Another Film Treasure: Ilford Pan-F Plus

This short review is for a film that is still in production (yes, I do sometimes use modern film):  Ilford Pan F Plus. According to the manufacturer:

ILFORD PAN F PLUS is a slow speed, high contrast, black & white film offering exceptionally fine grain, sharpness and detail.

Suitable for bright conditions from sunny days to controlled studio lighting. It suits subjects ranging from architecture and still-life to portraiture and fashion.

PAN F PLUS is perfect for enlargements as negatives show an outstanding range of tone, high-edge contrast and extreme sharpness. It is therefore also suitable for a range of specialist or scientific applications such as photomicrography or the production of black and white slides.

This is a traditional cubic grain film, like the Kodak Panatomic-X that I normally use when I want a fine-grain traditional film. Pan-F has been in production for decades, but for some reason, I never tried it. My friend in Indiana, Jim Grey generously sent me a roll of Verichrome Pan film, but he also included a roll of Pan-F in 120 size and said Go At It. Most reviewers write that it is contrasty, so I loaded it in my Hasselblad and set out for Port Gibson on the last day of 2020, a gloomy day with drizzle (my favorite light). Because of the low light, these are all tripod-mounted exposures. I exposed it at EI (exposure index) of 32.

I sent the film to Northeast Photographic in Bath, Maine, to develop, and scanned the negatives with my Minolta medium format film scanner. To the eye, the negatives looked too contrasty. But the Silverfast Ai scanning software has a profile for Pan-F, and the resulting files looked just about right, with little need to manually adjust the contrast. Here are some examples, all full-frame. Click any frame to expand it. Please tell me what you think via the comments.

US 61

Unusual shed at 3316 US 61S, Vicksburg, Mississippi (80mm Planar lens)

Unknown shop or warehouse at Cedars Road, Vicksburg

Former Sonny's BBQ and gasoline, Yokena

I remember driving by this shop/gas station many times and thinking I should take some photographs. But I never did and now it is closed. Bogus.

Port Gibson

Fixer-upper truck, 1097 Shiloh Road, Port Gibson (50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens, ⅛ ƒ/11)

Fixer-upper cottage, Back Grand Gulf Road (50mm Distagon, ⅛ ƒ/8, minor fill flash)

North of Port Gibson, some shaded narrow roads wind through the woods. One of these leads past the popular Warner Tully YMCA summer camp, known by generations of summer campers. I want to go back and explore some more. You see many of trailers with beat-up cars and trucks abandoned on the lots.

Abandoned cottage, Vandeventer Street, Port Gibson (80mm Planar-CB, ⅛ ƒ/11)

Abandoned house, Vandeventer Street (80mm Planar-CB, ⅛ ƒ/11

Store/commercial building, Carrol Street

Port Gibson is pretty rough. Despite its fine architectural heritage, much of the town looks beat-up and dirty. The downtown has hollowed-out, like so many small towns in the US heartland.

House belonging to an artist, Farmer Street (80mm Planar-CB, ⅛ ƒ/11, minor fill flash)

I chatted with the gent who lives here. He graciously let me take a picture of his house. He had interesting items on the porch and in the yard.

Old Hwy 61 bridge over Little Bayou Pierre

This is the old Highway 61 bridge. Looking west, you see it from the current 61 bridge. I tried to find a viewpoint. Some gents at a car shop/garage graciously escorted me through the shop to the muddy banks of the Little Bayou Pierre. I slipped - mud everywhere. They said when the river overtops its banks, they get nasty water in their garage (and snakes). Note the water level stains on the concrete pier.

This is the end of my short experiment with Ilford Pan-F. This is nice film! It is very fine grain, similar to the Kodak Panatomic-X that I like. On this overcast, drizzly day, I did not have any issues with contrast and cannot comment on its performance on a sunny day. Of course, you can modify development to make a black and white film more or less contrasty. I am not sure when I will use it again because I still have 10 or 12 rolls of Panatomic-X in the freezer as well as some Fuji Acros 100 film. For hand-held use, Tri-X is more convenient. Regardless, thanks, Jim Grey, for sending me a roll of this Pan-F!

This is no. 07 of my irregular series on different films, but this product is still in production, unlike the other emulsions in the series.

