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 scans looked just about right, with little need to manually adjust the contrast. Here are some examples, all full-frame scans. Click any frame to expand it. Please tell me what you think via the comments.

US 61

Unusual shed at 3316 US 61S, Vicksburg (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 a lot 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 of 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 if I will use it in the future because I still have 10 or 12 rolls of Panatomic-X in the freezer, as well as some Fuji Acros 100 film and even some Agfapan 25. 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.

Another Expired Film Treasure: Kodak Verichrome Pan (Abandoned Films 06)

Dear Readers, this is a continuation of my series on discontinued photographic films. Previous posts covered GAF Versapan film packs, GAF Versapan 135 film, Kodak Ektar 25, and Kodak's famous Panatomic-X black and white film.

For decades, Kodak's Verichrome Pan film was a staple in camera stores around the country. It was a medium-speed (ISO=125) panchromatic black and white film intended for box and medium format cameras. Kodak's data sheet stated:

FEATURES                            BENEFITS

• Extremely fine grain            • Excellent for producing high-quality images

• Wide exposure latitude        • Rich tonality maintained with overexposure and underexposure

• Very high sharpness            • Excellent for applications that require a high degree of enlargement

• High resolving power          • Good rendition of detail

Over time, Kodak sold it in 120, 127, 116, 126, 616, 110, 620, and 828 formats. As far as I know, Kodak never packaged it in 35mm cassettes. Note that these are format designations, not width in mm. The 126 was the Instamatic cartridge that was so popular in the 1960s and 1970s, and the 110 was the smaller cartridge for 110 cameras. As of 1996, they even sold it in long roll for Cirkut panorama cameras. Numerous writers on the web enthusiastically claim that it was a superb film. It was such a flexible film, an inexperienced amateur could could load it in a crummy box camera and achieve something that a lab could print. 

For unknown reasons, I never tried any Verichrome Pan, and now it is too late. But good news: my Indiana friend, Jim Grey (author of the Down the Road blog), generously sent me a roll. 

The roll Jim sent expired in 12/1987. He said he did not know its original storage conditions, but he had kept it refrigerated. I took pictures around town with my Hasselblad 501CM medium format camera on a rare day when snow had fallen (yes, it does snow in Vicksburg once in awhile). The light was soft and even, so maybe this was not a very challenging test for this film, but that is what was loaded in my film holder. Because of the age and unknown storage, I decided to add extra exposure and use it at EI=64 (or half the original), meaning one ƒ-stop extra light for each frame. Click any picture to see it enlarged to 1600 pixels wide.

Kansas City Southern tracks from the North Frontage Road bridge (80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens)

2624 Washington Street, Vicksburg (80mm Planar lens)

Fairground Street Bridge (permanently closed; 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens)

Pearl Street view north (80mm Planar lens)

Over a decade ago, cottages lined the west side of the tracks (left in this photograph). All have been torn down and the road has been abandoned.

Kansas City Southern rail yard from Levee Street, view east (80mm Planar lens)

Kansas City Southern rail yard view south (80mm Planar lens)

Work shed on levee next to Yazoo Canal (50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens, 1/30 ƒ/11)

Sycamore Avenue, Vicksburg (80mm Planar lens)

View west from Sycamore Avenue (80 mm Planar lens)

Kansas City Southern tracks along Mississippi River waterfront (250mm ƒ/5.6 Sonnar lens, ⅛ ƒ/16.5)

Well, once again I am thrilled that a 30-year-old film responds so well. What amazing technology. I love the tonality of this Verichrome Pan, at least under these conditions of soft light.

Praus Productions in Rochester, New York, developed the film, and I scanned it with a Minolta ScanMulti medium format film scanner. The Silverfast Ai software did not have a Verichrome Pan profile. Instead, I used the profile for Plus-X film. I read in some old Kodak books that Verichrome and Plus-X responded about the same. I have read that they were almost the same emulsion but one had no anti-halation layer (?). I do not know if that is true, and I had no recent experience with Plus-X. The last time I used Plus-X may have been in Moscow in 1978 (click the link). 

Thank you, Dear Readers, for following along on this exploration of Films from the Dead. All comments welcome.

