TechPan -- Suggestions wanted

benveniste · Apr 24, 2013

What I have:

40 feet of perforated 70mm Tech Pan, Frozen
A Pentax 645n with a working 70mm back.
Various lenses ranging from 45mm to 300mm, including a 120mm macro.
A 70mm Bulk Loader
A Changing Tent
Plenty of Used, Empty 70mm Vericolor III cartridges.
Some 6-8 Year Old Technidol

What I don't have:

A darkroom
A legal option for disposing of chemicals.
A nearby lab capable of handling long rolls of any sort. I could probably wind it on 5' at a time and get it processed.
Any clue of what to shoot with the stuff.

Ideas and Suggestions welcome. I live in New England and I'm not about to try to fly with medium format gear.

Ed Sawyer · Apr 24, 2013

The technidol will still be good. Shoot it , get a changing bag, process at home. No worries re chemical disposal in those quantities.

benveniste · Apr 25, 2013

Ed, since my house is on a septic system it's illegal for me to dump the chemicals down the drain. And unless I buy some fairly exotic gear, I'd still be stuck shooting 5 feet at a time.

wildbill · Apr 25, 2013

How many exposures are on five feet? That's not enough? Sell it and buy some film you know how to use.
Shoot whatever you normally shoot but under softer light. Shoot some naked chics, rocks, trees, kittens. How can we tell you what to shoot?
I've flown all over the place with medium format (pentax 6x7, two bodies). It all fits in a small backpack. Grow a pair.

polyglot · Apr 25, 2013

There are a bunch of 70mm threads on here recently that you should definitely read.

The only thing you really lack is a 70mm development tank. The aforementioned threads show you (with video!) how to arrange a couple of Paterson 120 reels slightly further apart so that they will load 70mm film and the same technique works with Jobo reels as that's what I do. That allows you to process 220-lengths at home, assuming you already have 120 developing gear for your 645n. You can load and shoot the spools with a full 15' and then when developing, just spool off about 5' at a time.

Chemistry disposal is easy: the exhausted developer gets diluted and goes down the drain (it is harmless to septics in these quantities, less harmful than many cleaning products that you might use) and you take the exhausted fix to a local lab who will dispose of it for you and make a profit from the dissolved silver that you just donated to them.

What you shoot is up to you. If you can't figure it out, I'd probably buy the Tech Pan off you.

Mike Wilde · Apr 25, 2013

If you are really worried, stick the used developer in a bucket, and drop an air stone hooked to a fish tank pump, and leave it to9 fizz overnight.

The BOD will be cut to nil.

Then it is just like sending laundry liquids to the septic.

Sending while the clothes washer is going is a good way to avoid wasting water to flush it through.

Even on city sewers you are not smart to send used fixed down the drain. Some leach out the silver - see j. ninian's posts here. I just dehydrate mine to a crust and take the bottle of crust that a years worth of fixing yields to the HHW depot along with things like exhausted batteries, old antifreeze, used motor oil, old paints, etc. when I take yard waste to the dump in the fall.

benveniste · Apr 25, 2013

wildbill said:
How many exposures are on five feet?

I guess math is really, really hard for you, so let's try it as a story problem. A roll of 120 is 72cm long and each roll gives 16 exposures with a 645n...

wildbill said:
How can we tell you what to shoot?

If want to shoot what I normally do, I'll load up Delta 100 or even SFX 200 in 120. That's why the Tech Pan is still in the freezer. What I'm looking for are some ideas for subjects where shooting TechPan is worth the extra hassle. So far, the only other film I've shot in 70mm is Agfa Aviphot 400. I found that film did a nice job for seascapes, but one rarely needs 400 speed film for that type of subject.

wildbill said:
I've flown all over the place with medium format (pentax 6x7, two bodies). It all fits in a small backpack. Grow a pair.

Fly out of Logan recently? If, for fun, you really want to have to show the TSA's own rules to a TSA supervisor in order to get a hand inspection, be rewarded with special screening including a pat down and an explosives wipe down of everything, and after that convince both TSA and the flight crew that it's okay to carry on a 3-series sized tripod, more power to you. Been there, done that.

benveniste · Apr 25, 2013

Mike Wilde said:
Even on city sewers you are not smart to send used fixed down the drain.