Architecture from our Industrial Past: Bates and Androscoggin Mills, Lewiston, Maine

Undated post card showing Bates Mill and canal, Lewiston, Maine (from Wikimedia)

Outflow canal, Upton Mills, Mill St., Lewiston (Kodachrome 64 film, Rolleiflex camera, 75mm lens)

Northern New England (USA) is full of former mill towns with amazing 1800s brick mill buildings. Most of these were built in the early- to mid-1800s on rivers, where water power could power the machinery. Most of these mills spun cotton or wool into textiles, while other factories produced shoes. These industries represent the early flourishing of the industrial revolution in the United States. 

The New England States and northern New York provided a perfect geology for our early industrial expansion because of the steep terrain, dependable rainfall, and hard rock geology. Rivers flowed down over numerous waterfalls where water wheels could be placed and a factory established. Flowing from hard rock terrain, the rivers flowed clean, and hydro projects were not plagued with silt and mud accumulation. Bustling towns grew up around these factories. Being close to the coast, merchants shipped manufactured textiles and other goods to ports like Portland, Portsmouth, Boston, or Providence for transshipment to Europe.

1910 photograph of the Androscoggin River (from Wikimedia)

Lewiston is the largest city in Androscoggin County, Maine. This part of Maine was populated by Quebec families and was incorporated as "Lewistown" in 1795. With the development of mills and the arrival of the railroad, the town boomed economically during the mid-late 1800s, attracting thousands of Quebecers to migrate. French is still commonly spoken. 

The textile industry's profits declined greatly after World War I. Starting in the 1950s, Lewiston's mills started to close (an example of early outsourcing, where textile companies shifted manufacturing to the US South, where labor was cheap and non-unionized). 

The status of these huge mill buildings has been fraught with economic and historic preservation issues. According to Wikipedia:

After a difficult economic period in the 1980s that saw high unemployment and downtown stagnation, several key events have led to economic and cultural growth, including the transformation of the historic Bates Mill Complex. Because the city took over the complex in 1992 after back taxes went unpaid, years of taxpayer frustration in the city's need to maintain the 1.1-million-square-foot (100,000 m2) behemoth led to two referenda (one non-binding vote, the other binding). Voters soundly supported the need to pursue redevelopment by maintaining the property and selling it to private developers. In 2001, the city sold three mill buildings to local developers. In 2003, Platz Associates sold the Bates Mill Complex, with the exception of Mill 5 and a small support building. For the next four years, a number of business enterprises expanded after Platz redeveloped the mill building. The Bates Mill complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December 2010.

A relative who lives in Lewiston knew the manager of one of the redevelopment projects. His foundation intended to find new tenants for one of the magnificent old Bates Mill buildings. She made the connection and we all had the chance to tour the building and learn about the development plans. He generously let me take photographs inside.

Bates Mill #1 or #5, Canal Street, Lewiston (Ilford XP2 film, Rolleiflex 3.5E Xenotar, 1 sec. exposure)

These views of the cavernous halls give you a sense of the size of this building. Iron posts support huge timber joists, and the tongue-and-groove flooring felt solid enough to support tons of machinery. This was construction from an era when we were proud of what we built, and it was made to last decades.

This photograph shows how the iron posts hold up the ceiling joists. The fluorescent light fixtures would have been a post-World War II addition. The outer wall were brick bearing walls.

Sink for workmen (or ladies) to clean up

Hot water boilers

Former cooler or freezer (unknown purpose)

What an impressive building. I could spend hours wandering around and photographing the structure. The machinery had been removed long before we were there, and none of it was left.

Undated photograph of Androscoggin Mill, photographed by Drew & Worthing, 22 Tremont Street, Boston (from Historic New England, photograph number OVP0241)

After our tour, I drove a short distance west to the old Androscoggin Mills. At its peak, this was another massive complex of buildings, roads, and canals. I do not know how many of the buildings are still standing or which one I tried to check out. The one I approached was locked, but several out buildings were open or partly collapsing.

I tried the door, but it was jammed or locked. And the signs of a security service were a bit ominous.

Heat exchanger? Power House, Androscoggin Mill, Lewiston

Boiler in power house, Androscoggin Mill, Lewiston

This has been a very short tour of the two of the mills in Lewiston, I have more photographs from other towns along the Androscoggin River, but I need to scan them. Some are 120 size Kodachrome transparencies, which are mounted and do not fit in my scanner. A project for the future...

