[pure-silver] Re: Developing a film pack of Ansco Superpan Press film
- From: "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2011 09:05:12 -0700
----- Original Message -----
From: "Martin magid" <martin.magid@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Pure Silver" <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2011 10:10 AM
Subject: [pure-silver] Developing a film pack of Ansco
Superpan Press film
Bogdan's discovery of his Royal Pan film came at about the
same time that I
was given a lot of old photo goods, icluding a 4X5 Premo
film pack holder
loaded with Ansco Superpan Press film. All 12 tabs of the
pack are still
sticking out, ready to use. I do have a Premo C 4 X 5
camera, and I would
like to use the film in that camera. But I would also
like to use some of
it in my Graflex Speed Graphic, which has an accurate
shutter and probably a
better lens than the Premo C. So I have these questions:
1. I don't know the age of this film, but I suspect
everything I was given
was kept in boxes for years, at best in a basement, but
possibly in a garage
in northern Michigan and upstate NY with wide fluctuations
in weather. What
would be a reasonable guess for the operating ISO of the
Superpan Press
film, and the best developers to use in a tray?
2. I have never used pack film before. When I get it to
the darkroom, will
the negatives separate easily from the pack? I use 4 X 5
film hangers to
develop 4 X5 in trays, with the hanger tabs bent up so I
can agitate by
moving the tabs around.
Thanks for any help on this.
Marty
Superpan Press is about ISO-200 but I would shoot it at
around EI-100 because its probably fogged badly. Development
is around 10 minutes @68F in D-76 full strength.
Pack film consists of sheets of film on a thin support
similar to roll film. Each sheet is fastened to a paper
leader. When the pack is fresh All the sheets are packed on
top of a spring loaded plate that pushes them toward the
front. The paper leaders are brought around a roller to the
back where they stick out of the casing. When a film is
exposed the paper leader is pulled which pulls the film in
back of the plate, the end of the leader is then torn off.
When the pack is exposed its opened in the darkroom and the
films are removed from the back. The remaining paper can be
peeled off similarly to the way the paper backing of roll
film is peeled off.
Because the film is very thin it does not stay well in
conventional developing hangers. Special hangers were made
for pack film but it can be developed satisfactorily in a
tray. Again, because of the thinness its harder to
manipulate in a tray and I suggest developing only two or
three sheets at a time.
With some care individual exposed sheets can be removed
from the film pack case without disturbing the un-exposed
films. Its been so long since I've done this I don't
remember exactly how.
Film pack adaptors are extremely simple being basically
a box which fits into the camera. Film packs were very
popular for use in plate back cameras and came in plate
sizes. The simple adaptor made it possible to get many
exposures without having to carry a lot of holders plus the
film was easier to store and handle than glass plates. Film
packs were used to some extent for press work because of the
possibility of making a lot of exposures quickly but the
thinner film was difficult to handle in the rush conditions
often characteristic of press work. Also, the difficulty of
removing films from partially used packs, or else wasting
part of the pack, kept them from being very popular for
press work.
Ansco made more than one film with the name Superpan,
including Superpan in rolls and sheets, Superpan Press, and
Superpan Portrait. I have have film data sheets burried away
somewhere.
My guess is that the film will be badly fogged, but you
can never tell without trying. Also, some Ansco film has
problems with "vinegar syndrome" the decomposition of
"safety" base films. Old Defender films seem to be the worse
for this and Kodak the best but many old films have the
problem.
Kodak claimed they stopped making film packs because
the last worker who knew how to assemble them retired. Well,
someone could have been trained so I think the real reason
was that they just were not selling enough to justify
continuing them.
--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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