Nikon F + HP5 + Xtol

I loaded some HP5 into my Nikon F and went on one of my usual walks through the neighborhood to the Old Town Plaza.  Something about this camera inspires me to see old subjects in a new light, and I finished up the roll before I was back home.

The Nikon F is arguably the best buy in my collection of old cameras; it would have been a bargain at two or three times the price.  It shows little signs of use and everything works smoothly and precisely.  The shutter is accurate and quiet.  The Nikon lenses are all fine performers.

I processed the HP5 in Xtol at 1+1 dilution and was very pleased to see the best results I have gotten from this developer.  The grain and tonal spectrum were near perfect with little need for Photoshop adjustments.

Panatomic-X

Thanks to my generous friend, Kodachromeguy, I was able to shoot a roll of Kodak Panatomic-X with an expiration date of 09/1991.  At his suggestion, I shot the film at 25 ASA.  Having just mixed up my first batch of Kodak XTOL I decided to use that developer to process the Panatomic-X.  I took the suggestion from the FilmDev site to develop in XTOL 1:1 for 7.5 minutes at 20°C.  Also helpful for a general introduction to XTOL  was the Covington Innovations site.

The results seemed pretty extraordinary for a film nearly three decades past its expiration date.  XTOL may not be the optimum developer for Panatomic-X, but I was pretty pleased with the outcome.  I'm not sure when I'll get another chance to shoot a roll of Panatomic-X, but I am looking forward to trying XTOL with several of the modern b&w films I often shoot, including HP5 and Kentmere.