Kodak Verichrome 520 film pack

[richard_stripling_jr.]

<p> So am shooting a movie set in 1930, and I happened upon a Kodak No.2a Hawkeye folding special (produced between 1930 and 1933). This takes the Kodak Verichrome 520 filmpack. As is stands I acquired two unused film packs. I plan to shoot a few pictures to be used in the movie on this camera (I am aware of how much of a crap shoot the results will be, but I figure hey... why not?) </p>

<p> I'm no stranger to the dark room, but it's been far too many years. The problem at hand is I'm not even sure how to load the camera and when I've used all the film, what do I do with the used film waiting to be processed. I assume that since it's a film pack, the shots are the same size as the pack, but that's as far as I know.</p>

 

[craig_shearman1]

<p>There's no point to shooting the filmpacks and trying to develop them. 80-year-old film isn't likely to yield usable results and certainly not anything resembling what it could have produced when it was new. Just find out what size the prints should have been and details like if they would have had a deckled edge cut back then. Shoot the photos with whatever you like, even digital, and print them in B&W to the appopriate size and finish. The prints are just props, right, so nobody's going to know the difference. Now if you want to show an actor loading the camera, you need to find out the proper procedure.</p>

[john_shriver]

<p>Verichrome (as opposed to the later Verichrome Pan) isn't very stable unprocessed. Tends to fog out. Worse, film packs are probably the single most non-air-tight packaging of film, so the emulsion will have been exposed to a lot of "evil" oxygen. (Old paper-backed roll films keep the best, then 135 magazines, and pack film is the worst.)<br>

That said, to use it as a prop, you should understand how to use it. You open the back. The film pack goes with the black paper side facing the lens, and the paper tabs facing away from the hinge. Then you close the back on the pack. Pull the first tab, and tear it off against the pack. That will remove the paper "dark slide" protecting the first sheet of film.<br>

Expose, pull, tear, repeat. There's no film to expose after you pull the last tab.<br>

You don't have to tear off the tabs. There's fields on the tab to take notes, which you can write in pencil.<br>

The film was about ASA 50 when new - so make sure the exposure times are appropriate. This is a "stand still" film, in bright light, sun over your shoulder. Interior shots will be totally inappropriate, like mirror slap sound effects on a Leica RF.<br>

When you are done with all of the exposures, you can remove the pack in the light.<br>

Then you put it in your changing bag. You slide off the cap on the top, sliding it away from the pack lengthwise. Unfold the metal. You'll find 12 sheets of paper with a thin piece of film taped to them with a thin strip of paper tape. Pull those off. The film is very thin, like roll film, since it makes a U-turn when you pull the tab, going into the back of the pack.<br>

If you're lucky enough to have a Nikor sheet/cut film tank, you should have pre-adjusted it to the right size (chicken/egg problem there), and you slide one sheet in each slot.<br>

Otherwise, you're developing in a tray in a darkroom. Yum.<br>

If it really is Verichrome, you can use a red safelight. Verichrome Pan, or any other pack film (Panatomic-X, Plus-X, Tri-X) means no safelight.<br>

Nominal time for Verichrome was 17 minutes in D-76. But with old film, that will result in BLACK negatives. Maybe 9 minutes in D-76, or 7 minutes in HC-110 Dilution B. Fix a LONG time, like 10 minutes.</p>

 

[walter_degroot]

<p>yes I have a 4 x 5 tri-x film pack from many years ago, I have no intention of even breaking the seal.<br>

besides, I once used and developed faorly fresh film from a pack.<br>

using it is fine<br>

developing it is a real chore. Unlike thicker sheet film it is thin and possibly the same stock as roll film<br>

'and hard very hard to load.<br>

I M LUCKY TO HAVE A rada HOLDER FOR MY RECOMAR<br>

AND CUT FILM HOLDERS FOR THE 4 X 5.<br>

DARN CAPS LOCK.</p>

<p> </p>

[richard_stripling_jr.]

<p>Thanks Guys, and John Especially. I do realize how slim my chances are for getting usable picture, but I'd like to try. The film isn't going to do anyone good rotting in it's package, and all my shots will in fact be outside, so if it works then Sweet. If it doesn't, I'll fall back to my usually creative means. </p>

[wblynch]

<p>You can get a Brownie from the same era that uses 120 roll film and create your prints from that. They would have an authentic look and stand in for the 520's...</p>