest chemistry I've used is my tap water. I think it's about 4-5 billion years old.

All jokes aside, I've used DK50 from a can that I believe was about 50 years old, and it worked like a charm.

 

[mshchem]

60 year old Kodak E-1 kit , worked great with Fuji Provia F . All dry powders . Had to lower speed to ISO 25. I use packages of Xtol that are 10 years old no problem . Same with D76 and Bromophen .
Mike

 

[Gerald C Koch]

DK-50 in a can purchased as government surplus in the 60's. Of course stored under nitrogen in a can you can pretty much expect it to still be good. Almost a full case left. Got it for 10 cents a can. Government surplus was really great.

 

[Cholentpot]

A friend gifted me his unused darkroom that was in a storage unit, basically a garage no heat or cooling. It came with a 5/4ths empty bottle of Tmax Dev that expired in '98 or something. It worked just fine for me, no problems.

I've used D-76 stock that was 8 months old and C-41 kits 6 months old. Only had one developer die on me, Illford Multi paper dev. It was diluted and used twice in the darkroom. It failed 3 months later during a test. I'm surprised it even worked though.

 

[GregW]

Prewar Rodinal, A Kodacolor II c-41 kit* from the 1970s-80s? various old cans of Kodak stuff, a glass bottle of Microdol, not X, so must be at least 55 years old or so, all from darkroom cleanouts...I'm a bit of a miser : )

*the bleach was a dark chunky clump that I looked askance at but gave it a try anyway, it worked fine.

 

[Eric Rose]

Mixed 1:3 Ansco 130, 2 years old. Black as tar but developed prints like a charm. Have used 40 - 50 year old powdered chems with no issues.

 

[Rick A]

I bought out a load of darkroom gear a couple of years back for one of my kids, found a bottle of Rodinal from the mid 80's in it. My daughter used it all up, and got great negatives.

 

[Harry Stevens]

I was looking at my two boxes of expired 1958 Tetenal Neofin blue and red developer yesterday they are clear as a bell and still sealed in their red and blue brown topped bottles, I just can't ruin the sets by opening them but I still wonder if they would work...

 

[Murray Kelly]

Ilford Phenidone 60 yo.
FX2 55 yo sealed in glass by a pathology lab. Carbonate added as needed.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Hello all.

So a friend of mine who is also an analog user who LOVES film and I were talking the other day because he sent me a link for this newfangled superfluous gadget that's supposed to be much like a Jobo on the go.
You put the film in and somehow it's winds it, spools it, cuts it, then you just add in the developer, turn the crank, pull a plug to drain it, do the rinse and fixer, yada yada... I think it's dumb because there's been times I took my darkbag, dark tank, chems and water on a trip with me to process the film immediately after shooting. But after testing the temps (109F nope!) I was like "well... I guess I didn't think through the temperature and the dust. I'll just go home and do it".

Anyhow my friend and I were talking and I'm out of film and out of money and he's got about 23 rolls he's shot at shoots in the last 2 weeks but not much way to process them. So I asked when he was coming into town next and he said friday, I said "I've got some spare stock chemistry that should still be good plus what I've got mixed up in the cupboard that was good last time I used it (Thanksgiving). I've got everything you need to process and you've got a way to scan it. Why don't you swing by when you're in town and you can hold on to this gear until I'm back on my feet and able to afford film. You'll have more use for it than I do, the only think I have in the freezer is shot C-41 where,my chems are bad and I can't find the stock solutions... Which are probably had already. I've got E-6 film and new chems, but no batteries for my camera... Why don't you borrow it and take care of business for a couple months" so he was like "awesome! That would be great!"

So I dug around in the freezer and had 2 last rolls of BW I had shot but not processed. So this morning,when I got off work I pith them,on the tank and processed them. 1 roll of Delta 400 Pro shot at 160 (7 minutes in ID-11) and the other was Kentmere 100 shot at 200 (9 minutes in ID-11). Not knowing the condition of my chemistry I prebathed for 5 minutes, developed for 10 and did a quick water rinse followed by stop bath (vinegar water) for 3 minutes, 2 more rinsed and then fixed for 10:30 because the last time I did a tab test on my fixer it came out to 2.4 minutes so 7 minutes fixing time... Throw in a couple just in case. Washed for 6 minutes and did a hype clear (1 drop of dish soap to a quart of 70F water) for 2 minutes, then squeegee'd and him up.

