Perutz Perpantic-18 in Rodinal?

jonny · 2012-02-10T17:19:12+00:00

Hallo, ich habe aus einer alten Frank Solida III einen belichteten Perutz Perpantic-18 (50er Jahre?) gefischt, den ich jetzt gerne entwickeln würde, vorzugs...

jonny

Hello, I’ve managed to salvage an exposed Perutz Perpantic-18 (1950s?) from an old Frank Solida III, which I’d now like to develop, preferably in Rodinal. Has anyone ever developed a film like this before and could give me some advice on the development time? Thanks, ER

Wolfgg

Hello Elizabeth, With films this old, always bear in mind that they may be nitrocellulose film: http://www.bundesarchiv.de/fachinformationen/01009/index.html.de If no one can suggest tried-and-tested times or dilutions, the very balanced ‘stand’ method would be recommended, i.e.: Prepare Rodinal at a ratio of 1:100, fill the tank completely to remove all air, agitate for the first 3 minutes, then leave the tank upside down for 20 minutes, then stand it upright (this gives a more even development) and leave to develop for a further 40 minutes. All at 20°C. There are plenty of examples here of what this technique can achieve: http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=rodinal+stand&m=text Regards, Wolfgang

jonny

Hello Elizabeth, With films this old, always bear in mind that they may be nitrocellulose film: http://www.bundesarchiv.de/fachinformationen/01009/index.html.de If no one can suggest tried-and-tested times or dilutions, the very balanced ‘stand’ method would be recommended, i.e.: Prepare Rodinal at a ratio of 1:100, fill the tank completely to remove all air, agitate for the first 3 minutes, then leave the tank upside down for 20 minutes, then stand it upright (this gives a more even development) and leave to develop for a further 40 minutes. All at 20°C. There are plenty of examples here of what this technique can achieve: http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=rodinal+stand&m=text Regards, Wolfgang

Thanks for the tip; perhaps this really is the chance to try out stand development. I was aware of the issue with nitro films, but I didn’t realise that such films were still being sold into the 1960s. The page you linked to contains links to several PDFs that make for a really fascinating and informative read. Once the film has dried, I’ll carefully burn a small snippet of it; that should provide some certainty. ER

AchimBauer

Hello Elizabeth, hello Wolfgang, Wolfgang’s post has actually left me feeling a bit anxious, because I have my father’s folder of negatives – a thick book full of negatives from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s. Perutz, Agfa, ADOX. Elizabeth’s plan to burn a tiny snippet probably won’t achieve much; I’ve tried that too and it doesn’t tell you much. Since I couldn’t sleep last night (I don’t think the films were the cause), I decided that instead of tossing and turning in bed for a few more hours, I’d have a look online. There I found the site: http://www.klauskramer.de/nitrofilm/nitratfilm_top_04_09.html. You can also find it by Googling ‘how to identify nitrate film’. There are other reliable testing methods listed there. Good light, Achim

AchimBauer

I don't know why the address isn't displaying correctly; after the 3Ws comes klauskramer.de/nitrofilm/nitratfilm_top_04-09.html

Wolfgg

Hello, I can hardly believe it, but I’ve now discovered a nitro film in my father’s collection of negatives (dating from around 1925 to 1960, mainly glass plates)! The slightly yellowish overall colour made me suspicious. So I cut a streak about 1 mm wide from the roll film and held it briefly (about 0.2 seconds) in a lighter flame. It burned immediately, much like a fuse! And quickly too – the 60 mm burned down in 1 second. I repeated the same test with an acetate film: the piece in the flame melted briefly and that was it. So: the flame test works too. Have a look at your old film stocks, if you have any. You wouldn’t want your entire archive, including newer films, to go up in smoke one day. Regards, Wolfgang