I have been a fan of BERGGER films off and on now for well over a decade. Since it was released a few years ago, the 4×5 Pancro 400 has been a go-to film for my large format work. So, of course, the announcement back in September 2016 that Pancro 400 would also be released in 120 and 35mm had me REALLY excited.
After some delays the film in these new formats has now been released and I have started testing the 120 version in my Noblex 150UX. As you can see below, I have been testing in 3 different developers: PMK, Rodinal 1+25 and Caffenol (in-house recipe). (The PMK and Rodinal times and temps are directly from BERGGER-supplied information and appear to be spot on.)
Some initial thoughts on this film in 120 format:
1. Rate the film at 320 for PMK and Rodinal.
2. Very nice highlight and contrast control– even under extreme conditions like the test above.
3. Grain is softer than 400TX and not as fine.
4. Can be exposed at EI 100-800 with very good results in the developers tested.
5. Biggest drawback? At this date it is not available in the USA in smaller formats (35mm and 120), I had to order from the EU.
So- is it worth switching from 400TX or HP5+ to this film? It depends. The rendering is a very classic film look, very silver-rich, very different from a lot of other modern films on the market. If that sounds appealing to you, I highly recommend going the extra mile, ordering the film from Europe and doing a side by side and seeing for yourself. For my own part, I am glad now to add the Pancro 400 in my medium format repertoire.
Viva la Revolution-
Stephen
Figital Revolution 