Kodak Technical Pan is one of those films that has interested me for decades. I remember reading about it back in 2003-2004 and of it’s extraordinary sharpness and smoothness. But, it was also famous for being difficult to process and having difficult to tame contrast.
Last year, in 2020, I managed to find several bottles and a couple of pouches of the equally legendary developer for Tech Pan, Technidol. It came as a liquid developer (called just Technidol) and as a powder (Technidol LC). I have not yet tried the liquid developer but shot 2 rolls last summer that I developed in the LC version.
The negatives blew me away. Grainless, sharp, and with excellent tonality. I immediately started looking for more rolls of Tech pan and now have a small collection of it in my freezer. The issue is of course finding more of this special developer. And is my liquid verison still okey? I don’t know. I will at some point try to develop it in C41 which I have heard gives excellent results (just the developer, dont bleach the negatives or you’ll have nothing left).
Here is a selection of images from the two rolls I have developed. Scanned with the Pakon F135+, with my custom workflow detailed in the previous blog post.
Anywho, if you decide to try Tech Pan in Technidol I do recommend you read the published docs about it, the Kodak P-255 is the one you want. You should be able to google it and find the pdf somewhere. The thing to note is the chapter on processing. When you pour in the developer you want to SHAKE the tank. No nice agitation allowed, just shake it violently and then give it taps to dislodge any air bubbles. 9 minutes in 20c for Technidol Liquid developer, 15 minutes in 20c for Technidol LC. Both at EI 25.
Preferrably you should pour the liquid in the tank FIRST, and then drop in the reels loaded with the films. The first seconds of development are critical for avoiding streaks. I did not do it this way though but I poured in the developer as quickly as I could. I did not get any streaking on my negatives.
I have a dozen or so rolls left, and 8 small jars of the liquid developer, so that is something that is coming up in the blog.
That’s it for this time, please take a look in the shop if you see anything that interests you. Any support is greatly appreciated..