pentaxuser
Member
I need help here from anyone who can. Old Kodakers with experience of Ilford developers would be ideal but possibly not essential. Read on. Yes I know that Verichrome Pan and its development has come up a number of times and I have used the search engine but have found nothing really close to my circumstances. Let me explain:
I have been asked to develop this film by someone who has no means of knowing its age except that it is quite old. Not his film originally. It was found in a drawer. My problem is that I only have two developers Ilford DDX and Rodinal. So in at least one case a very new kind of Ilford developer for a very old Kodak film.
The Ilford website doesn't even list Verichrome Pan on its list of non Ilford film dev times for DDX which isn't surprising.
Anyone have any ideas as to what a reasonable development time might be for DDX and Verichrome Pan including what might be a sensible additional time to account for its age?
If no-one has any answers on this combo, I might be prepared to go for some Ilford ID11 on the basis that Ed Buffalo gives 7 mins for D76 at stock and that D76 and ID11 are very similar. I noticed that the agitation times however for D76 exceed those for ID11 considerably. Ed recommends constant agitation for the first 30 secs then 10 secs every 30 secs whereas ID11 is first 10 secs then 10 secs every minute.
So is it safer to go with Ed's agitation routine? I suspect so but would like to hear others' views.
Another option is Rodinal which Ed Buffalo's site also gives. It's John Welton's recommendation. I have enough of this developer. I am not a fan in terms of its grain but that may be the least of my problems in this case. It is 120 film and the prints, if the negs are OK, will be small. In fact of the two developers I have(DDX and Rodinal), only Rodinal is mentioned on Ed's site. One further snag is that John Welton's recommedation is film exposed at EI 80. This one will almost certainly have been exposed at standard ISO125. Is there a formula for working out the difference in times?
To avoid wasting anyone's time, let me say that buying any Kodak developer and/or buying any anti-fogging chemical for what is a one-off attempt to develop this film which is unlikely ever to be repeated is not viable.
So to summarise:
Best and maybe safest option might be: Rodinal as Ed lists it for Verichrome.
I am not a fan of Rodinal but the devil you know might be safest, provided I can find what John Weltons times at EI 80 translate into at ISO 125.
My preferred option is:
1. Using DDX if anyone has any ideas on how and experience of this combo
Other options are:
Rodinal as per Ed Buffalo site
ID11 as substitute for D76 as an affordable one-off buy
Least attractive(probably) for success is Ilford Perceptol which I could and would use for other films.
I appreciate that as a one-off I have one chance only and Rodinal may be best but I'd certainly appreciate your views and would need times for ISO 125rather than EI 80
Anyone having used Rodinal with Verichrome Pan at box speed of ISO 125, I'd certainly appreciate their time, temp and agitation routine as these are likely to be different from those listed on Ed's site at EI 80
Sorry for the length of the tread but my aim is to clarify my position with regard to options to avoid wasting people's time on soliciting replies which may be ideal but not viable for me.
Thanks in anticipation of any responses
pentaxuser
I have been asked to develop this film by someone who has no means of knowing its age except that it is quite old. Not his film originally. It was found in a drawer. My problem is that I only have two developers Ilford DDX and Rodinal. So in at least one case a very new kind of Ilford developer for a very old Kodak film.
The Ilford website doesn't even list Verichrome Pan on its list of non Ilford film dev times for DDX which isn't surprising.
Anyone have any ideas as to what a reasonable development time might be for DDX and Verichrome Pan including what might be a sensible additional time to account for its age?
If no-one has any answers on this combo, I might be prepared to go for some Ilford ID11 on the basis that Ed Buffalo gives 7 mins for D76 at stock and that D76 and ID11 are very similar. I noticed that the agitation times however for D76 exceed those for ID11 considerably. Ed recommends constant agitation for the first 30 secs then 10 secs every 30 secs whereas ID11 is first 10 secs then 10 secs every minute.
So is it safer to go with Ed's agitation routine? I suspect so but would like to hear others' views.
Another option is Rodinal which Ed Buffalo's site also gives. It's John Welton's recommendation. I have enough of this developer. I am not a fan in terms of its grain but that may be the least of my problems in this case. It is 120 film and the prints, if the negs are OK, will be small. In fact of the two developers I have(DDX and Rodinal), only Rodinal is mentioned on Ed's site. One further snag is that John Welton's recommedation is film exposed at EI 80. This one will almost certainly have been exposed at standard ISO125. Is there a formula for working out the difference in times?
To avoid wasting anyone's time, let me say that buying any Kodak developer and/or buying any anti-fogging chemical for what is a one-off attempt to develop this film which is unlikely ever to be repeated is not viable.
So to summarise:
Best and maybe safest option might be: Rodinal as Ed lists it for Verichrome.
I am not a fan of Rodinal but the devil you know might be safest, provided I can find what John Weltons times at EI 80 translate into at ISO 125.
My preferred option is:
1. Using DDX if anyone has any ideas on how and experience of this combo
Other options are:
Rodinal as per Ed Buffalo site
ID11 as substitute for D76 as an affordable one-off buy
Least attractive(probably) for success is Ilford Perceptol which I could and would use for other films.
I appreciate that as a one-off I have one chance only and Rodinal may be best but I'd certainly appreciate your views and would need times for ISO 125rather than EI 80
Anyone having used Rodinal with Verichrome Pan at box speed of ISO 125, I'd certainly appreciate their time, temp and agitation routine as these are likely to be different from those listed on Ed's site at EI 80
Sorry for the length of the tread but my aim is to clarify my position with regard to options to avoid wasting people's time on soliciting replies which may be ideal but not viable for me.
Thanks in anticipation of any responses
pentaxuser