DougW Loc: SoCal

I found an exposed roll of Verichrome pan film in my storage box of
Pictures and slides. It has to be somewhere between 30 to 35 years old.
I know that it is most likely unrecoverable, but will give a try at developing
it. Any of you film hogs got some info on doin this?
Developer? Time?
I figure I can't lose anything it ought to be a good exercise.

snowbear

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/f7/f7.pdf

Processing on page 2

randymoe

Yes, why not see what you have. I, for one, eagerly await your results. No need to show the images unless you want to, but I would like a post describing success or failure and why either case occurred.

I love stuff like this.

I will have to check, but I think I have some unexposed Verichrome.

Good luck!

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Check this site out:
http://silverbased.org/dev-old-vp/
All of the other sites that I read suggest HC-110 Dilution B. It is in this link and one of the recommended developers the Kodak sheet snowbear provided a link to.
Says to use the coldest temp (65 degrees f) to reduce fog.

Because the film is so old, you might keep in mind there will probably be a high base fog levels, which will affect contrast. Kodak makes/ or used to make fog reducer tablets for this purpose, not sure how effective they are or how to use them.
If you had more than one roll to play with, you could do a "clip test" and process short sections of the film to see what works best. It was a great film!
Good luck!

DougW Loc: SoCal

Thankyou all for the info this will be very educational :-)

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Let us know how and what turns up!

nikon_jon Loc: Northeast Arkansas

If you could get your hands on some Kodak anti-fog solution to put in the developer would help. Old film usually is fogged. It comes,in some measure, from what's called ambient radiation. The natural radiation that exists around us in the atmosphere can cause fogging over time. In Kodak's spec sheets included with the advent of their T-Max 3200 film, they warned that long storage times for the 3200 film would result in this problem because of its super sensitivity. They suggested not keepin large quantities of it on hand if it wasn't going to be used quickly.

Kodak anti-fog was a suppressant that helped reduce the vigor of the developer so that it would limit developing the amount of fog that may have occured on the film.

MCHUGH Loc: Jacksonville, Texas

In 1969 while in the Air Force I was an assistant manager of the base photo hobby shop and we had a lady come in with a roll of b&w film she found in a foot locker of her father that had been stored in his attic since his discharge in 1945. We developed it using cool developer 68 degrees for double the time. We got printable prints which she recognized her father and a few of his friends. She was so happy and excited. I don't know if we could have done better we were all very just beginners but what we did worked.

wilsondl2 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

I have developed severel rools of old film that were in cameras I bought at auctions. I went 1 1/2 times the recomended time. I always develop film at 68% Last one I did had pictures of corn fields. - Dave

Mudshark Loc: Illinois

I've done this several times over the years. I think of it as sort of a treasure hunt...Good advice on this thread. Overdevelop at a cold temp...There will absolutely be excess base fog for several reasons. However, with today's scanners...miracles are the routine. You can pull a decent image out of a really bad neg.

senad55verizon.net Loc: Milford, NJ

Can we presume that this a roll of 120 film? (That's a size, not a frame number)

D-76 was the ticket for Verichrome Pan, Tri-x and other B&W films. You'll also need some acid fix, a perfectly dark room, a way to control the temperature of all reagents and your wash water (need a lot of that). Development time was about 8 - 12 minutes, as I recall. Lighter exposures required a bit more dev time, for a contrastier negative, but you don't know anything about exposure, of course.

Unless you're really familiar with the process, you're almost certain to screw it up. In addition, you would have to buy many more chemicals than you'll be able to use. Do you have an enlarger, and printing paper, and chemicals to develop the paper? Don't forget a fan to ventilate the darkroom (right, Roger?).

For goodness sake, find a camera store that still processes and prints B&W; you'll be glad you did. You may also be pleasantly surprised what remains after all those years.

The stuff about developer and fixative above is obviously not intended as serious advice, but maybe you can catch the flavor of what it used to be like in the "good old days".

wilsondl2 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

All you need to devlope film is three mixing bowels from the kitchen a room you can get pitch black (it helps to do it a night) and the film developer and fixer. Mix your film developer and then let it sit a couple of hours and it will be room tempeture 68 degress is best put it in a bowel and then put water in a 2nd bowl and fixer in the 3rd. check and see how long you need to develpe it then and one half more since the film is old. Take all this in your Darkroom. In the dark unroll the film and then yell at your assistant in another room that you are starting and he will tell you when to stop. Then hold both ends of the film and sesaw it in your developer untill your assistant tells you to stop then do the same thing in the water. as a stop bath then do the same in the fixer the water for about a minute. after about 5 minutes in the fixer you can turn a light on but let it fix tell it is clear. Then wash it in running water for 39 min. It works I still do 4X5 film about the same way but I have a dark room timer. I used to put on a LP album on the record player and look at the song times and use that as a timer. - Dave

rayford2 Loc: New Bethlehem, PA

Using a song for timing seems to be a neat idea!

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Makes me wonder- How long is Simon & Garfunkle's "Kodachrome"?

wilsondl2 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

Play "Kodachrome" twice and it should be about right for Verachrome Pan. Watch out you don't contamenat you chemicals with tears. - Dave