Tech Pan in Roll Film- Extinct???

I have recently considered shooting an extremely sharp film again, Kodak's Technical Pan (ISO

25). I can't seem to find it in roll film, is it extinct? <sniffle> Haven't shot it in over ten years

so maybe it's all my fault!

 

I remember this film as quite contrasty but virtually grainless. I loved it. If it is indeed six feet

under, is there a similar film developer combo still kicking?

 

I want to do either 35mm or 6x6 super fine grain negs with some nice punch.

Try Efke 25 from J+C photo

From Kodak's site April, 2003:

 

"KODAK PROFESSIONAL Technical Pan Film is being discontinued due to steadily declining demand over the recent years. Changes in product components and our manufacturing processes make it impractical to continue to support this product at its current low levels.

 

The last Tech Pan coating was several years ago. Since that time, the old coating room has been shut down, and the gels used in the product formulation have become obsolete. There would be considerable cost to recreate the product, with no guarantee that it would look and act the same as the Tech Pan Film of old.

 

Technical Pan Film will continue to be available until the existing inventory has been depleted.

 

While there is no direct replacement for Tech Pan Film, you may find KODAK PROFESSIONAL T-MAX 100 Film in combination with specific B&W Developers to be a viable alternative for some applications."

 

so yes, it's all your falut. ;)

But they're still making Panatomic-X, right?

If film speed or spectral sensitivity aren't as important as grainlessness, you might try Kodak Fine Grain Release Positive 5032. It is a blue sensitive film, with an advertised speed of EI 40 in daylight, but my experience is that it's actually much slower, like around EI 12. Very sharp and grainless.

 

Jay

Agreed, this is a magical film. I have some but you're gonna have to pry it out of my cold dead freezer! You can still find some around if you're lucky. Some shops still have some inventory, and you have the usual hawks on Ebay listing the stuff. There's a box of 4x5" Jan 2006 right now I'm looking at! <p>

Not at all the same, but can be nearly as grainless, although with a different tone (not the same red sensitivity I think is why) is Ilford Pan F. Efke (mind the curling) can be ok, but not the same beast either. I'm going to miss the TP when I run through my stash...

What do you mean by 'hawk', Nikos??

B&H still has 50 sheet boxes of 8x10inch for $345. Gasp!

 

If you find your TP film, better make sure you have enough Technidol developer (or other exotic developer of choice), as it appears to be disappearing fast too!

Guys that stock up on soon to be discontinued films for later resale on Ebay. Jump on the Velvia bandwagon for example... Hawk, because TP was already and expensive film, but some prices out there now are indecent.<p>

As for developers, the Technidol is very nice but there are many alternatives: Neofin Doku, Rodinal, even HC110 in high dilutions. The film, is one in its class though.

I must have eight or nine rolls of TP left in 120 size and about 550 feet of 35mm TP. As other have mentioned there are other developers which will work nicely with TP. Some of them can even be made up fairly simply from scratch. Where grain and sharpness are concerned Kodak Imagelink HQ 35mm microfilm can do about as well as 35mm TP. When it comes to medium format TP you have to ask yourself how large your prints will be. I have shot Fuji ACROS in my Bronica ETR (645) and made 11X14 size prints with only moderate cropping. The results are quite good and would not be improved much by using TP where grain and sharpness are concerned.

Try ebay for a few rolls of TP. I found a dozen rolls of TP 120 for sale in a digtal photo shop in Ireland, very unlikely but true. The sales assistants had no idea what it was, I bought each roll for a few bucks. Efke 25 is supposed to be similar, there are also some new or re-labelled products out too.

"But they're still making Panatomic-X, right?"

 

Sure they are. :P

http://tinyurl.com/7c2ft

 

Tech Pan for sale......

Tech Pan was discontinued some time ago (a year or so). Panatomic X was discontinued in about 1970! Agfa APX25 was discontinued several years ago.

 

Ilford Pan F with Rodinal (indicated ASA50, acutual speed 32) is about as sharp as it gets.

 

Delta 100 at ASA64 in Rodinal easily tolerates at least 18 diameters of enlargement as does TMax 100 in Rodinal ASA 80. Both of these have barely visible grain structure at that level.

 

Plus X pan in full strength D76 is very sharp, has barely discernable

grain at 20 diameters and yields a film speed of about 160 (for a 125 indicated speed).

 

Lynn

Sorry Lynn,

 

I've yet to see any film other than TechPan that didn't show evidence of grain at greater than 6X enlargement. That includes T-MAX 100, Efke 25, Acros, whatever...

 

And my eyes aren't any great shakes at that.

How about Agfa Copex / Gigabitfilm? I've heard it's much sharper than any other film on the market.

Panatomic-X was not discontinued about 1970. It was discontinued in the 1980s.

The most direct replacement I'm aware of for Tech Pan is Imagelink HQ. It's about the same speed, similarly fine (invisible) grain, and from the right sources can be had in 16 mm, 35 mm, and 4x5 (but not in 120). It doesn't have as much extended red sensitivity, but it has the same development characteristics -- it's a microfilm, which is essentially what Tech Pan was originally.

 

I've used it in Minolta 16 cameras, and it produces nice images, but the sample I have, on a thick base, is a pain to handle and roll into the Minolta cassettes. In 35 mm, it'd be quite nice; shoot at EI 25 or so.

 

Copex Rapid is also nice, though perhaps a little less tonally rich than Imagelink HQ; OTOH, it's about a stop faster. It's also available in 16 mm and 35 mm, if you can find a vendor who'll sell less than a case of 20 rolls, 100 feet long. With the right developer, it can get to EI 80, and EI 50 is routine.

The panatomic-X I have frozen has an expire date of 1984

I've read that Gigabit is rebadged Agfa Copex. What is to become of it, now that Agfa is kaput as of the end of the year?

Does anyone have characteristic curves for Imagelink in any of the developers they recommend? The curves I've plotted look more like paper curves than film curves, which makes sense given the product application.

 

Jay

I've got about 8 rolls of 120 - expired and cooled if you're interested.

 

Arne

Yes Arne, I will buy. Check your email.

Maybe Tech Pan is not so dead after all. Many people (including myself), still own large stocks of this film and selling part of it for decent prices. Of course most of the stocks are of expired film but... I made a comparison between very old tech pan rolls and new ones, and found the old ones very usable. Check it at:

 

http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/astro/techpan-drucker.pdf

 

and send me your comments.