Kodak Plus-X, Another Expired Film Treasure (Abandoned Films 10)

 

Oh oh, trouble. I experimented with another famous discontinued film. I had not used Kodak Plus-X since the 1980s or maybe the 1990s. My photography friend, Jim Grey, sent me two rolls and said go forth and photograph. How could I resist! I loaded the first roll in my Pentax Spotmatic F and rated it at exposure index (EI) = 100. 

Kodak's Plus-X was a staple of black and white photography in the USA for decades during the mid-20th century (1954-2011). Kodak finally replaced it with TMax 100. Kodak claimed TMax 100 would do everything that Plus-X could and could also replace their famous Panatomic-X film. Well, maybe. But many old-time photographers mourned the loss of the traditional cubic grain films and turned to Ilford for its FP4 Plus and Pan F films. But let us drop that controversy for now.  

Here are some Plus-X examples from around Vicksburg, Mississippi. I used my new/old Pentax Spotmatic F camera (see my previous article).

Former gas station/store on Warrenton Road (28mm ƒ/3.5 SMC Takumar lens)

Monroe Street view south (135mm ƒ/3.5 lens)

Green Street (55mm ƒ/1.8 SMC Takumar lens, yellow filter)

Rough apartment on Bowmar Avenue (55mm ƒ/1.8 SMC Takumar, yellow filter)

Washington Street view south (55mm ƒ/1.8 SMC Takumar lens)

Furniture in the woods, Johnson Street

Unfortunately, this is a common disposal method for old furniture here. It's a shame because River City Rescue will pick up old items and sell them at their store.

728 Johnson Street (no longer extant)

This was a basic 1950s or 1960s house clad with asbestos siding. I opened the door, and a homeless fellow was sleeping inside.

733 Johnson Street (no longer extant)

Many early 20th century houses in Vicksburg were built on steep hillsides. The roads ran along the top of the ridges, and cottages had their front doors at street level. The backs were perched over the slope, supported by wood posts. These lots can not be redeveloped once the house is condemned and torn down. This results in Vicksburg becoming less densely developed over time. But yet the city still needs to maintain roads and utilities. Therefore, maintenance remain high but is supported by fewer properties that generate property tax revenue. 

Delta, Louisiana, from the road on the main stem Mississippi River levee. 35mm ƒ/3.5 Super-Takumar lens, yellow filter.

Summary. Plus-X was a refined traditional cubic-grain film. Fuji Acros, my normal 100 film, looks different and is finer grain. But I would not hesitate to use Plus-X if I wanted a mid-speed emulsion. I wish it were still available fresh. Ilford's FP-4, which is current, is probably similar to Plus-X. I last used FP-4 in the 1980s and need to use it again.  

Appendix

This is a 1948 (I think) Kodak data chart for three of their popular 35mm black and white films. At that time, Kodak rated Plus-X with and exposure index of 50. Later (in the 1960s?), when the ASA standard became the normal method of rating film speeds, most films abruptly doubled their exposure index. This  looked convenient, but many old-time photographers continued to give their film extra exposure to ensure that there would be image information in deep shadows. 

Danger: GAS and a Review of the Pentax Spotmatic F

Good things come in a box

The Danger of GAS

Yes, I know, I have no discipline. I have enough cameras to last the rest of my days and swore that I would not buy any more hardware except for specific accessory items, like filters. But Jim Grey, my friend from Indiana, extolled the virtues of the Pentax Spotmatic F body. This was the last version of the famous 35mm camera line that accepted 42mm thread-mount lenses. The F featured open-aperture metering, meaning the viewfinder did not darken as you stopped down the lens. My older regular Spotmatic uses stop-down metering. This seldom posed any inconvenience, but the option of open aperture metering sounded tempting. Well, you know the story, GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome, not flatulence) overcame me. Soon, a handsome Spotmatic F along with the magnificent 50mm ƒ/1.4 SMC Takumar lens appeared in a box. Total cost was $49 including shipping. You can buy this level of craftsmanship and excellence for $49 in 2023?

