Expired Kodak Plus X and classic manual cameras

[bruce_z._li2]

Recently I acquired some expired B&W film that I have heard about, but never tried. It was the Kodak Plus-X in 4x5 sheets, which expired in 1981. Plus-x was an ISO 125 general purpose fine grain film, much loved by photographers but unfortunately discontinued in 2011. I guess the available equivalent might be Ilford FP4+?

 

I thought to myself, what a great opportunity to dust off the Linhof Technika V (I’m guilty of letting her idle for the last year), fire up the Schneider Xenar 150mm f/4.5 lens (not a fancy lens, but seems fitting to the task), and take some large format photos of my favorite 35mm classic manual cameras!

 

I rated the expired Kodak Plus-X at 50 ISO, considering how expired they were. Soaked them in Rodinal 1+50, and let it brew without any agitation. I was a little bit nervous when I opened the development tank after the wash, but they were all fine. A little bit of base fog, which was easily taken care of in Adobe Lightroom via some contrast and levels adjustment. And the results look good to me: the shining chrome, inky black leatherette, and enigmatic reflection of the glass, all blend beautifully. I really like the tonality of the film, and look forward to taking more photos with this limited stock.

 

And here are the photos of some 35mm classic manual cameras::

 

Konica Autoreflex T3 with Hexanon 40mm f/1.8 lens:

A solid all manual camera that is simple and elegant. And the Hexanon 40mm f/1.8 is my all-time favorite pancake-like lens that shoots wonderful photos near sunrise and sunset.

 

Konica Autoreflex T3 with Hexanon 40/1.8 by Zheng, on Flickr

 

Miranda Sensorex with Auto Miranda 50/1.4

 

A very underrated camera with beautiful workmanship, and a unique pentaprism design that adds some flare. The Auto Miranda 50/1.4 lens can focus down to 0.43 meters, which is very useful for almost macro-like photos.

 

Miranda Sensorex with 50/1.4 by Zheng, on Flickr

 

Voigtlander Vitessa folder with Ultron 50/2

I like most lenses from Voigtlander, but hate most of their cameras. The folding Vitessa might be the only exception: combining jewel-like mechanical construction with my all time favorite 50mm lens Ultron 50/2. This lens is magic, sharp but not too contrasty, and renders an image like no other. I would even rank it a tiny bit higher than the Leica Summicron 50/2 Rigid.

 

Voigtlander Vitessa Ultron 50/2 by Zheng, on Flickr

 

Minolta SRT 102 with Rokkor 58/1.4 PF MC

This is a new addition to my 35mm collection. It looks nice and operates smoothly, but I’m yet to put a roll through it. Later…

 

Minolta SRT 102 with 58/1.4 PF MC by Zheng, on Flickr

 

Leica M3 with Summicron 50/2 Rigid

This is the holy grail of 35mm rangefinders, and I was lucky enough to acquire the set before the price hike of recent years. The viewfinder and rangefinder of Leica M3 is revolutionary for its time, and superior to anything else even today. The 50mm f/2 Rigid Summicron is not a sharpness or contrast king compared to modern optics, but holds its own in terms of character and dreamy imagery. A near perfect match.

 

Leica M3 SS with Summicron 50/2 Rigid by Zheng, on Flickr

[Kent T]

Love these photos, Bruce. And I miss Kodak Plus-X greatly. I loved it's tonality, and how it looked. It had a nice sharp, detailed look, and such poetic tonal range. Thanks for sharing them.

[rick_drawbridge]

Great photographs of great cameras! Thanks for sharing, Bruce.

[John Seaman]

Excellent.

[JDMvW]

It's really hard to beat a large negative!

 

Nice work

[q.g._de_bakker]

A large positive from a large negative will do the trick. ;)

 

Nice work.

[SCL]

Nice collection of classic cameras and congratulations on finding some viable Plus-X, my favorite film of all time. Thanks for the pictures.

[bruce_z._li2]

Thank you all! It has been fun to do large format again with a good "new" film. Treasure every sheet I have.

[Matthew Currie]

Somewhjere I still have a good part of a bulk roll of Plus X that expired around 1970. No care in storage. I loaded some into a Leica and a Mercury II and it still did pretty well in about 2003. I don't know whether it's as long lived as Verichrome Pan but it's pretty good.

[Robin Smith]

I hope the Sensorex pentaprism doesn't flare too badly:)

[chuck_foreman1]

Wow.. lovely work here!! Plus X was my go to film especially when I started many of the images I shot on it as mentioned here sharp and lovely tones!

[chauncey_walden]

Ah, Verichrome Pan!

[glen_h]

Somewhjere I still have a good part of a bulk roll of Plus X that expired around 1970. No care in storage. I loaded some into a Leica and a Mercury II and it still did pretty well in about 2003. I don't know whether it's as long lived as Verichrome Pan but it's pretty good.

 

I think I have some Plus-X in my (cool) basement darkroom.

 

Maybe not as long lived as VP, but also maybe not so bad.

 

I usually use old VP, even 50 or 60 years, at box speed.

[chuck_foreman1]

A propos Verichrome Pan... I always thought if "Kodak" brought back an emulsion like Ektachrome, they could bring back the versatile Verichrome Pan.. wouldn'T that be great.... :)

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