Opinions and comments on Verichrome Pan?

[ed b.]

When I got my first box camera in 1957 I always used Verichrome Pan in 620 and it worked remarkably well. A number of portraitists swear by it. Kodak needed a film that was foolproof, so they gave it two emulsions. I'd like to hear comments about the film and collect favorite developers, developing times and exposure indices. Anybody out there still use it?

[tony_brent]

I love it. There are always a few rolls in with my Rollei. I use HC-

110 1:31 (mixed from the thick syrup, not stock solution) at about 8

minutes. It's pretty much a bullet proof film, but I didn't know it

was a dual emulsion. I thought that was Plus X.

[sergio_ortega]

Ed,

 

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Stephen Anchell and Bill Troop, in The Film Developing Cookbook, speak

highly of Kodak VP. Unfortunately, it is only available in 120

format.

 

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I've used it with D76(1+1), PMK, HC110 (dil. B), and Xtol (in varying

dilutions). Quite frankly, I do not have enough experience with this

film/developers to give any definite or worthwhile firsthand opinions.

My favorite 125 speed B&W film, and the one I prefer to use in all

formats, is FP4+.

 

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At any rate, here's a brief quote from Anchell/Troop:

 

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"For landscapes, still lifes and portraits, we strongly recommend

Kodak Verichrome Pan. Its beautiful, long-scale gradation is in the

tradition of of the old thick emulsion films. Once popular, this

double coated film is now hard to find in the US.....It easily pushes

to EI 200....Kodak Plus X, a film with the same speed as VP, is

available in a variety of sizes, but is inferior to VP. Plus X is

grainier, less sharp, and has more constricted gradation than VP."

 

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I've followed the times/temps/dilutions listed in the Anchell/Troop

book with success.

 

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Hope this helps a bit, Sergio.

[charlie_strack]

I took my sister's wedding portrait on VP120. That was almost 30

years ago. I hadn't any idea that the Zone System existed, and most

of what I did was hit-or-miss. Mostly misses. But on these shots I

followed the rules. I metered close up. Used that exposure. Developed

in HC110, and gave the "extra contrast" that the dial in the Master

Darkroom Dataguide provided.

 

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Now I know that I placed the whites on zone V, expanded the

development, and got an incredible negative. I'd be proud of it today.

 

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All those lovely delicate whites printed with great separation. No

shadow values to get lost with the slight under exposure.

 

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The one shot that had the perfect expression had a flaw in the

emulsion. An oval mat took care of that.

 

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Yes, I like VP. I wish they made it in 35mm & sheets. It still has

the finest grain of any normal emusion, bested only by Tech Pan. It's

the most resilient film around and a nice H&D curve.

[bill_noll1]

Ed, funny you should mention that film since I just tried it for the

first time a few weeks ago after a recommendation in Photo Techniques

magazine. Their advice, if I remember correctly, was to expose

generously, use a yellow filter, and D76.

 

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The negatives look fine, but I haven't printed them yet, as my

darkroom is still being rearranged. I'll gladly post any results

[fritz_brown]

I have never used Verichrome Pan with the exception of having

developed a roll that was in an old camera that was purchased at an

austion and given me. But there seems to be a pretty intense

interest in this film lately on the various lists and groups that I

watch. What I am wondering, though, is what the H&D curve would look

like with a double emulsioned film. As I understand it, one

emulsion layer is faster than the other. That would mean that the

H&D curve would be the sum of the other two curves and would contain

bumps in the straight line protion of the curve where the toe of the

slow emulsion begins to be exposed and again where the shoulder of

the faster emulsion layer comes into play. If severe enough, that

behavior could lead to compression of the mid tones in these areas

similar to blocking up of highlights or shadows. Has anyone here

done any sensitometry on this film with enough resolution in the

exposure steps and if so do you see bumps in the curve? I expect

that Kodak wold have fine tuned the two emulsion characteristics so

that loss of mid-tone separation would be negligable or the film

wouldn't have been any kind of success, but can we see these effects

on a curve? Just curious.

