Stockpile film?

[venchka]

I was asleep at the wheel and didn't lay in a supply of mercury batteries or Kodachrome 25 (a.k.a. Kodachrome II for you youngsters) or Agfachrome. 🙁 :bang:

Does anybody know anyway to get real PX625 mercury batteries sent to the U S of A? Leave it to the Gummit to ban something without an exact replacement.

You betcha I'll be wide awake should the awful day come when film dies. Toward that end, how would one best store film long term? I also assume that the best films to store are ones that a person can develop themselves. That implies B&W of course and Ektachrome. They still make that don't they? 😕 How long do you reckon film would last if preserved properly? I suppose B&W film would probably still be good after I'm gone.

While we're at it, get this old timer up to speed. What are the end all to beat all B&W emulsions available today? A nice 3 speed assortment to cover all the bases. Back in the day that meant Pan-X, Plus-X and Tri-X before discovered Agfa film and Rodinol. 😀

Geeeeeeeeeeeze, I feel like Rip van Winkle. Help a brother out.

Glass plates anyone? They were good enough for William Henry Jackson. I wonder if you could replicate a glass plate with a nice thick Mylar?

Cheers!

 

[kvanderlaag]

I'd say the Efke 25 is nice, Agfa APX 100 hands down (but no, you don't want that. Just leave it all for me!) and Tri-X 400. Not really sure about native 800/1600/3200.

 

[ch1]

Do we really need to dig up the old FID stuff every time someone new joins this site?

Check the archives - this topic has been beaten to death and then some.

As to mercury batteries - for crying out loud they are a nasty environmental hazard - AFAIK they are banned everywhere - so please leave the politics to the other sites!

 

[wlewisiii]

What the heck, I'll bite... 🙂 Sorry, George...

Far as glass plates are concerned, Ilford is seriously looking into restarting that line. If you want dry plates that's the best option as the have the hardware to do it right. They may even be able to do fast emulsions like 100ISO... 🙄

Now wet plates -- that's another even more fun game that can be played by anyone who wants to.

Even if every film maker on the planet were gone tomorrow, I could still shoot wet glass as that's really very simple chemistry. 🙂 Google is your friend. If you want to know, it is already out there. No "build it and they'll come" cr*p. No, everything you need to know was written over a hundred years ago. And all of it is still very easy to do today. Heck, a petzval, dallmeyer or rapid rectilinear can be ground by anyone able to do a telescope lens...

If you really want classic photography, some company making film is irrelevant. The real question is much more simple: are you ready to do real work with some potentially lethal chemicals for your image? Just remember that ISO25 will be so fast your head will spin... :bang: Unless you can figure out just how mustard really helps...

At least untill some assh*le decides that silver halides are somehow enabling terrorists... :bang:

So the cycle goes. Hope this helps.

William

 

[venchka]

Search complete. Archives visited. Nothing much has changed.

Thanks for the chuckles.

 

[ch1]

Search complete. Archives visited. Nothing much has changed.

Thanks for the chuckles.

Wayne,

Cool. We've been there, done that with the FID topic. Really think we should have a separate thread just for those musings.

There are folks here who manage the film "death watch" and will regularly post when another nail is hammered into the coffin.

BTW: I just loaded up three cameras with film (oh, and also put a "fresh" CF in my D-100) - gonna do some shootin' tomorrow - all formats!

Life is sweet and getting a bit too short. Shoot what you enjoy and don't worry about tomorrow (so much).... 😀

 

[RJBender]

Wayne,

Cool. We've been there, done that with the FID topic. Really think we should have a separate thread just for those musings.

There are folks here who manage the film "death watch" and will regularly post when another nail is hammered into the coffin.

BTW: I just loaded up three cameras with film (oh, and also put a "fresh" CF in my D-100) - gonna do some shootin' tomorrow - all formats!

Life is sweet and getting a bit too short. Shoot what you enjoy and don't worry about tomorrow (so much).... 😀

Wayne,

Send a PM to Trius. He once mentioned that you can use a zinc hearing battery with an O ring to replace a 625 mercury battery.

George,

I walked into my local Office Depot today to buy some note pads and there on the clearance table was a 1GB PNY CF card sealed in a blister pack for $23.97. Just a heads up, I don't know if all the stores have the same deal on these cards.

R.J.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

http://www.smallbattery.company.org.uk/ and do a serach for PX625, it sets out the PX625 options very clearly, they sell an adapter - scroll down to near the end of the page.

 

[ch1]

http://www.smallbattery.company.org.uk/ and do a serach for PX625, it sets out the PX625 options very clearly, they sell an adapter - scroll down to near the end of the page.

Oops to all - yes - I forgot to point out that there are modern day "close voltage" replacements for the 625mercs - a bit pricey but not out of the ball park.

I got a couple on eBay for my Nikon F (which I have never used - anyone want to buy it? It comes with batteries..... 😉 )

 

[Berk Sirman]

Kodachrome II and Kodachrome 25 are not the same thing. The former is a K12 film, the latter K14, and came much later.

I was asleep at the wheel and didn't lay in a supply of mercury batteries or Kodachrome 25 (a.k.a. Kodachrome II for you youngsters) or Agfachrome. 🙁 :bang:

 

[venchka]

Kodachrome II and Kodachrome 25 are not the same thing. The former is a K12 film, the latter K14, and came much later.

I should have figured that out when the label changed. I followed my dad's lead and only shot K-II.

Shame, shame, shame on me for not searching the archives before running at the fingers. I knew better. I learned that over on the WoodenBoat Forum. I would even do the search for the rookies and post results.

I was really more interested in long term storage. I wasn't trying to fan the "FID" fires. Seems most folks keep film in a lower than room temperature location and it lasts a long time.

As for PX625 battereis, I keep finding articles on the web that say they are selling them in Canada. True or false? Seems not true to me.

One more thing, along the lines of scarce and not dead film: another thread said that lots of AGFA film was shipped to Canada earlier this year? True or False? Who's got it? Stop hoarding it, EH? 😀

 

[aad]

I'm beginning to think B&W film is near immortal. I still have and shoot 15 year old TriX, and recently found an exposed role from over 20 years ago that developed just fine.

 

[Socke]

Wayne, although I know that I better not mess with texas, please stay away from mercury cells! Silver Oxyde cells with a Criss adapter are as good as the originals.