On the Dixie Overland Highway, Historic US 80 - Vicksburg area (MS-04)

R.H. Henry Bridge, Big Black River, Bovina, Mississippi (Fomapan 100 Classic film, Hasselblad 501CM camera, 50mm Distagon lens) 

In the previous article, I explored US 80 (formerly the Dixie Overland Highway) in west Jackson. Proceeding west, US 80 went through the town of Clinton and eventually to Vicksburg. It then crossed the Mississippi on the old Mississippi River bridge (now closed to traffic). Once Interstate 20 was built in the 1970s, part of 80 disappeared, and the route is no longer continuous west of Clinton. But from Edwards west, you can still drive on 80 as it crosses the Big Black River and cuts straight through the loess bluffs. Here are some photographs from US 80 east of Vicksburg.

Colored Motel, US 80 east of Mount Albans Road (expired Kodak Ektar 25 film, Hasselblad 501 CM camera, 50mm Distagon lens)

This is the former Colored Motel on US 80. In the 1980s, a sign above the building still showed the name, and somewhere I may have a Kodachrome slide. Regardless, the motel has been unused for 4 decades and the jungle is slowly engulfing the buildings. The pink paint on the stucco walls was rather cheerful and warranted some color frames.

Aluminum Fiberglass lady, somewhere on US 80, Vicksburg (4×5" Tri-X film, 180 ƒ/5.6 Caltar IIN lens) 

The aluminum fiberglass lady was so sweet. She was always impeccably dressed. She never objected to having her portrait taken. She was quiet. And then she went away without a word. I did not record the address in 1989 and do not know exactly where she stood, but I hope she proudly graces another home now. If any of you readers recognize her, please let me know.

UPDATE: This may be the former Miss Uniroyal, also known as the Uniroyal Gal. Amazing, she once lived in Vicksburg! Please see the last comment from a reader below. 

Oops, minor problem, US 80 (Kodak Panatomic-X film, Hasselblad 501CM camera, 50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens, yellow filter)

Just west of Mount Albans Road, the soil under part of the roadbed washed out during the January 2020 rains (rain fell for a solid month). As of May 2020, the MSDOT highway department is in the process of purchasing land and settling contracts for the repair.

Pinewood Motel, US 80, Vicksburg (Tri-X film, 180mm ƒ/5.6 Caltar IIN lens)

A short distance west, closer to Vicksburg, was the former Pinewood Motor Court. I took pictures there over the years and wrote an article about the Pinewood in 2019. Preservation Mississippi covered the Pinewood in a 2014 article. I included a 2006 photograph to remind you what the old motel looked like. As of early 2020, all the buildings have been demolished because the site may be used for a new Warren County jail.

No more pecans here, Hwy 80, Vicksburg (Panatomic-X film, Hasselblad 501CM, 50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens)

A long-unused steel warehouse sat on the south side of the road adjacent to the Pinewood. At one time, it may have been a car repair shop as well as a pecan shed.

The junk pile was pretty trashy. A few friends like the pickup truck perched on top of a Honda.

Some abandoned houses/trailers are in the woods south of the road. Once the foliage comes out in spring, they are hard to see.

A driveway drops down into a gully and leads off to a house somewhere. I liked the old real pickup truck.

Shed off US 80 near Anderson Road, Vicksburg (Kodak Panatomic-X film, Hasselblad 501 CM camera, 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens, green filter)

Once you reach the junction of 80 and MS 27, the scene becomes totally boring strip America, with gas stations and cheesy strip malls. It is un-photogenic. From here, Clay Street leads downtown, but there is no real US 80 connection to the old Mississippi River Bridge any more.

We will close with a photograph of the old Mississippi River Bridge in 1993 during construction of the Ameristar Casino. The company had to install a serious amount of geotechnical protection to reinforce the bluff and stabilize the road leading down to the casino. By 1993, the old bridge was already closed to car traffic. It may, one day, become a walk and bike trail. I wrote about 80 in east Louisiana in an earlier article (please click the link).

This ends our survey of US 80, the former Dixie Overland Highway, in Mississippi. Thank you all for riding along. Standby for more coverage of 80 in Louisiana.

