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View Full Version : TRI-X Pan TXP 518 4x5 16 Sheet Pack Film advice/TIPS?



Tin Can
27-Mar-2020, 06:36
A member here gave me a sealed pack of 1967 Expiry, years ago, I forget the name. Thank you!

Never used anything like this

Any advice?

Found ONE YT with very useful https://youtu.be/NOh9FrkMObA

Instructions inside box suggest ASA 250 Sunny 16

I will bracket, but think at least 2 stops slower is needed for age

I will process in tray, one at a time over a long time...hopefully...

I will shoot it in all in one week soon

actually 3-1/4 X 4-1/4, don't tell Mods

Kidding Oren! :)

Jim Noel
27-Mar-2020, 08:17
I still have a few film packs of this in the freezer. I use an EI of 100, and develop normally in D-76 or HC 110-b. Little or no age fog is evident. I process in a tray. The 1st sheet from each pack is developed visually and the time is used for the rest of the pack.
If you have not been developing pan film visually recently, try adding 15% to suggested development time. Agitate gently but constantly.
Good luck, and enjoy.

Mark Sampson
27-Mar-2020, 10:14
Filmpack is on a thinner base than regular sheet film- probably the same base as 120 roll film. So beware putting kinks in it when handling. Its dimensions are slightly larger than the equivalent sheet film as well; not a problem when tray processing.
It was a great idea for news and wedding shooters in the days of hand-held LF photography- 16 sheets in the space of one regular film holder. More expensive of course. I learned about film pack from Norman McGrath in 1989; he used it for convenience, as a backup for his clients who wanted 4x5 color transparencies. I'd been unaware of it, although I worked for Kodak at the time; and I used it extensively in my personal work until EK discontinued it in about 1992. By then the only emulsion available in pack was Tri-X, which was fine with me. Years later I heard, perhaps from Bob Shanebrook, that they discontinued the film because the one lady who knew how to assemble the packs (in the dark) retired... of course it must have been a money-loser for a long time before that.
Sorry to ramble on, best of luck!

Chauncey Walden
27-Mar-2020, 10:25
Works great in an old Kodak taco tank.

Jim Noel
27-Mar-2020, 12:55
Iheard the same story about the one lady who knew how to assemble the packs. Hard to believe, but told many times.

eli
27-Mar-2020, 13:26
On dropping the EI, I suggest you shoot and process one or two sheets at the box speed or only one stop less, as a recent youtube video did a comparison with expired b&w Kodak film vs. new, with a third film, also new, as a control, it the expired film, which was on an older base, actually gave better results.

IMO.

rjbuzzclick
27-Mar-2020, 13:30
I've shot a couple of film packs of Tri-X from 1959. Exposed at an EI of 12 and developed in Rodinal 1+25 for 12:00 @68 deg. Negatives were quite dense, but printable. There was a bit of fog, as expected.

I have a guillotine paper cutter set up with tape guides for 4x5 paper negatives so I used that (carefully!) to cut the sheets down to fit into 4x5 hangers for development.

https://live.staticflickr.com/4276/34835972561_226cbddc83_b.jpg

Tin Can
27-Mar-2020, 15:39
All good tips!

Thank you!