After an initial test, I sent the camera to Eric Hendrickson, one of the best-known Pentax repair people in the USA. It and the 50mm lens came back clean and ready to go. He emphasized that the light meter will work correctly with 625A (alkaline) batteries. Internet "experts" go back and forth about which batteries will and will not work, but I trust Mr. Hendrickson. The original specification was for 625 mercury cells, but these have not been available for at least 25 years. The 625S (silver) cells are also now gone. The 625A batteries do not last long in this camera, so possibly there is a minor current drain. But the cells are inexpensive, and I remove them when I am not using the camera. (General camera rule: ALWAYS remove batteries when you will not use a camera for weeks or longer.)

Spotmatic Cameras

Mike Johnston wrote about the Spotmatic in The Online Photographer in 2017 and explained why the Pentax 50mm ƒ/1.4 lens was one of the finest 50s in the film era. The table below lists the various Spotmatic models.

Asahi Pentax Screw-Mount Cameras 1
Model 2	Date	Features
Original	1957	Modern appearance, right side wind lever, instant return mirror. ≈ $199 with 55 mm f/2.2.
S	1957	Contemporary geometric sequence of shutter speeds. 9 lenses available.
K	1958	Semi-automatic diaphragm
Asahi S3 (identical to Honeywell H3)	1960	Fully automatic diaphragm.  $199 with 55 f/1.8 lens.
Honeywell H1	1961	≈ $150;  1/500 top speed.  World's first clip-on CdS meter available ($32).
Asahi S3v (Honeywell H3v)	1963 - 1969	Added self-timer and automatic frame counter.
Asahi S1a  (H1a)	1963 - 1969	Added auto frame counter.  14 lenses available.
Spotmatic	1964 - 1971	Through-the-lens CdS meter.  $299 with 50 f/1.4.  Very popular!  Most chrome, some black paint.  Motorized model made in 1970 (uncommon).  Rare 250-exposure model.
SL	1969	Same as Spotmatic but without CdS meter.
Spotmatic 500	1971	Lower cost, 1/500 top speed, supplied with 55 f/2.0 lens.
Spotmatic II	1971	Added accessory shoe; sold with multi-coated lenses with extra indexing levers.
Spotmatic IIa	1972	Sensor for automatic Honeywell flash.
ES	1972	First Pentax auto exposure camera with electronically-controlled shutter.
Spotmatic F	1974	Finest manual Spotmatic; open-aperture metering, $375 with 55mm f/1.8.
SP 1000	1974	No self-timer
ESII	1974?	Improved reliability over ES. End of the era for Pentax screw-mount bodies.
Notes: 1.  Sources: “A History of Pentax” articles by W. L. Fadner in Shutterbug (1988) 2.  U.S. cameras had the Honeywell name and logo on the prism.  International models were labeled with the Asahi name and logo.

M42 thread mount

M42 refers to the thread mount of 42×1 mm used to attach the lens to the camera body. This was a common size in the 1950s through the 1970s. European, Russian, and Japanese companies made hundreds of M42 lenses in various focal lengths. Many people consider the Asahi Optical Company's examples to be among the best optically and mechanically in the 1960s and 1970s. It is common to buy an old Takumar lens that will still operate perfectly, while a drastically more expensive Leica lens of similar age will often have haze or film on the inner elements and need professional cleaning and re-lubrication. Takumar lenses have a following among serious photographers today because they can be mounted on most mirrorless digital cameras. The M42 mount lost popularity in the 1970s because it was slow to exchange lenses, while companies like Nikon, Minolta, and Canon used faster bayonet mounts on their cameras. 

Simplicity and meticulous craftsmanship

Utter simplicity: rewind knob, flash shoe, shutter speed dial, shutter release, and wind lever. No baffling 400-page instruction manual needed.

Set the film speed in the window within the shutter speed dial. Note it is still shown as ASA.

