Dear readers, this is it, the last time for 135 size
Kodak Panatomic-X film. I exposed my last roll in and around Vicksburg and will likely never use any again (although I still am using
120 format rolls for medium format cameras). The Panatomic-X from eBay sellers is usually older than the rolls I used, and they almost never have information on how it was stored. Here are some examples from this last roll of the famous Panatomic-X. I exposed it at exposure index (EI) = 20 and sent it to Northeast Photographic in Bath, Maine, to develop.
Vicksburg, Mississippi
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| Cherry Street bridge, Feb. 16, 2021 (Jupiter-8 lens, yellow filter, 1/30 ƒ/8) |
This was one of our two unusual snowfalls in February.
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Kroger supermarket, Pemberton Blvd. (Leitz 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens, deep yellow filter, 1/100 ƒ/4)
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This is the site of the short-lived K-Mart store, which was poorly run and seldom had customers. This is a new building because the Kroger company tore down the K-Mart structure.
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Pemberton Blvd., Vicksburg (Leitz 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens, deep yellow filter)
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| Parking lot north of Bunge terminal, Levee Street, Vicksburg (Summitar lens, ½ sec ƒ/11.5) |
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| Kansas City Southern rail yard, Levee Street (Leitz Summitar lens) |
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| "America" moored at the Vicksburg Waterfront, view down Grove Street (Leitz Summitar lens) |
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| Kansas City Southern rail yard, Levee Street (Jupiter-8 lens, yellow filter, 1/20 ƒ/11) |
Port of Vicksburg
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| Vicksburg Forest Products (formerly Anderson-Tully) |
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| Vicksburg Forest Products, view north (Jupiter-8 lens, deep yellow filter) |
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| Ergon Bio-fuels, Haining Road (Summitar lens) |
DTE is at the north end of Industrial Drive. I often bike there, and one of the ladies who works at DTE has given me bottles of chilled water on hot days. DTE stores and handles pulverized petroleum coke.
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| Falco Lime from Port Terminal Circle (Leitz Summitar, 1/60 ƒ/5.6) |
Louisiana
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| Port of Lake Providence, Louisiana (Jupiter-8 lens, deep yellow filter) |
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| Former cotton gin, Tallulah |
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| Barn on Rte 602 near Tallulah (Jupiter-8 lens) |
Summary
This ends my Expired Film Treasures (Films from the Dead) series as it pertains to 35mm size. This has been a fun exploration, but I want to concentrate on contemporary films.
- Panatomic-X was a beautiful film and very characteristic of the 20th century black and white aesthetic.
- The last two rolls of Panatomic-X that I used were more grainy than I remember. Possibly this is a result of development, but more likely it is a result of the film being 30 years old.
- Today, Fuji Acros, Ilford Delta 100, and Kodak TMax 100 have a higher and more convenient film speed. They are finer grain and higher resolution, as well, showing the benefits of several decades of photo-chemical research and development.
- Once you scan film and display it on the web, honestly, it is hard to distinguish different types of black and white film.
- Some of my pictures had out-of-focus areas. There may be a lens alignment problem with my Leica IIIC, and I sent it to DAG camera for a check-up. (Update: the camera is back and I need to test it.)
- I recommend that you do not seek out Panatomic-X film unless you can be sure that the rolls have been frozen all the years. Even then, having been discontinued about 1991 or 1992, it is bordering on being too old, although some bloggers say it has almost indefinite keeping properties.
Thank you for reading. Keep exploring your world and take pictures of things, people, or scenes that move you.
6 comments:
I admire these photos and your experiments. These are so striking to me--I am a fan of lines, angles, and those subtle differences in shades of grey. Well done!
These are lovely - especially the first railway photo, with its silvery tones.
I still have one roll of Pan X left. I'm also shooting the GAF 125 you sent right now in my Nikon N90s. Like you, I'm preparing to let expired stock go -- except maaaaaybe the odd roll of Verichrome Pan, as I dearly love that stuff. But otherwise, I'm focusing on T-Max 100 and FP4 Plus as my main regular b/w films, and T-Max 400 and HP5 Plus as my main regular fast b/w films.
Thank you all for your support. Jim, give the GAF Versapan film plenty of exposure, and expect it to be rather grainy compared to contemporary films. A yellow or orange filter will help the sky texture.
Why did you send it to Maine for development, was there a special reason?
I have used Northeast Photographic in Bath for several years. They do excellent work. Highly recommended.
I lived in Bath, Maine as a child in the late 1960s. All I recall was the blatant racism and parades that passed our family home annually.
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