Kodak Tech Pan 25 – Expired April 1999 – Rodinal 1:300
I think that those of us who have been shooting film for quite some time tend to romanticize our favorite films. I know that I do. For me, there were two films that I always tried to keep on hand. Agfa Pan 25 and Kodak Tech Pan 25. Yeah, I was, and still am a big fan of very low ISO, tight-grained film.
You could probably do the same thing with digital, but I don’t see someone going back and waxing romantically about a 4 MP digital camera, but who knows. I guess that any thing is possible.
So it was that I ended up in Bull Hole in Coolomee, NC with 2 rolls of expired Tech Pan 25. Tech Pan was known to have very high contrast and was almost a lithographic film, great for copying line drawings, etc. However, if developed properly, it could deliver some great tonality and nearly untouchable, unseeable grain.
I had planned to use these two rolls on something else, but when I saw the forest, the snow, the river, and the rocks, well, let’s just say that a guy can change his mind two.
After shooting both of the rolls, I was quite satisfied. I even did a couple of comparison shots, taking the same shot with both the film and a digital camera, just to see what the differences were. More on that in a different post.
This evening, I could hardly wait to get the rolls into the soup, or at least one of the rolls. As the film is 10 years past expiration date, I hoped that everything would turn out right. I developed them, waited the appropriate time for them to rinse, then had a peek. At first, the negatives looked a bit thin and low contrast, but after they dried and I scanned them, they were all pretty darn good!
As I remembered, the grain was almost impossible to see and the look of the photos was just as I liked them. The top photo is a little contrasty, but it was taken at about 10 AM with a pretty hefty does of sunlight entering from the right. I love the shot.
The other shot, of the beech tree, well what can I say. This tree was one handsome model.
I can’t wait to see what’s on the other roll!
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6 Responses to “Not bad for a 10 year-old”
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Wow, those are cool shots Paul, specially for film 10 years past it’s use-by date. I too used to shoot ISO 25. My first roll was some Ektar 25 that someone gave me and I got hooked, absolutely loved it. The detail was always amazing. Oh and I don’t think anyone will ever wax romantically about 4MP cameras
BTW you might have mentioned this in another post but what do you use to scan your negs? I’m asking because tonight I found an entire folder of slides from over 20 years ago. I thought I’d thrown them out but my daughter saw them and she wants me to save them to the computer.
Cedric: I use and Epson Perfection 3200 Photo scanner. Scanners are just like cameras, though, they are constantly being discontinued and replaced. By the time that you buy one, another has replaced it. I’ve had this scanner for several years. The replacement de jour is the 4490. I’ve been pleased with the quality of the Epson products that I own, which are this scanner and a printer.
Absolutely beautiful shots, Paul. I should look so good when I’m 10 years past my expiration date!
Now that you mention it, Earl, I feel the same!
Wow, love these. A 1:300 dilution? What was the development time?
The only thing I shot this slow what Kodachrome. In B&W, the slowest was FP4 until recently, when I bought some PanF on your recommendation.
Thank, Chris: That is not a typo.
The dilution was 1:300. I used 2 ml of Rodinal to 598 ml of water. Quite thin, indeed, but the development time was only 12 minutes. I’m thinking of trying Pan F at higher dilutions, too, to tame its contrast. I’ll be developing another roll of Tech Pan tonight.