A year or two ago I found a Watson bulk loader in my attic loaded with Plus-X with an expiration date of 1999. Now I had moved around a lot and moved into this house in 2008. Anyway I'm in NC, close to Myrtle Beach and the attic in summer must hit around 140 Deg F. So the film wasn't only old it had been in the worse storage condition possible. Anyway there must have been close to the original 100 ft roll in the loader. I developed in D-76 for the recommended Kodak time with maybe a little more agitation than normal. every roll came out great. Point being start with the recommend time and then adjust as necessary. Pan-X D:76 5 minutes. D76 1:1 7 minutes. i also have HC-110 & Microdol-X times.
My vote is for D76. I used Panatomic-X - it, Plus-X and the old Tri-X were the legendary trio in Kodak's arsenal of black-and-white films until they were sadly discontinued, one by one - and since its discontinuation in the late '80s, have been collecting it as and wherever I can find it. Recently l lucked into an affordable treasure-trove of almost 100 rolls of 120 and 35 of 35mm which, along with those stocks of it I already have (including two 100-foot rolls, still sealed and boxed) will, I hope, see me through with my fine-art shooting to that sad day when I put my film cameras on a shelf for the last time.
Panatomic-X seems to age well and like good wine, produces superb images even decades after its textbook expiry date. These days I acknowledge its 'vintage' by varying its EI speed slightly, 25 in sunshine and 20 on overcast days. I also pull the development by 15% in a Jobo. The negatives I get both print and scan with excellent results.
Kodak films are amazing. Last year I paid A$25 at an Australian flea market for a 100' can of Tri-X which shot at 250 and 320 shows no sign at all of any fog. Who knows where it was kept - most likely at the bottom of some long-gone photographer's freezer. Such finds are a blessing to we older photogs who rely on outdated film for a lot of our analog shooting, especially here in Australia where new film costs have gone through the proverbial roof.
I shot Neopan SS 100 in the late '90s-early '00s and may still have a few rolls left at the bottom of my film freezer at home. I must really go fossicking in there to see what I'll find - not too much Kodachrome, I hope. For me it (Neopan) produced good results with not too much grain with D76. Try a roll and see.
If it helps, I processed all my films with D76 diluted 1-1 and usually for the recommended Kodak times -15%-20%,, but of course YMMV. You may want to 'sacrifice' a test roll or two rolls and vary your exposures and EI settings, it will be worth it.
