Pan F Plus and Perceptol Question.

Keith Tapscott. · Sep 26, 2009

I am considering using Ilford Pan F Plus in diluted Perceptol and would like some advice from regular users of this combination.
From Ilford`s technical data sheet, the times for Pan F Plus are 14 minutes stock, 15 minutes 1+1 and 17 minutes 1+3 at 20*C (68*F).
I will expose a roll bracketed from EI 50 down to EI 12 in half f/stop increments to help obtain a personal film-speed, but I was wondering what EI, dilutions and times that regular users find works well for them.
Perhaps 1+2 and 16 minutes would be a good time to start with?

George Hart · Sep 26, 2009

Keith, I guess that you may get as many possible combinations as replies, or more, which just confirms that what I am about to say may be good for me but not for you! I use EI 25, and Perceptol 1+1 for 9.5 min at 20 degC. Agitations continuous for the first 30 sec then 4 inversions/min thereafter. Highlights are tamed reasonably well, though if it's a really high-contrast image I will reduce development time to 9 min neat.

George

Keith Tapscott. · Sep 26, 2009

George Hart said:
I use EI 25, and Perceptol 1+1 for 9.5 min at 20 degC. Agitations continuous for the first 30 sec then 4 inversions/min thereafter. Highlights are tamed reasonably well, though if it's a really high-contrast image I will reduce development time to 9 min neat.

George

George, thanks for the rapid reply.
Perceptol is said to give slightly finer grain than ID-11, albeit at some loss of film speed. I see that your development time is a minute shorter than the one suggested by Ilford for EI 25.
The times are only a guide though and I am sure that your personal time gives you great results.

Ian Grant · Sep 26, 2009

Barry Thornton was a big advocate of Pan F and Perceptol 1+3, it will give the finest grain & best sharpness of any British or American film/developer combination, in theory at the price os speed, but you need to do your own testing.

It's not a combination I use but I have tried Pan F and the old AP25/APX25 in a variety of developers and both films did give a significant increase in fine grain & sharpness, I went with AP25/APX25 in a 6x9 roll film back until discontinued.

Ian

Keith Tapscott. · Sep 26, 2009

Ian Grant said:
Barry Thornton was a big advocate of Pan F and Perceptol 1+3, it will give the finest grain & best sharpness of any British or American film/developer combination, in theory at the price of speed, but you need to do your own testing.

It's not a combination I use but I have tried Pan F and the old AP25/APX25 in a variety of developers and both films did give a significant increase in fine grain & sharpness, I went with AP25/APX25 in a 6x9 roll film back until discontinued.

Ian

I will do a test before using it for important subjects.
I also liked APX 25 when it was available.
I was considering taking some Pan F Plus with me to Cornwall next month, but I will probably just take my regular film stock instead and process in D-76, as I don`t want to ruin any photos with something I am not yet familiar with.

Keith Tapscott. · Sep 26, 2009

Would Delta 100, T-Max 100 or Acros 100 give equal or better results than Pan F Plus in diluted Perceptol?

Ian Grant · Sep 26, 2009

No 100 ISO film is likely to get quite as close, but you do have the advantage of better film speed. But any of those 3 films is capable of very high quality results in a wide range of developers.

Really the choice is how practical you find the combination of a slow film and an extra fine grain developer, compared to a 100 ISO film and more normal developer or the extra fine grain developer.

And then there's also choice of format, which you of course have, is it better to use a smaller format, slower film etc etc, or 100 or 400 ISO film and a larger format Then most importantly which is most fun

Ian

Keith Tapscott. · Sep 26, 2009

Ian Grant said:
No 100 ISO film is likely to get quite as close, but you do have the advantage of better film speed. But any of those 3 films is capable of very high quality results in a side range of developers.

Really the choice is how practical you find the combination of a slow film and an extra fine grain developer, compared to a 100 ISO film and more normal developer or the extra fine grain developer.

And then there's also choice of format, which you of course have, is it better to use a smaller format, slower film etc etc, or 100 or 400 ISO film and a larger format Then most importantly which is most fun

Ian

I was thinking of just taking my 35mm SLR and my Mamiya RZ67 outfit for convenience.
Unfortunately, I don`t have enough luggage space in my Car for the 4x5 and 8x10 Cameras as well.

Tom Kershaw · Sep 26, 2009

Perhaps ADOX will re-introduce an APX technology 25 speed film along with the 100 speed film.

Tom

Ian Grant · Sep 26, 2009

Mirko has said there are no plans to re-introduce APX25, and that it wouldn't be feasible anyway, some of the chemistry used is no longer available. In addition the sales of APX25 were too low anyway, and that was at a point when overall film sales where very much higher than today.

Keith Tapscott. said:
I was thinking of just taking my 35mm SLR and my Mamiya RZ67 outfit for convenience.
Unfortunately, I don`t have enough luggage space in my Car for the 4x5 and 8x10 Cameras as well.

You've too many cameras Keith Bad as my Heinz 57 varieties

I might go 100 ISO in the 35mm and Pan F/Perceptol in the Mamiya given your choice. But I'd take the dev tank & chemistry & process on the fly, fine tuning.

Ian

Keith Tapscott. · Sep 26, 2009

Ian Grant said:
Mirko has said there are no plans to re-introduce APX25, and that it wouldn't be feasible anyway, some of the chemistry used is no longer available. In addition the sales of APX25 were too low anyway, and that was at a point when overall film sales where very much higher than today.

You've too many cameras Keith Bad as my Heinz 57 varieties

I might go 100 ISO in the 35mm and Pan F/Perceptol in the Mamiya given your choice. But I'd take the dev tank & chemistry & process on the fly, fine tuning.

Ian

Yes, but I have just a 90mm and 180mm for my MPP 5x4 and a 240mm for my Sinar 8x10, so not too many lenses.

I might just buy FP4 in 120 and 35mm developed in D-76 which I have used for years. I really do want to try Pan F Plus in diluted Perceptol, but I will need to try it first to find my personal EI and development time before using it for anything important, which is why I asked for advice about this film and developer to get an idea of what works for other photographers.
George is the only one who uses Pan F Plus in Perceptol so far.

Pan F Plus and Perceptol Question.

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