[fritz_brown]

OK, I've "thunk" a little harder on this. I was in error when I

said that the sum of the two curves would lead to a curve with

regions that would block up mid tones. After drawing a few curves and

adding them together on paper, the curve would actually have

regions, in what would have been the straight line portion, that have

a steeper slope instead of a flatter slope. The curve would still be

more complex than a simple sigmoid curve and would have up to seven

regions of different slope characteristics. I'm still wondering

whether anyone has measured the d/log(e) with enough resolution in

the exposure to detect these variations from the ideal. If I had a

densitometer I would do it myself, but...

[brian_hinther]

After buying the Anchell/Troop book, I also decided to give VP another

try. I've been experiementing with PMK lately, and have developed a

couple of VP rolls in it. On the up side, I can tell you the film

stains incredibly well, and it seems to have finer grain than FP4+,

which I normally use. On the down side, I've had a few negatives that

seem to have waaay too much contrast. I'm still testing, but overall I

think I'm going to like the film a lot.

[ed b.]

I shot a test roll of VP at EI 64 and developed in PMK for 8 minutes

at 80 degrees. I noticed that the film has a dye in it the color of

pinacryptol green, which is a desensitizing agent. The stain is a

wonderful green, which may be because of the dye. These negatives

appear overexposed and overdeveloped. I will try an EI of 125 next,

and probably reduce development by a minute. I'm leaving soon for

Utah and Arizona and was thinking I might try VP out there. I'll also

be shooting HP-5+ (EI 200), T-Max 400 (EI 400), and Delta 3200 (EI

800). If anyone else has tried VP in PMK, I would like to know your

EI and development times.

[david_goldfarb]

I remember using this film in 110 rolls as a kid when I set up my

first darkroom. There's a technical sheet with characteristic curves

at:

 

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http://www.kodak.com/cluster/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/f

7/f7.shtml

 

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Interestingly, it's available not only in 120 rolls but also in 8"x5'

rolls for the old Kodak Cirkut large-format panorama camera. I

suppose one could buy a roll and cut it into sheets, but the base

might be too thin to avoid flatness problems.

[ed b.]

The curves show a long toe and at the higher developing times a very

slight shoulder (D-76 & HC-110). For years the only 127 B&W film

Kodak made was Verichrome Pan, and also 126 cartridges. Kodak's

description says the film is similar to Plus X, but without

retouching surfaces.

[john_lehman2]

Ed, FWIW for PMK I expose it at EI 100 and develop for 7.5 minutes at

70 degrees. Based on a couple of zone tests, that gives a nice ten

zone range with proper exposure for zone 1

[j._patric_dahl_n]

Yikes! I must buy a bunch of Verichrome Pan! kodak don't sell VP here

in Sweden so I have to buy from the US.

[richard jepsen]

I also fell for the seduction of VP120 after reading of it in The

Film Developing Cookbook. It seems similar to Tri-X in tonality with

much finer grain. Souped in XTOL 1:2 it may separate low tones and

render skin tones a little darker. I use a #8 Yellow filter must of

the time. I noticed a old post in Medium Format that Kodak called

VP120 a ortho film 50 years ago and either changed the emulsion or

marketing and now call it a pan film. It replaced FP-4 in my bag.

[michael_goldfarb]

I believe Verichrome was Kodak's standard "amateur" orthochromatic b/w film (following their earlier standard "NC" - "non-curling" - film) available in nearly every format from the twenties through the late forties or early fifties. It was replaced by Verichrome Pan, yes, an earlier form of the current panchromatic emulsion, in the early fifties. It was always Kodak's easiest-to-find film for nearly any rollfilm camera.

 

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Personally, I used to shoot it in 828 and 127 (and developed other folks' 126 and 110) and some of those old shots were pretty good. But I haven't used it in 120... at least on a 6x6 negative, good old TX is plenty fine-grain enough for my purposes.

[ed b.]

I have arrived at an exposure index of 125 for VP and a development

time of 6 minutes at 80 degrees F. in PMK. I believe you could

develop in PMK+ and get an effective EI of 150 to 180, but I haven't

tried it yet.

[charlotte_robey]

Is there any place where you can get Verichrome Pan films that produce a 3-1/2"x4-1/2" black and white prints or enlargements for a Sedic pocket 22x? Please help as i would like to use me camera!