Travels on the Mother Road, Route 66: Part 7c, Jack Rabbit and Holbrook, Arizona (2019)

Jackrabbit Trading Post, Joseph City, Sep. 4, 2019 (Kodak Ektar 25 film, Yashica Electro 35CC camera, polarizing filter)

 We will continue our drive east through Arizona. Near Joseph City, not much remains of Route 66, just the frontage road to I-40. West of town proper was the famous Jackrabbit Trading Post. A billboard with the logo "HERE IT IS" may be one of the best known Route 66 sights. Hundreds of tourists pose in front of the sign or sit on a big jackrabbit on the other side of the interstate. For the photograph above, I waited for some people to take their pictures and leave, and caught a BNSF train thundering through.

Room with a view, Joseph City (Fuji X-E1 digital file)

The terrain around Joseph City is a bit severe. I stopped in Joseph City during my 2016 trip but totally missed the Jackrabbit sign. The town has some urban decay material.

Dinosaur, 2214 Navajo Blvd., Holbrook, AZ (Kodak TMax 400 film, Hasselblad 501CM, 80mm planar lens, polarizing filter)

Holbrook was another old-time Route 66 town. There was not much of interest on Business 40, and I completely missed the Wigwam Village Motel. Fortunately, I visited a sister Wigwam Motel on Foothills Blvd. in Rialto, California, in 2016 (see Mother Road article 1). Here in Holbrook, I was pleased to see dinosaurs in town. The truck was sort of interesting, as well.

Small Towns in the Texas Panhandle: On the way to Amarillo (Panhandle 2019-05)

Let us continue our trip northwest on US 287 through the Texas Panhandle. West of Quanah, I came across more lonely and unoccupied farm houses. Some were reasonably close to 287 and I could walk up driveways or small roads. Others were deep in farm fields and had no access any more. Where did all the families go?

Kirkland

Farm house, Kirkland, Texas

Truck weigh station, Kirkland, Texas

Unused siding, Kirkland, Texas

Wikipedia describes Kirkland as a ghost town. I am not sure about that, but there definitely is not much happening there. The BNSF trains thunder by at high speed. The siding clearly no longer serves the unused Sunbelt CO-OP truck weighing station. The sky is bigger than ever, and the approaching storm clouds gave the scene an ominous look.

Childress

Nash Metropolitan east of Childress, Texas

Farm house, Childress, Texas

Childress, the county seat of Childress County, with a population of about 7,000, had a bit more going on. But I did not see much to photograph in town so I moved on.

Estelline

Valentine Diner, 601 Wright Street, Estelline, Texas (80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens, green filter)

Diner interior, Estelline, Texas (Moto G5 digital file)

Estelline had sort-of a main drag parallel to US 287. This charming little diner caught my eye. While setting up the tripod, a couple of cowboys stopped their well-used pickup truck to chat. They were amused to see a city slicker with a tripod taking pictures. They said they grew rice. I wonder where? Nice guys and very polite.

Farm house in cotton fields, US 287, west of Estelline, Texas (250mm ƒ/5.6 Sonnar lens)

Farm house and shed west of Estelline, Texas (250mm ƒ/5.6 Sonnar lens, green filter)

I saw a couple of abandoned farm houses in the cotton fields. There was no way to get access by road or driveway. 

Memphis

US 287, Memphis, Texas (80 mm Planar-CB lens, yellow filter)

Memphis (Texas, not Tennessee) is the seat of Hall County. The town was platted in 1890 and has some brick streets and old commercial buildings. I will try to explore on my next drive through the
Texas Panhandle.

Clarendon

Clarendon, Texas

Farm west of Clarendon, Texas

Just sitting in the driveway, Clarendon, Texas (Moto G5 digital file)

Clarendon, the county seat of Donley County, is about 60 miles east of Amarillo. The town of 2000 is rather quiet. In 2017, on the way east, we stayed in a hotel in town and discovered that other than fast food chain shops, there were no restaurants open in the evening. Another minor adventure in travel.

This ends our adventure in the Texas Panhandle. From here, it was on to New Mexico and Arizona via I-40 and Route 66. Standby for more of the great US Southwest.

The large square black and white photographs are from Kodak Tri-X film exposed with a Hassselblad 501CM camera and 50, 80, and 250mm lenses. Praus Productions in Rochester, NY processed the film in Xtol developer. I scanned the negatives with a Minolta Scan Multi film scanner.