Overexposed and Expired Fortepan 400

[gonzo74]

So I managed to overexpose some expired Fortepan 400. I shot outdoors under cloudy conditions at f3.5@125 instead of 500 using my Rolleicord and I'd like to know how I can process my film. I've read advice ranging from don't do a thing and process as usual, to try at least one stop pull processing to compensate though I think that I'd have to try for at least two stops (please correct me if I am off on this) to get some usable negatives. I did find that the film has a max of 200 EI. Any thoughts on this? Thanks!

 

[edtbjon]

That kind of depends on the cloudy conditions which (in my mind) would mean some overdevelopment instead of underdevelopment. As your film/developer combo (including your way of metering etc...) gives you a "max of 200EI", I would at least go for a normal time, else the negatives will be lacking too much contrast.
But you actually contradicts yourself in that you say that you wanted to use an EI of 500 while you later on states that you have a"a max of 200 EI". That is, you're not 2 full stops off, but just 2/3 of a stop!
You don't mention if you use e.g. VC papers or whatever, but if you can get grade 3 or maybe even 4 with your paper you should be fine. This because slightly overexposed negatives are easier to print than underexposed. You just need to expose the paper a bit longer. A thin negative which only gives just about an acceptable print on grade 5 is quite boring, while you're at the other end.
Without any real hints, you seem to use only one developer (which is a good thing), but if you have any other developer which is less "active", that could be an idea, but again with normal development you will have slightly (but not heavily) dense negatives which are somewhat low in contrast, thats all. If you overdevelop you will get quite dense negatives with large grain. If you don't print too large you just will have to wait some seconds more while exposing the prints, which again is all that will happen.

//Björn

 

[George Collier]

If I was rating a film at 200, on a cloudy and overcast day, I would use f/4 - f/5.6 @ 1/200 sec, depending how dark and overcast the day is. I don't see the contradiction that Björn mentions - I think you mean you meant to use 1/500 sec instead of 1/125 (the fractions would help).
So.. I'm thinking, based on the above - you are maybe 2 - 3 stops overexposed in a low contrast situation. The sky might be the only thing to block up - I would be tempted to develop minus 25%, to keep the sky managable, and not to lose too much contrast. You will probably need a boost in contrast when printing.

 

[gonzo74]

Yup, that is what I meant: I used f/3.5 @ 1/125 instead of 1/500 and when I researched the film info, it said that Fortepan 400 could be rated at a maximum of 200, so that is how I came up with a difference of at least two stops. I will try the suggestion to reduce by 25%, isn't it 10% per stop? I'm looking to salvage a couple negs that I can fix up while printing. And I also wondered if the fact that the film is expired would make a difference?

 

[edtbjon]

Yes, now I see what I misunderstood. (Doh...). But anyhow, I don't think underdeveloping will be the way to go here. You'll need to use very high grades (if you print VC paper), which will be worse than using normal development and then add some extra burn to the skies. With normal development you will still have low contrast in your negatives (and the next time you will remember to set the camera and meter correctly... Been there, done that.).
I usually have three variations on developing a standard film like HP5 or Forte 400, which are -1.5 stops, normal and +1.5 stops. I plus develop for overcast light and minus develop for direct sunlight. So for -1.5 I start with -20% and for +1.5 I add some 30%. While I do own a densitometer, it's gathering dust and I usually adjust according to real life results which have turned out to be pretty close to the -20%/+30%. After all, the proof isn't what the densitometer reads but in how the negative prints. (This -1.5/0/+1.5 is very handy as I shoot Hasselblad, where I usually load up 3 film magazines marked with these three figures. If the light changes, I change the magazine accordingly.)

//Björn

 

[gonzo74]

Thanks again Björn! So your suggestion is to develop as normal; I could also mention that I usually use Rodinal with Forte (ok I use Rodinal for almost everything). I have also thought of shooting a test roll in similar conditions and developing normal, then minus and plus a stop. We aren't lacking in grey, cloudy conditions around here and it would be a good chance to test this film & developer with the camera and conditions. I did several test rolls when I first got the camera but using another film. (Though I am unfortunately running out of Forte, I almost don't want to use it on test batches...) Nice idea with the Hasselblad, that is my next wish.