The black and white photographs above are from Ilford XP2 film exposed with a Rolleiflex 3.5E camera. I exposed the film at EI=400. Most exposures were 1 sec. long, and I placed the camera on beams or furniture to brace it. The XP2 has a long tonal range and is very sharp, perfect for this type of subject matter. Problem: when I recently looked at the negatives, they were deep purple color and seemed to be fading. Possibly the film had not been fixed properly. I decided to scan them before they deteriorated further. This is a chromogenic film (like color print film but monochrome only) and is usually considered to be less stable than traditional silver-based black and white film. 

At the Port of Vicksburg (B&W film)

Many people today forget (or did not know) that Vicksburg is still a major river shipping port. Unlike the 1800s, when the river passed right in front of town and riverboats unloaded at the waterfront, most port activity today happens at the industries and refineries at Haining and Industrial Roads. The river activity is out of sight unless you specifically go there.

Yazoo Canal and Port of Vicksburg in 1997, view northwest, Nikon N90 camera

In the 1997 photograph above, the aircraft is over North Washington Street and the view is to the northwest. The curved road is Haining. The industries are to its left or south, while the land to the right is mostly forest and some farmland. The port is on artificial land and is high enough to be above flood waters. But the forest to the north is hardwood bottomland and does occasionally flood. The road turning off to the right (upper left of the photograph) is Industrial Drive. You can drive out on the roads (I ride my bicycle here regularly), but you cannot enter the facilities or walk out to the water's edge. This is a contrast to the 1980s, when security was much more casual and you could walk around more freely.

City of Vicksburg water treatment plant, view approx. north, Nikon F3 camera

We will take a quick tour from east to west

Former Anderson Tully wood processing plant, now Vicksburg Forest Products LLC (click any picture to enlarge)

The wood mill is surrounded by its own levee. In the high water of 2017, we canoed along the levee. The plant inside remained in operation.

Vicksburg Southern Railroad (VSOR) tracks

City of Vicksburg water wells

The city's water wells are north of Haining road. As of January 2019, the woods here were flooded.

Mississippi Lime, 1543 Haining Road

Ergon BioFuels, 1833 Haining Road

Ergon BioFuels refined corn into ethanol, I assume mostly for use in motor fuels. The plant was scheduled to close in December of 2018, but I am not sure of the status. Often, tens of 18-wheeler semi trucks would park along the road, awaiting their turns to enter the plant and unload corn. The blackbirds liked the spilled corn kernels.

Vicksburg Southern Railroad (VSOR) tracks, view west

Ergon Ethanol

Rail cars can access all of the port via Vicksburg Southern Railroad's (VSOR) tracks. In the last couple of years, workmen have been replacing ties and adding new bedding. The tank cars above are at the ethanol plant. The refinery has a bright orange shunting truck/locomotive to push rail cars around. It has rubber tires so it can drive across a parking lot.

Falco Lime

This mountain of lime, which looks somewhat like a sand dune, grows and shrinks depending on the number of trucks that come and haul the material away. The rails along here have also been repaired recently. I am not sure if rail cars bring in the lime or if it comes from barges.

This is a crop from the original full-size TIFF file of the negative above. I am impressed with the resolution of this little 1957-vintage 50mm f/3.5 Color-Skopar lens. This was hand-held with a yellow filter.

The 2018 photographs are from Ilford Delta 100 film exposed through my 1957-vintage Voigtländer Vito BL camera with 50mm f/3.5 Color-Skopar lens, most with a yellow filter. This is a coated Tessar-type lens with 4 elements in 3 groups. It is unit focus, meaning the entire lens group moves as a unit (as opposed to front element focus). You can read my review of the Vito BL at the 35MMC blog. It has remarkable optical quality for such a simple optical design. I scanned the film with a Plustek 7600i film scanner.

Voigtländer Vito BL camera

Resting in Peace, Wintergreen Cemetery, Port Gibson, Mississippi (B&W film)

Wintergreen Cemetery of Port Gibson, Mississippi, resembles a secret garden, a place that time forgot, with giant cedar trees, lichen-encrusted wrought-iron fences, and gravestones with dates from the 19th century. According to the National Park Service, Wintergreen Cemetery was established in 1807 and is the final resting place for Confederate soldiers killed in the Battle of Port Gibson.

There are so many fascinating stones and family plots, but I could only make a quick selection. The light was soft with minor drizzle - perfect for Ilford Delta 100 black and white film.

Giant trees have grown here for decades. This one has been gone a long time, but many other trees were damaged or toppled by a tornado on Nov. 1, 2018. A lady from the cemetery management company told me they were waiting to bring in heavy-duty tree removal machinery to lift massive limbs. Stones were knocked down and need to be restored.

