Sept. '61 Agfa Isopan F dev times

[spatz]

Hi all!

I just happened across a collection of my late grandfather's films which contained some 135 Orwo Np 15/Np 22, some polish Foton S and a few rolls of Agfa Isopan F. One of the rolls of Isopan F had the leader folded back which Ive been lead to believe indicates that the roll has been exposed.

Since there could well be some images on the film I am very keen to have them developed. I am quite capable developing black and white film - I regularly process tri-x and others. I generally use xtol or rodinal.

So my question is does anyone have any tips/experience to share on how to develop a roll of 52 year old isopan f? The massive dev chart on my phone indicates at 40 asa dev times for d76 are around 13.5 mins. What would be the best developer combo to minimise fogging due to age etc.?

Thanks for your help.

 

[ath]

I have no personal experience but for minimizing fog on old films often HC110 is recommended.

 

[spatz]

I am unable to obtain HC110 in the remote land of Australia.

 

[GregW]

I developed some Isopan that was much older (1940) in D76. Tho in my case it was recently exposed. It worked fine tho of course there was some fog. The fog was quite even so printing was easy. Seems to me I used 12 minutes? 1:1 but in any case you should try a snip test. Good luck, let us know what you find.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I recommend Xtol stock, which gives very low fog levels (unless you somehow can find HC-110).

Film that old will not have a standard developing time. I would simply try to find an 'average' time for Xtol stock, and either do a clip test on a couple of frames and adjust, or wing it and develop the whole roll.

 

[Yanluk]

I am unable to obtain HC110 in the remote land of Australia.

You can order it online, vanbar in Melbourne have stock

 

[werra]

Yeah, HC110 will be no magic bullet fog-wise. If the film is fogged, then it is fogged. There will be no substantial difference in the result with HC110 or, say, Rodinal.

 

[ath]

Maybe no magic bullet. But different developers produce different dmin (base & fog) on the same film. Whether this is substantial or not depends on you and your needs.

 

[GregW]

This is a scan from a 1940s Isopan F neg I mentioned earlier. Exposed then developed the next day. Developed in D76. To give you a very rough idea of grain etc. Leica Summitar with "Pleasant Auto Up" aux close up lens.

 

[spatz]

Yanluk: I checked their website and could not find any HC-110. I haven't tried calling but I might because from memory the Sydney store never had any. Thanks for the suggestion. It might not be worth getting it from Melbourne if Xtol produces similar results.

I do have a second unexposed roll of isopan f from the same time to play with so I might expose a few frames starting at 40 asa then going lower and doing a few clip tests with Xtol. Does anyone know what temp/agitation would be best to combat fog?

Hopefully I will get into the darkroom in the coming week after which I shall post results if there are any. Thanks again everyone.

 

[spatz]

I had a chance to develop the roll today and to cut a long story short nary a negative was to be found.

Bit sad but it was an interesting exercise.

I used Xtol for 12min at 20 degrees and although the fog was most certainly present, it was not overwhelming to the point where if there were negatives they would be unusable. Strangely though the fog was not even. Perhaps a mark of how the film was stored over the past 50 years...

Anyway, thank you all for your help and suggestions.