Pan F Plus exposed at EI 25 by error !!! what developer/time to apply ?

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Oh no ! I've just become aware that the whole roll (35 mm) I've shot today has been overexposed ! It is Ilford Pan F Plus (iso 50) that has been shot as if it was iso 25. I normally use Tetenal Ultrafin Plus or Tetenal Negafin, but I just can't find an adequate time for such exposition with this film and developers (I may also have acces to Rodinal at my photo club). I've read that some of you intentionnaly exopose this film at this rating (25 iso), but I just can't get to understand why ? What do the results look like in comparison with the same film shot at 50 iso ? What is the point in using it at 25 iso ? I would like to have feedback from such users, so as to be able to process my film correctly. Any advice is welcome ! Many many thanks for helping me saving my beloved pictures ! Eric, 21-year-old french amateur photograph.

-- Eric Escolano (eric@escolano.com), June 02, 2002

Answers

Eric, do not be concerned. Pan F can be exposed at a number of speeds and the best results will not necessarily be at EI50. I suggest you check the giant development chart at www.digitaltruth.com. It lists a number of developers that have been tested with PanF at EI 25. Ultimately you should experiment to find your own best exposure/time variant.

-- Phil Glass (PHi_Glass@yahoo.com), June 02, 2002.

Exposed at EI 25 the shadow detail will be better and the grain a little larger (not a big deal with PanF). Develop it normally, unless the stuff you shot was high contrast in which case cut development time by 10-20%

-- John Lehman (al7jj@yahoo.com), June 02, 2002.

Thank you guys for contributing your answers !

Anyway, iso 25 is "only" 1 stop more than iso 50, so it doesn't result in such a huge overexposure... I agree with John, and I guess that processing it the way I use to will give me a quite printable result, and anyway, I prefer to adjust my printing conditions rather than my film developing ones... perhaps I'll get a more contrasty negative but why use variable contrast paper if you don't use its variable contast properties ?

I remember having shot the 3 first frames of a roll of HP5 at iso 25 (the remaining frames at iso 400) : I processed the stuff as usual, and I still managed to acceptably print these 3 very overexposed (4 stops) and contrasty frames...

What I'm interested in is to understand why some of you will shoot Pan F Plus at iso 25 rather than at iso 50 ? I just can't get to understand why ! (whereas I understand the interest and disadventages of pushing a film).

What about Tetenal products in the USA ? You don't seem to have an easy acces to them, whereas they are very common here in Europe... I couldn't find a lot of tetenal-related discussions on this forum... I am very pleasd with them : I use "Negafin" and "Ultrafin Plus" as film developers, and "Work" variable contrast RC paper (the cheapest I could find).

Once again thank you for answering me... see you ! Eric.

-- Eric Escolano (eric@escolano.com), June 02, 2002.


John Lehman wrote: "Exposed at EI 25 the shadow detail will be better and the grain a little larger (not a big deal with PanF). Develop it normally, unless the stuff you shot was high contrast in which case cut development time by 10-20%"

Don't you get SMALLER grain if you overexpose one step and reduce the time in the developer by 25-30%? ;-)

Eric, I overexpose some films like Agfa APX 25 and Tri-X one stop and shorten the time in the developer to get more details in the shadows, reduced contrast and at the same time, smaller grain. I haven't done this with Pan F yet, but I am only on my fifth test roll. I like the results so far. A nice film. :-)

-- Patric (jenspatricdahlen@hotmail.com), June 03, 2002.


"What I'm interested in is to understand why some of you will shoot Pan F Plus at iso 25 rather than at iso 50 ? I just can't get to understand why ! "

Eric, my experience is that according to my taste the B/W films are almost ALWAYS overrated by manufacturer by 1-2 stops (Delta 100 and TMAx 100 seem to be the only exception), and suggested development times give too high contrast. When I try a new film my usuas practice is to expose the film at half of its speed (e.i. overexpose by 1 stop compared to mfc recommendations) and reduce the development time by 20-50%. This is MY starting point. The rest depends on further testing, scene brightness range etc.

-- Andrey Vorobyov (AndreyVorobyov@hotbox.ru), June 04, 2002.



Patric wrote: "Don't you get SMALLER grain if you overexpose one step and reduce the time in the developer by 25-30%?"

No; the same size, but if you develop normally the negative will be a little denser and the grain will be a bit more obvious

-- John Lehman (al7jj@yahoo.com), June 05, 2002.


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