Expired Neopan 1600 & 400 in SPUR developers

[Bradford]

Hello there,

Lately I've decided to buy some 'vintage' films from a photographer getting rid of all 35mm stocks from his fridge. Namely, I get a 10 pack of Neopan 1600 (expired in 2012) and two 10-packs of Neopan 400 (expired in 2015). Cold stored, but not necessarily frozen.

I probably should have thought about it a bit more before going for it, as the only developers that I have at my disposal are SPUR Acurol-N (that I use for stocks of ASA 100 and less) and SPUR HRX (for faster, but not super fast films). I already made some experiments with Neopan 400 and HRX (SPUR's datasheet includes souping time for this combination) and the results are OK, though I'll probably shoot it at ISO 320 (or less) next time, as shadow detail is a bit lacking.

Unfortunately, I could not find dev times for Neopan 1600 and those two developers. Not to mention any hints how to treat it, as it expired 7 years ago.

Have anyone from fellow members tried those developers with these films? I'm especially quite curious about how could they turn out in Acurol-N. SPUR includes a recipe for Neopan 400@200. Is it safe to treat Neopan 1600 in similar way, that is shoot it at ISO 800/640 and develop for the same time/agitation rythm as N400?

All the best

 

[znapper]

I really cannot help you regarding the developers.

However, I have my freezer chock-full of both the 1600 and the 400 and I shoot them at box speed. (well, the 1600 I normally shot at 1000).

I have kept my stuff in the freezer the whole time though, but I would assume that refrigerated stuff will keep very well, especially the 400.

I develop these films in Fuji's super-prodol, or regular HC-110.

I have one case of Spur SLD (I think this one https://www.fotoimpex.com/chemistry/spur-sld-developer-500-ml-concentrate.html )

I see in my notes that I used 1+9 for 9.5 minutes, which is more or less in line what I found on MDC: https://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php?Film=%25Fuji+Neopan+1600%25&Developer=%25Spur%25&mdc=Search&TempUnits=C&TimeUnits=D

This is a rare scan of one of my few prints.
Neopan 1600 @ 1600 in Spur SLD 1+9 9.5 m


Vintage metal film canisters by Ole-Henrik Helin, on Flickr

Note: I most often scan and very rarely print, any degrading may be more apparent when printing.

 

[Bradford]

Thanks for the insight, znapper. I might try to get my hands on SPUR SLD; results that you've posted seem to be right in my alley. 🙂