A couple of weeks ago I was browsing the photography section on one of my usual online sales sites, not really planning on buying anything, but you never know, a bargain may pop up, or just something that catches your eye.
As I was scrolling through the many advertisements, some not even catching my attention, I was then drawn to a heading, 'Watson Model 100 Bulk Film Loader..' Now one thing I don't need is another bulk film loader, I already have a Watson, along with a Kaiser bulk loader. But the heading on this one continued, '... Containing 100ft of an unknown brand of film'. I was intrigued.
A bid was made and for the price of a couple of pints of beer I became the owner of another bulk film loader. I was interested in the contents of this film loader, wondering if there was anything viable in there.
After a few days I received the Watson in the post, it was in the original packaging and included all original paperwork. I removed it from the box, I could feel the weight of the film it contained and out of curiosity I popped it into a dark bag to check how much film it contained, I was happy to feel a full 100ft spool, or certainly close to it.
Now the label on the outside of the holder was interesting, perhaps holding a clue to which film was in this bulk holder. The label showed the ISO to be 1600, it was Fuji black and white, and it was loaded on the 17th June 1997. Was it Neopan?
Neopan was one of my favourite films, in fact the last wedding I shot completely on film was shot on Neopan and every image was beautiful, unfortunately Fuji discontinued Neopan a few years ago. It was time to try remember and research which black and white film rated at 1600 was sold by Fuji back in the 1990's. There was a lot of info to be found, the common one of fast film stock having a shorter life, much talk saying not to waste your time with out of date 1600 film, but I decided to give it a go. I loaded a cartridge with enough film to shoot 12 frames, I threw out a couple of questions on a Face book page I help moderate, Irish Analogue Photography Group. Ideas came back and I decided to shoot this 1600 film at 400 and develop for 800, using Digital Truth's Massive Dev Chart and their time for Neopan 1600 rated at 800. I developed in Kodak HC-110 B dilution for 4 minutes and 45 seconds, to stop I gave the film a one minute water bath, it was fixed for 5 minutes with Ilford Rapid Fixer, washed with a final rinse with liquid dish wash.
When I unspooled the film after it was developed I seen the images were very faint, but the film edge codes and text was clear, I suspected fogged film due to age. A closer look certainly showed the film to be Fuji, further down the film it was clear that it was 1600PR with emulsion number 143. Some forums will tell you this is Fuji Press Rated film, an interesting read in itself, but referencing Fuji's official guide shows it to be Neopan 1600, I have to be honest and say I can't say for sure if Fuji Press Rated film is in the Neopan range of film, Fuji did make a Color Press film, the batch I have is certainly black and white.
After scanning it was clear this film was heavily fogged, most likely due to its age and the fact that fast film does not last as long as some of the slower film speeds, but is it a non runner? I don't think so, judging by what I got from it I would consider using this for a project of some sort, I plan on shooting more and trying different times but there's no doubt about the fog.
Technical data; Camera - Leica M6 | Lens - Voigtlander Color Skopar 35mm f2.5 | Film - Fuji Neopan 1600 expired two decades (estimate) | Developer - Kodak HC-110 B dilution | Stop bath - Water | Fixer - Ilford Rapid Fixer | Scanner - Epson Photo V850 Pro
©Jim Leonard
