Kodak Panatomic X Shooting/Developing

I’m glad I stumbled on this thread as I have a 100’ roll of Pan-X in the freezer and was wondering how I was going to approach developing. This has provided a lot of ideas.
 
I’m glad I stumbled on this thread as I have a 100’ roll of Pan-X in the freezer and was wondering how I was going to approach developing. This has provided a lot of ideas.

TomA recommended Beutler (Leica) developer to me. Very easy to make and economical. High acutance developer with slow film
 
This thread is making me miss Pan-X...a lot.

The OP is one lucky dude. I would love a 100' roll of Pan-X. My last few precious rolls were all long-expired and stored mostly in the fridge. I used them up shortly after this thread started...I botched one development, but the others gave me that surprise I love -- nice negatives. No base fog that I could see, but I'm not an expert in base fog :).

I like to use Pan-X the way it was intended -- not for "street shooting", but deliberate stuff like my architecture or vintage tools projects. Sometimes I actually use a tripod :eek:. Pan-X is so amazing, you just don't know how amazing until you give it the conditions it wants -- a tripod for sure.

Now I'm out. Completely. And bummed :(
 
Panatomic-X - new again

Panatomic-X - new again

To establish a developing process for your Pan-X, now some 35 years old or more, why not start with Kodak's original recommendation: D76, 1:1, 7 minutes at 68 degrees (small tank.normal agitation)? I would shoot a couple of test sequences on one roll from the 100 foot roll. (The separate cartridges may have aged under different circumstances.) I would test ISO 10, 20 and 32. (It didn't get faster with age.) I shot a lot of Pan-X in 35mm format in the mid-1970s, developing in Microdol-X, 1:3. That was a horrible choice as I learned over the years with more education and experience. Dilution 1:3 relieved the crushing mushy grain that straight Microdol-X produces, but the lack of tonal separation in the highlights remained. I wasted a lot of landscape photo trips shooting that combo.
 
To establish a developing process for your Pan-X, now some 35 years old or more, why not start with Kodak's original recommendation: D76, 1:1, 7 minutes at 68 degrees (small tank.normal agitation)? I would shoot a couple of test sequences on one roll from the 100 foot roll. (The separate cartridges may have aged under different circumstances.) I would test ISO 10, 20 and 32. (It didn't get faster with age.)

My assessment, after shooting the shots posted above at ASA 32, and developing following Kodak’s processing guide to the letter, making no adjustments for the age of the film, is that it doesn’t seem to get any slower with age either. And this was for film stored under the worst conditions imaginable.
Which amazed me.
 
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