SMC (Super Multi Coated) 50mm ƒ/1.4 lens, mid-1970s.

Examples with Kodak Plus-X Film

Jim Grey sent me two rolls of Kodak Plus-X film. He bought a brick and said the first two rolls performed correctly. I used Plus-X in the 1970s but rarely since then. Plus-X was a traditional cubic-grain film, not one of the more modern T-grain emulsions, like T-Max 100. I will write more about Plus-X in a later article. Here are some examples from Vicksburg, Mississippi, during March of 2023. On some of my walks, I even wore the camera in its handy leather camera case (also known as a never-ready case). 

Waiting for a ride, 2620 Washington Street (50mm ƒ/1.4 SMC Takumar lens)

Monroe Street view south (135mm ƒ/3.5 SMC Takumar, ƒ/5.6)

Minor trouble at the corner of Marshal and Harris Streets (35mm ƒ/3.5 Super-Takumar lens)

I really like this 35mm ƒ/3.5 Super-Takumar lens. This is one of the older versions that must be stopped down for the light meter measurement. The Spotmatic F is supposed to be capable of both open-aperture as well as stop-down metering. But mine gives the wrong exposure for the latter mode. I sent the body back to Mr. Hendrickson to check, but it still does not meter quite right. That is a minor inconvenience because I usually carry a hand-held meter. The newer Super-Multi-Coated and SMC Takumars all have the tab for open aperture metering on the F and ESII bodies. 

Garage on Polk Street in unoccupied but not abandoned house (50mm ƒ/1.4)

Cottage at 733 Johnson Street. It has been razed since I took this picture (50mm ƒ/1.4).

Ford Street (Leica IIIC, 50mm ƒ/2 Canon lens (1960s version), yellow-green filter)

Silos, Hwy. 80, Delta, Louisiana (135mm ƒ/3.5 SMC Takumar, polarizing filter)

The meter in the Spotmatic F measures correctly with a polarizing filter mounted on the lens. This camera works perfectly well with a linear polarizer. Many novice photographers insist that they need a CPL or circular polarizer (after all, they saw it on YouTube). No, usually they do not. A CPL is required for cameras that use a beam-splitter for auto-focus function.

Examples with Fuji Acros Film

House on Bethany Street, Shreveport, Louisiana (24mm ƒ/3.5 SMC Takumar lens, Fuji Acros film).

The Spotmatic F meter seems to work correctly with a wide lens, in this case, 24mm. But this was not a severe test because the light was soft and overcast that day. Spotmatic meters are have a broad coverage area, so you need to point the camera slightly downward to avoid having the bright sky fool the meter. 

The Little Shanty art store, Line Avenue, Shreveport, Louisiana (28mm ƒ/3.5 SMC Takumar lens)

The road west in the rain, Tahoka, Texas (55mm ƒ/1.8 SMC Takumar lens)

Summary

I am very pleased with my Spotmatic F. The open aperture metering is certainly convenient, and the measurements closely match reflected light readings from my Gossen Luna Pro digital hand-held light meter. The camera feels good and fits my hands perfectly. It is compact and only slightly more bulky than a Leica M camera. It demonstrates meticulous 1970s craftsmanship and precision, the finest of Japanese production. What is not to like?

And I like the gritty feel of Plus-X film. It is grainy, but that is suitable for this type of subject matter. 

Appendix

Here is my wife's 1971 Spotmatic camera with its superb 55mm ƒ/1.8 Super-Takumar lens. As you can see, the camera looks very similar to the 1974 or 1975 Spotmatic F. This camera has been to USA, Europe, Iceland, the Middle East, and the Nile River and has always performed flawlessly. This 55mm lens is single-coated and has at least one element with thorium salts. The lens had yellowed over the years, but treating it with a small LED table lamp from Ikea cleared the yellow tone. Many manufactures added thorium salts to their glass mixtures in the 1940s through the 1970s. No studies have ever demonstrated any health effects from the minor amount of radiation. I think this particular 55 is higher resolution than my later SMC 55.