POSSIBLE PANATOMIC X ?

[hdeyong]

I just bought pretty much a whole darkroom from somebody, and when unpacking everything, I found that 6 of the reloadable cartridges had film in them. The guy I bought it from thinks it's probably Panatomic X, or maybe Plus X.
It's on a very thin base, dark brown/gray on the back side, lighter on the emulsion side. The leader has turned light green over time.
There's also some in the loader, which is a heavier base, sort of a darkish dusty-rose colour on the backing, (yes, I'm in touch with my sensitive self), and a lighter colour on the emulsion side. He did use some Tri-X, but comparing it to some I have on hand, it's not the same at all. Did Tri-X ever change the base?
If I have to expose some and develop it, so be it, but I thought it might ring a bell with one of you knowledgable folk, and it might save me 2 rolls of film. (I'm a little cheap at times).
It's been stored in a cool, dark place, so it's probably fine for nostalgia or old-fashioned sort of shots, which I like to do.
Any help appreciated.

 

[frobozz]

You could do a clip test - in the dark, load a couple of inches of it onto a reel and tank and then develop it for something like a normal time for any of the films you think it might be... at which point you should at least be able to read the markings on the rebate, to see what it really is!

Duncan

 

[hdeyong]

That's probably what I'll end up doing, but I'm hoping somebody will recognize the description, and say "oh yeah, that's such and such". I'm probably being both cheap AND lazy.
I'll need to do some processing next week, and the clip test looks like the most likely solution.

 

[dpurdy]

It seems to me that PanX did have kind of a brown look to it.
Dennis

 

[MattKing]

Any chance this might be colour film?

If so, you will learn something even more interesting doing a clip test.

If you have several sources, test them all in the same run - just be sure to mark them differently for identification.

 

[hdeyong]

The pinkish stuff is unlike any B&W film I've ever seen, but the guy I bought the stuff from says he never bulk loaded anything but B&W. It's a fairly thick base, like Tri-X, which is why I thought maybe they had changed the base sometime in the last 20 years or so.
I'm going to load it into cartridges, starting with a roll of about 10 frames. I'll shoot 2 frames at 50, 2 at 100, 20 at 200, and 2 at 400, developed normally and see what turns out. Plus, of course, I can read the writing on the edge.
I'm getting really curious now.
I'm also pretty much convinced, from what I can find, that the other 6 rolls are Panatomic X, so I'm going to shoot those carefully. I used to love that film.
On the other hand, I just got 18 rolls of FP4+, and I love that one, too.

 

[EdSawyer]

TMax has/had a pinkish/purplish color to it. Tech pan had a distinct blue color, and a rather thin base. Not sure if that helps.

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

Here is an image of some panatomic x that I have ready to be developed. This is from a bulk roll. It's a dark blueish green with a grey emulsion side.

 

[mts]

Develop a clip test and you should see an emulsion no. or other i.d. on the edge markings. Especially so if it is Kodak product.

 

[OzJohn]

The question is fair enough but I would have thought that the first reply from Frobozz and a later one from mts provide the definitive answer without needing wild stabs in the dark. OzJohn

 

[hdeyong]

Thanks, Newt, it looks like that.
Thanks EdSawyer, that's probably what's in the loader.
OzJohn, I won't be developing for a week or two, so was just trying to see if I could identify it and shoot some before then.

 

[Christiaan Phleger]

Looks like old plus-x to me.

 

[hdeyong]

Is Plus-X on a really thin base?

 

[Christiaan Phleger]

Hmm, not of that era.