Many of the family plots are surrounded by beautiful wrought-iron fences cast in the shape of tree limbs or vines. This type of metalwork may have been a major industry in the 1800s.

The historic Jewish cemetery is a few blocks away. It is maintained by the same company that operates Wintergreen. A Catholic cemetery is nearby, but I was running out of daylight and did not explore.

These photographs are part of a test of my new 1957-vintage Voigtländer Vito BL camera with its wonderful 50mm f/3.5 Color-Skopar lens. I used a tripod for all frames with exposures in the range of ¼ or ½ sec. at an aperture of about ƒ/8.0. Some of the Vito cameras had a simpler shutter without the slow speeds, but this one has the full modern geometric progression of speeds (1 sec. to 1/300).

Click the link for more photographs of Port Gibson with the Vito BL.

Further Decay and Loss: Port Gibson, Mississippi (B&W film)

Background

Poor old Port Gibson. It is a historic town, with beautiful antebellum houses lining both sides of Church Street (which carries US 61 as it passes through town). The homes survived the Civil War because General Grant reportedly proclaimed the city to be "too beautiful to burn."

My 2016 post on Port Gibson showed some buildings that have since been lost. I had not been back since then for a careful visit, but on December 15 decided look around again. I had another motivation, to test a 1950s Voigtländer Vito BL camera that I had just bought. Some Ilford Delta 100 black and white film, a handsome old German camera, and an overcast, drizzly, gloomy day - what could be better? (Well, maybe a real coffee shop?)

I was appalled how bad the town looks. Some antebellum homes on Church Street are abandoned and are deteriorating, houses on side streets are ready to collapse, and empty lots have weeds and trash. How could this be happening?

North Port Gibson

Driving in from the north on US 61, the scene is peaceful and bucolic. This is rich farmland.

At the corner of US 61 and Grand Gulf Road, I saw a muddy driveway leading in to a farm. I asked some hunters if I could photograph their barn, and they responded that it was not their barn, so go right ahead. I assume most employees at Grand Gulf nuclear power plant zoom right by and miss the old barn and house on the right.

The northern outskirts of town, before you cross the Bayou Pierre, are horrifying. Stores are closed and the chain fast food stores purvey offal.

Little Bayou Pierre

Little Bayou Pierre, Feb. 18, 2017. Kodak Panatomic-X film (6×6), Rolleiflex 3.5E 75mm ƒ/3.5  Xenotar lens.

Little Bayou Pierre, Dec. 15, 2018. Ilford Delta 100 film (24×36mm), Vito BL, 50mm ƒ/3.5 Color-Skopar lens.

US 61 crosses Little Bayou Pierre. The water was high because of the large amount of rain that had fallen recently. Compare the 2017 photograph, when the sand bar was visible, with the 2018 high water scene.

Port Gibson

Look west from the north end of the US 61 bridge, and you can see cottages on Farmer Street.

This is sad: a handsome old mansion at 601 Church Street, unoccupied and on the path to deterioration.

A block east, an early-20th century cottage at 709 College Street has a collapsing roof. This was a nice home once.

On Marginal Street, across from the Jewish Cemetery, was a house with a dog.  He did not seem too interested in me, and after a half minute of barking, settled down.

On Jackson Street, an abandoned duplex is being engulfed with vines. A modern cruising motorcycle sat in the bushes. There was no obvious driveway with access, so weeds and brush had grown since it had been left there. What was it doing there? No one had removed it? These are 12 and 16 sec. exposures at ƒ/8. I used about 4 times the light meter reading to accommodate reciprocity failure.

Camera note

As I noted above, this was an experiment: I bought a 1957 Voigtlander Vito BL camera for $34 on eBay. It has a fixed 50mm ƒ/3.5 lens Color-Skopar lens (a Tessar derivative with a similar configuration of 4 lenses in 3 groups). The Vito is a strong German precision device from the end of the era when German camera manufacturers ruled the commercial market and just as the Japanese companies were surging forward.

Most of the exposures above are at ƒ/8 or so, where the lens would perform at its best. At first, the slow shutter speeds were definitely slow, but after some exercise, the leaf shutter settled down and sounds about right. The film pressure plate had some rust pips, so the first roll of film was badly scratched on the back (base) side. But I have cleaned the plate with a jewelry rouge cloth and an eraser. If need be, I will try some super-fine wet-dry sanding cloth. Stand by for more examples in the future from this little Vito camera. What do you readers think of the lens quality?