Processing old FP3

[Doc W]

An acquaintance mentioned recently that he had about 20 rolls of old FP3 in 35mm which he wants to develop. I know how to develop film but I don't know if there are special considerations given the age of the film. I am assuming that it was exposed when FP3 was still available, i.e., he did not shoot it recently.

Any suggestions on how to proceed?

 

[Agulliver]

Ilford are pretty helpful about development times for old film so one route is to email them and ask their advice.

A starting point would be ID-11 stock for around 7 minutes. Perform a clip test on one roll and see what you get. Post the results here and we will have lots of advice

I have had mixed results with very old film. Your FP3 will be at least 40 years old. Chances are there is something recoverable but there is also likely to be a lot of fogging. At least with 20 rolls you can do some clip tests on one roll to discover what condition the film is in - it is likely that all the rolls will be broadly similar if stored in the same place.

 

[Ian Grant]

Add about 20% extra time. which was about the same as for FP4, to boost the contrast which is likely to have dropped. The emulsion is a lot softer than modern films so be very careful with temperature control as it is easy to reticulateFP3, a film I used while still at school, it was cheap ex Government surplus.

Ian

 

[LAG]

Any suggestions on how to proceed?

Fine grain developer, processed normally

 

[Doc W]

What were the published development times for FP3?

 

[Ian Grant]

What were the published development times for FP3?

It's -6ºC outside and mid evening or I'd go to my darkroom and check When I used FP3 the times were identical to FP4.

Ian

 

[Alan Johnson]

In my test I gave up on benzotriazole addition and have settled on a 1 stop push for every 10 years of film age.
The result is fog and a lower useable density range but the EI is quite good.
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
Often it is recommended to use HC110 as it is said to inhibit fog, I did not try it.

 

[Ian Grant]

What were the published development times for FP3?

It's still -6ºC outside this morning but I remembered I'd a couple of pages from an Ilford Formulae book scanned here the listed time for FP3 in ID-11 (D76) is 8 mins 20ºC / 68ºF FS and inversion agitation.

Ian

 

[anfenglin]

What about Caffenol?
Just yesterday I developed a found roll of Agfa Isopan which is roughly the same vintage, that one turned out fine, apart of course from some damage by not storing it properly (in a camera in a moldy basement).
I use Caffenol for my old Orwos, the older version of FP4+ (just perfect grain IMHO) and other older stuff or for "cross processing" Orwochrom, Orwocolor, Kodachrome, C-42 and others.
Using caffenol is fantasticly simple and it develops anything, the only problems I have with my found rolls of film are problems caused by bad storage.