Verichrome Pan is one of those films a lot of old guys would like to see on the shelves again. It yielded a rich tonal range and very fine grain that very few modern films can match. Kodak stopped making VP 120 about twenty-five years ago, but it ages well and there is a pretty good chance of getting some images with it even from a roll that is well expired. The two rolls I was given recently are definitely in that category; the one that recorded this set of pictures had a use-before-date of Dec. 1973. I decided to shoot the film in my Kodak No.1 Autographic Special folder that was built around 1917.
All the exposures were at 1/100 and f8 in bright morning sun, two stops wider than the 125 ASA box speed. The negatives were pretty light, so a stop or two more probably would have been better. I processed semi-stand for fifty minutes in Rodinal 1:100.
I did a poor job of framing my shots through the open frame viewfinder which I taped to the side of the camera, so I cropped all the shots to match my intentions. The uncoated Tessar lens never fails to astound me with its sharpness.
The bellows on my No.1 Special seems fine, but a small light leak has shown up in previous outings with the camera. This time I ran some black electrical tape all around the back, and that seems to have solved the problem. Given the fine performance the camera delivered on this last occasion, I think it deserves another go with some fresh film.
4 comments:
I've taken to trolling eBay for VP. I have two rolls in 120 and one in 127 in the freezer. I look for stock expired in the 80s and 90s and then shoot it at box speed. I've only had it not turn out well once.
I've only done one roll of 127 VP in the past. It was well past its expiration date, but the tonalities were still very nice in spite of some irregularities. I'll try shooting the next 120 roll at a couple more stops open, but it will be a challenge without a tripod.
Wow! You got amazing results!! I am blown away!
Nice to have an opportunity to get something from that fine old film. I had to adjust levels and contrast, but I thought the outcome was pretty good considering the extreme age. I was also happy to have a go at using my Kodak Special folder which may be the most interesting camera in my collection.
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