MassDOT's rules are here. No photo chemicals in septic, no fixer anywhere: http://www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/hazardous/photo.htm

Massachusetts has this thing called Title 5, which calls for a septic system inspection when you sell a house. The inspectors basically look for any excuse to fail the system; I was burned for over $15,000 the last time I moved (not photo related). While I'm not above being "creative" about silly laws, if I have to develop 5' at a time I'll just take it and my Technidol down to a lab.

wildbill · Apr 25, 2013

benveniste said:
I guess math is really, really hard for you, so let's try it as a story problem. A roll of 120 is 72cm long and each roll gives 16 exposures with a 645n...

No, math isn't a problem. The potential for a ton of shots on one roll of film seems kinda nice and would be easier than loading multiple rolls of film for the same number of shots.

If want to shoot what I normally do, I'll load up Delta 100 or even SFX 200 in 120. That's why the Tech Pan is still in the freezer. What I'm looking for are some ideas for subjects where shooting TechPan is worth the extra hassle. So far, the only other film I've shot in 70mm is Agfa Aviphot 400. I found that film did a nice job for seascapes, but one rarely needs 400 speed film for that type of subject.

Fly out of Logan recently? If, for fun, you really want to have to show the TSA's own rules to a TSA supervisor in order to get a hand inspection, be rewarded with special screening including a pat down and an explosives wipe down of everything, and after that convince both TSA and the flight crew that it's okay to carry on a 3-series sized tripod, more power to you. Been there, done that.

I always ask for a hand inspection. That takes an extra 2-5 minutes in the few dozen times I've had it done at airports big and small. Yes, I carry the rules printed out as well and have only had to present those once. Tripod goes in my suitcase in the belly of the plane.

wildbill · Apr 25, 2013

benveniste said:
I guess math is really, really hard for you, so let's try it as a story problem. A roll of 120 is 72cm long and each roll gives 16 exposures with a 645n...

No, math isn't a problem. The potential for a ton of shots on one roll of film seems kinda nice and would be easier than loading multiple rolls of film for the same number of shots.

If want to shoot what I normally do, I'll load up Delta 100 or even SFX 200 in 120. That's why the Tech Pan is still in the freezer. What I'm looking for are some ideas for subjects where shooting TechPan is worth the extra hassle. So far, the only other film I've shot in 70mm is Agfa Aviphot 400. I found that film did a nice job for seascapes, but one rarely needs 400 speed film for that type of subject.

Fly out of Logan recently? If, for fun, you really want to have to show the TSA's own rules to a TSA supervisor in order to get a hand inspection, be rewarded with special screening including a pat down and an explosives wipe down of everything, and after that convince both TSA and the flight crew that it's okay to carry on a 3-series sized tripod, more power to you. Been there, done that.

No, math isn't a problem. The potential for a ton of shots on one roll of film seems kinda nice and would be easier than loading multiple rolls of film for the same number of shots.

I always ask for a hand inspection. That takes an extra 2-5 minutes in the few dozen times I've had it done at airports big and small. Yes, I carry the rules printed out as well and have only had to present those once. Tripod goes in my suitcase in the belly of the plane.

benveniste · Apr 25, 2013

wildbill said:
I always ask for a hand inspection. That takes an extra 2-5 minutes in the few dozen times I've had it done at airports big and small.

The hand inspection takes 2-5 minutes. The "special search" of everything else is what takes the time.

wildbill said:
Tripod goes in my suitcase in the belly of the plane.

If you entrust a tripod to luggage handling equipment you're braver than I? May I ask what sort of case you put it in?

wildbill · Apr 25, 2013

I've always asked for a hand inspection kindly and treated those idiots with respect. Only once have I been told "I don't go by those rules!" at LAX. Tripod goes in a hard suitcase with my clothes I slide it into a leg of my fleece pants and pack undies/shirts around it. Head removed, goes in carry on.

Neal · Apr 27, 2013

Dear Benveniste,

I have a well and septic and never put chemicals down the drain. I drop them off at a household waste disposal place in Chicago (there are closer ones to me, but I like a restaurant near there). If you have a friend in Boston, they can drop it off for you here.

Neal Wydra

TechPan -- Suggestions wanted

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