I wash my tank and reels with hot water, dish soap and thoroughly rinse to avoid caking, calcifying, corrosion and contamination, store the chemicals in full (32oz Bud Light) sealed Amber glass bottles in a cupboard that stays dark and about 65-70 Degrees all the time and I use a separate dump container (1qt paint mixing/measuring tub) and funnel for each separate chemical to prevent cross contamination. I also wash these out after every use with soap and got water as well.

Surprisingly I good good results. Too bad I wasn't able to test the microphen. I was going to but realized that the K-100 calls for 8.5 minutes in microphen while the Delta 400Pro calls for 5. At that point I realized they're both in the same tank, in the dark, I can't tell which is which, I need to use a developer with a closer time/temp combo.

Anyway, all chems were mixed 1-11-2015. And obviously have lasted about a year or more longer than the marriage of the friends who's wedding photos was the reason that I bought them.lol

Pix related. Also surprisingly, the cheap K-100 turned,out better than the Delta 400Pro. The delta looks under processed slightly even though it had 2 minutes less of a recommended time.

So what's the oldest chemistry you've ever used with significant success?

This was ID-11 Stock with Kodafix (powder) stock film and paperView attachment 174809 View attachment 174810 View attachment 174811 fixer.

water;roughly 4 billion years old;beat that!

 

[TheToadMen]

water;roughly 4 billion years old;beat that!

I use Light?

 

[brianmquinn]

Earth’s Water Is Older Than the Sun

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d...ths-water-is-older-than-the-sun/#.WMLrH2_yvbg

 

[RattyMouse]

I don't use chemistry. I use chemicals.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

Earth’s Water Is Older Than the Sun

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d...ths-water-is-older-than-the-sun/#.WMLrH2_yvbg

The half-life of bismuth 209 at 1.9 x 1019 years is 1000 billiion times greater than the age of the universe. Until very recently this isotope was thought to be stable. Now there are no stable bismuth isotopes.

 

[Paul Howell]

I bought a Case of Ansco 17, similar to D76, in cans, worked well, also DK50 in cans, and I had a bottle of Rondinal that I bought while in college in the 60s, finally went bad in the early 2000s.

 

[TattyJJ]

I recently was given a bunch of chemicals from around the 80's i'm going to experiment with, whole mix of Ilford Tetenal and Paterson developers stops and fixes, most of them unopened. The only one i'm expecting to be totally useless is the fix.

 

[jeffreyg]

When I print platinum/palladium I also add several drops of gold chloride. Gold (along with the other elements) is said to have formed approximately 13.75 billion years ago at the time of the big bang. Otherwise I prefer fresh chemistry/chemicals for my photography.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

 

[removed-user-1]

In 1994 I put together a darkroom in my parents' second bathroom, which had been their darkroom about 10-15 years prior (early 80s). There wasnt much left besides the enlarger and trays, but there was one unopened can of Acufine powder which had to be from that time or earlier. It turned out to be perfectly usable. So the oldest chemistry I've successfully used was approximately ten years old.

 

[Nige]

Hello all.
So what's the oldest chemistry you've ever used with significant success?

I used some 14mth old (stock, which I diluted 1:1) XTOL last night, which is a sad reflection on my film usage over the last year or so...

It was looking yellower than usual so I dunked an offcut in prior to committing my important roll. Came out fine

 

[keenmaster486]

60 year old Kodak E-1 kit , worked great with Fuji Provia F

Wouldn't you have to change the temperature somehow?

I guess I thought E-1 was 100% incompatible with E-6.

 

[mshchem]

Wouldn't you have to change the temperature somehow?

I guess I thought E-1 was 100% incompatible with E-6.

I would need to look at my notes, yes I did raise the temp a bit, this was Provia F at ASA 40, looks a little dull. It worked , I think I could have gotten pretty good results but at 10 dollars a roll for Provia I was just happy to get pretty good results. It was fun to go back in time a bit. New film is definately NOT designed to be compatable with E-4 on back, still it surprised to see it work at all.
Best Mike