gary_watson Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Just got some frozen Verichrome Pan 120 rolls (2003)as a gift. Curious what the consensus is on rating(ISO 100, 125,?). As usual, thanks for any help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maury_cohen Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Cmon Gary, you know that everyone's E.I. varies depending on many variables... Tell me this was a trick question... ; ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
profhlynnjones Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Hi Gary, I've been using it since it was upgraded in the mid 1950's. Many of we professionals always regarded this as the world's best medium speed, medium format, b/w film. It was created as a "box camera" film tolerating significant under and over exposure. For a skilled photographer this permitted incredible quality. It is a dual emulsion film mixing both low speed high contrast and hisgh speed low contrast components. The best developers for this were "FOR ME" were D76 full strength and UFG full strength. In an emergency I could also use HC110 Dil B (I never use Kodak's new instructions, I just use the old ones, 1:31 for that dilution (the concentrate, not the so called stock solution). When Kodak discontinued VP, I bought all of it I could find and I'm now down to a very few rolls. I've found that the new Plus X is almost as good as VP, but I sure miss VP. Lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
._._z Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 I've rated Verichrome at 80. In an old Greenspun discussion thread someone recommended a 1:50 dilution of Rodinal, 10 min at 72 deg. Constant agitation for 30 sec, then two inversions each remaining 30 sec. Grain was bigger than with XTOL but was reported to still look fine at 11x17. Anchell and Troop's 'The Film Developing Cookbook' basically think that almost nothing beats Verichrome Pan (or BPF 200, or Panatomic X) in D-76 1+1. George Hurrel reportedly underexposed and over-developed Verichrome in his portraits to achieve his recognizable creamy, dreamy look. That, plus his lighting, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lex_jenkins Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Wow, that takes me back. I got my first camera, a Brownie, when I was 8 years old and started developing Verichrome and making contact prints a few months later. I think I was using all Agfa stuff back then. While I haven't used it for a long time it must be a forgiving film considering that I used it only in fixed exposure box cameras and usually got printable results. Nowadays I'd probably try Microphen since it's a forgiving developer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary_watson Posted March 10, 2006 Author Share Posted March 10, 2006 Honest, Maury, I don't know! I never shot the stuff and was happy to get some of what was probably the last of it, given the 2003 stale date. I'm guessing an EI of 80-100 but would still appreciate some guidance from my senior colleagues hereabouts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniel_dufour Posted March 11, 2006 Share Posted March 11, 2006 Hi Gary, I would most definately test a couple of rolls before shooting something that might be of importance. I say this because for the life of me I can't nail down this film! My negs come out very thick - even after cutting Kodak's time from 9 min to 6 min in D76). Shoot it at 125 to 250 and dev. in xtol and see what you like best. Keep the agitation down to a minimum. Good luck and let us know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly_flanigan1 Posted March 11, 2006 Share Posted March 11, 2006 Long ago Verichrome wasnt "Pan"; and was just ortho at asa 50. One developed in soup bowls by inspection, sometimes with old dektol diluted, D-76 was alot better. <BR><BR>Modern Verichrome Pan film is asa 125; my frozen cache of VP 120 I use expired in late 2004; I usually expose it at an EI of 100 or less; and develop normally with D-76 1:1 . I am abit surprised that some folks on this thread have never used verichrome pan, it is a great film, fun to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary_watson Posted March 11, 2006 Author Share Posted March 11, 2006 Thanks, Kelly. I never shot the stuff, Tri-X, APX 100, and XP2 being the extent of my limited forays into b&w. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rothelle Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00EiV4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
profhlynnjones Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Hurrell probably didn't shoot any VP. As I recall it, Kodak only made it in 120, 620, 127, 126 and 110. George shot almost exclusively in 8x10 until in his late 70's when he went to his "miniature" camera, a mere 4x5. In his late years he did shoot a little bit of 35mm for some fashion assignments. Lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
profhlynnjones Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 Gary, if you'll email me I'll send information to you on VP and some other films. lynn@austincc.edu Lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly_flanigan1 Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 Lynn ; Verichrome is what we used long ago in press cameras too; the old ortho stuff. They also made later Pan variant of verichrome in sheet films too; like 2x3, 3x4, 4x5" etc. Verichrome-Pan in giant pieces was also widely available for the Circuit panoramic cameras, and also once available by special sheet sizes too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
profhlynnjones Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 you are right, VP was originally just Verichrome, an orthochromatic emulsion which became Verichrome Pan in about 1954 (I was in USN Medical Photography School at the time at NNMC, Bethesda, MD. Lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigrue Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Gary Watson,This is Rufus Watson,Jr. from Washington, D.C. I started using Verichrome Pan in the late 80s. I have found it to be better than Plus-x. I rated it at asa 100 so I could use the exact reading on my flash and f-stop. I do develop it in D-76 1:1. I use it a lot for protraits and landscaping photograph. I am still trying to somemore of it before I switch to T-Max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Gammill Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 If you check the Pacific Rim website, they've got some pictures of some of the old Verichrome Pan. Lots of fun to look at. Here's a link to one of them: http://www.pacificrimcamera.com/images/68526.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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