Pan F+, limited tonal range in D-76

[telenous]

The moment you thought you had your EI's and dev. times etc. nailed down your recipe fails you spectacularly the next time around. In the rare occasion when you get it right it's perhaps the most beautiful b&w film in the world.

Nicely put. I've found that using Pan F+ in AE cameras helps, my results with mechanical cameras were, er, debatable. Very nice film when it works. There is something about it that reminds technical films (the difficulty with getting contrast right and quite high resolution) and then again it doesn't (grain is about the same, if not bigger, as Tmax or Delta ISO 100 films). I think the difficulty arises with it being ISO 50 -- you have to use it when there is lots and lots of (sun)light, which is also precisely when contrast can get out of control with a film as inherently contrasty as this.

Some photos I've kept for my reference (all 35mm, EI40, D76 1+1, 7.30', normal temp):










.

 

[ChrisLivsey]

PanF in Pyrocat HD, pre-soak, semi-stand 15mins
I wouldn't complain about lack of tonal range although the light was kind here.
M6 Summicron 35mm f2 IV yellow filter


PanF in D23 6 1/2 mins
Barnack IIIc/f canon 35mm f2
Now this was in contrasty light and I agree some shadow blocking but I think that is more down to my scanning abilities.

 

[Shab]

I love this film exposed at 25asa and then developed with rodinal R09 one shot at 1+50.

Some examples:

Bronica GS-1 + PG 65mm.

 

[Roger Hicks]

It's a bit like hard work, and you need to know what you are doing, but if you get it right, it's delightful. My best results were (as far as I recall) at EI 40 with Perceptol. But it's much easier to get ultra-fine-grain results with MF.

Cheers,

R.

 

[georg16nik]

Very interseting, Georg. IIRC you were talking SLIMT recently hereabouts. What final strength ferricyanide do you use on PanF+ and for how long?I figured 1g/l is 1mg/ml and it may be the '10' that Katchell talks about. Would that be strong enough or too muc?. The other George makes a good point and the pre-bleach as for microfilm may an easy answer. I am assuming you 'are' using ferricyanide.
TIA

Hi Murray,
yes, p. ferricyanide and a bit bromide.
For some contrasty scenes, I give it 2 to 3 minutes in the bleach, then wash it and into the dev.
PanF+ rarely needs bleach.

 

[Murray Kelly]

Thank you, Georg.

 

[titrisol]

I havent used PanF in a long time, but you may have better luck getting long tonal ranges using Rodinal 1+100 for ~25 minutes [agitation every 2 minutes]
or with HC110 dilution H for 8 minutes [normal agitation]

PanF, just like any other slow film is prone to bllom the highlights and using diluted developers will help a lot in controlling that

Once I used a 20 brick of PanF+ only to find out if it's usable with Rodinal. I don't use stand developing (ugly halos, uneven sky etc.) so I decided to concentrate on 1+50. Yes, it's usable but not my first film choice. The main problem for me is PanF+ has frustratingly unpredictable level of contrast. The moment you thought you had your EI's and dev. times etc. nailed down your recipe fails you spectacularly the next time around. In the rare occasion when you get it right it's perhaps the most beautiful b&w film in the world.

 

[lynnb]

I've recently shot my first roll with Pan F Plus 50, developed in Adonal 1:50 11m 20C, six initial then 2 inversions every minute. I used an orange filter to bring out clouds. The shadows were deep but I quite liked the results. The cafe shot split toned in LR4.

All 35mm on an OM4/Zuiko 28mm f3.5

after the storm #191 by lynnb's snaps, on Flickr

three at the beach #171 by lynnb's snaps, on Flickr

inner city cafe, Sydney #170 by lynnb's snaps, on Flickr

swim time #179 by lynnb's snaps, on Flickr

exploring the rock platform #158 by lynnb's snaps, on Flickr
(this last shot manipulated in LR4 to emphasise the clouds)

 

[mcfingon]

They look great Lynn. You've done well getting shadow detail and depth. I may have to try Pan F again.

 

[lynnb]

They look great Lynn. You've done well getting shadow detail and depth. I may have to try Pan F again.

Thanks. I have a few rolls in 120 which I want to try for portraits. Will post the results here.