Shooting on 1936 dated Kodak Verichrome

[Hunter_Compton]

I was antiquing this past weekend and found an interesting curiosity, a roll of 120 Kodak Verichrome film that expired in May of 1936. I paid a few dollars for the roll, the box was already torn open so being the experimental type I figured why not go further.

The film was still sealed in a paper wrapper, So I opened it, loaded it into a No.2 Brownie model F and went off to see what images this film could still make 84 years after its expiration. This film probably had an exposure index of 25 to 40 when new, so I made brackets of three exposures at 2, 4 and 8 additional stops of light to compensate for age.

As it turns out the middle exposures were the best. Sadly, I was not able to develop the whole roll, as the adhesive holding the film to the backing paper failed and some of the film got torn in the camera. I was able to get these two exposures off the roll though.

I started with a 30 minute prewash to soften the emulsion. Development was done in HC-110 dilution A at 68f for 5 minutes, followed by a 2 minute stop, 10 minutes of fixation with Ilford Rapid Fixer and a 60 minute wash. Evident defects in the film include the fog, which progressed from the edges of the film inward, and one area on the first image where the emulsion became stuck to the backing paper.

Overall, I'm impressed with how well the undamaged areas of the film turned out given their age.

 

[BrianShaw]

Cool!

 

[BAC1967]

Nice job Hunter, it’s amazing how long film can still make an image. The oldest roll I’ve shot was Kodak NC that expired in 1939. One thing I learned about film that old is to unroll it enough in a changing bag to replace the tape holding it to the backing paper. The tape is usually dried out and will come detached in the camera.

you can see my shots here: https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=60348236@N07&sort=date-taken-desc&text=Kodak NC&view_all=1

 

[Hunter_Compton]

Nice job Hunter, it’s amazing how long film can still make an image. The oldest roll I’ve shot was Kodak NC that expired in 1939. One thing I learned about film that old is to unroll it enough in a changing bag to replace the tape holding it to the backing paper. The tape is usually dried out and will come detached in the camera.

you can see my shots here: https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=60348236@N07&sort=date-taken-desc&text=Kodak NC&view_all=1

Nice results. I've learned from this roll about the tape issue, and will replace it if I ever shoot something this old again.

One of the interesting things about this roll of film, was that the film had an additional 4" paper tail attached to it so that you could partially unroll it and tape the rear end of the film to the backing paper without exposing the actual film. Then, the film could be developed using a Kodak or Brownie developing tank, which were both daylight loading and developed the film with the backing paper still attached.

 

[Ian Grant]

You've reminded me I know someone with a box of Verichrome glasss plates, only problem is they are a lot older than the roll film in fact pre-date Kodak as they were made by Wrattten and Wainwright so must be at least 107 years old One of the conditions of GEK Mees joining Kodak was they take over W&W, in fact their staff formed the Rochester and HArrow Kodak Research facilities.

Verichrome like Kodachrome was one of the names Mees revived.

Ian

 

[reddesert]

Nice work!