Shooting Kodak Panatomic-X 35mm Film

[@stevepringle2295]

Eye popping video Sir!

[@Awayne429]

I got the canon vi-t, my favorite camera. Best part besides the trigger winder and back film door is the viewing. You can switch from 50mm to 35 and also magnify for critical focus. My camera looks like it was built last week, they are built like tanks.

[@olfoureyes6834]

I picked up a 50ft roll of Panatomic-X (expired in 1986) some time ago. Since the storage conditions were mostly unknown I decided to take test-pictures at ISO 8, 16 and 32. ALL of them were perfectly usable!

[@thetinmansheart]

Great film, great camera!

[@joseerazevedo]

This was my favorite film in the 80's. When I heard kodak was killing it, I picked many and stored the in my freezer. Still have some 8, all expired 09/1991. Last year I shot a roll, at ASA 32, developed normally, it was perfect. Love this film

[@robifleming]

I can’t believe how well those turned out!

[@janjasiewicz9851]

All old cameras are cool!

[@francisbombus3949]

Best film photography channel on KZbin! Please more of this. Greetings from Germany ✌🏼

[@Hector_Malot]

Kodak quality.

[@67ratsrule]

Brought back many memories of my dad teaching me photography with a Yashica FX3 and Panatomic X. Lovely series you did and it is clear the film is still fresh even 50 years expired.

[@ledesclos5321]

Excellent pairing of camera and film with amazing results. Well done.

[@Gosk]

Stumbled onto this video because I found this pan-x 135 roll laying in my late grandpa's basement and wanted to know more about the film stock. It just so happens my local film shop in So. Utah has a video on it. Thanks for sharing the shots you got! Super helpful!

[@thomasboone1356]

Nice photos Real good camera always one of my favorite films

[@gurhanpekuz1813]

Great video!!! And how surprising is the 50 old film . Amazing stuff, thanks you!!!

[@primefocusphotography]

For once KZbin recommended me the type of content I actually want to see lol. Personally, I'm a big fan of the VT's charging handle. I have a Canon P and a Canon 7 and hope to someday add the VT to the collection as well. Great vid, looking forward to more. Pics came out great imo!

[@gerryhardman9060]

Leica made that flip down winder as an accessory for their cameras calling it a Leicavit. It was supposed to be for action sequences. 😆

[@Adam-pm1cy]

Supervid, keep them coming!

[@tomjanowski8584]

Very cool camera and looks like that was truly awesome film

[@joshuadbaird]

Nice shots, Matt!

[@dummatube]

My favourite film in the seventies and early eighties! Gives the effect of a pale yellow filter in urban la landscape shots and justifies the use of the highest resolution Leica, Zeiss and Schneider lenses! Resolution is best assessed using a microscope!

[@1stites]

I love that camera!

[@spookisghostly4619]

I have an earlier VT and I love the 1.8 50mm I have on it. It's so damn sharp and outside of the rangefinder being dirty it's dead accurate

[@linjicakonikon7666]

The VT Deluxe is my favorite rangefinder. It is perfect for left eye dominant shooters. The baseplate rapid advance is borrowed from Leica's Leicavit attachment. I like the VT deluxe so much, Ive acquired 4 of them. I fit them with Voightlander 21,25,35 color skopar lenses (with seperate viewfinders). and a 50 f1.8 Canon. Composing and focusing is easy and enjoyable. 👍📷📷📷📷🏆

[@MegaJ2e]

i never knew that film that old would be that good WOW . I just got into photography last summer and love it . still got a lot to learn . but that the fun in it for me .

[@douggottlieb]

I wish they still made this. Would have loved to see some portraits to see how it renders skin. Bet it looks great. Cool location and shots tho!

[@komagome03]

That film is insane ! Kodak should bring it back, maybe in ISO 50. Thank you for the video.

[@SylvainGrandMaison]

Someone gave me an unopened 100 ft bulk roll that expired at the end of the 80’s and I love so much shooting it that I bought a 2nd bulk roll on eBay! Great film!

[@henryrogan2771]

also.. thanks for the tip on the meter.

[@davidkaufman671]

Thanks for the videos! What a beautiful film. Same problem with old rangefinder viewfinders. I started adding an accessory viewfinder to the cold shoe and it’s made composing a real pleasure. Keep up the great work!

[@LesterBeasley]

I bought the KM02 hot shoe meter. It's a solid little meter but a little difficult to read in the sun.

[@AramLanghans]

Nice video. I am shooting some 25 year old Ilford FP4 right now in a quirky old camera I just got. A 1936 Kodak Retina. Shutter is a bit erratic but I wanted to shoot a roll anyway before i decide to take it apart and see if I can clean and lube it. BTY, where were these tanks that you were shooting or do you not want to divulge that information.

[@ChrisWilkinson-kl2nb]

Just deviating from a bit from shooting expired film ,I recently found an exposed film ( FP4 ) I shot 15 years ago and developed it normally. The negatives came out great.Just love black and white film photography.

[@photomitch]

Beautiful

[@hertsman5]

Excellent ! ...I enjoyed that very much - thanks. I would love to hear more about how you developed the film ?..

[@kanabcameraco]

I was actually able to develop based off the data sheet in the film box! It showed 7 minutes in Kodak D-76 so that’s what I went with.

[@dummatube]

I used to rate it at 16 ASA (no ISO back then) and underdeveloped it by 20% to get less contrast and maximum shadow detail. We always shot with a heavy Gitzo tripod! P.S. 32 ISO is 1/30th sec at f/16 in bright sunlight so at f/8 (best lens performance) you can shoot, hand held, at 1/125th - perfect with 20mm to 50mm lenses!

[@SpinStar1956]

After playing around with a few different types of black-and-white film back in the day, Panatomic-X became the only film that I ever shot with afterward. In fact, I actually first shot a single roll of it, and then only bought 100 foot rolls thereafter! However, there was a brief time that I had access to a medium format camera and shot 120 film in it, also using Panatomic-X. So I have witnessed the joy that you did when you pulled out that strip of negatives out of the tank! However, I will tell you that age has deteriorated that film; I can just tell that it is missing a certain look to it, in every one of the videos I see people using legacy rolls. Their main complaint, seems to be that it does not have a wide contrast gradation; this is the age-factor creeping in. If I had to shoot a lowlight situation, I would either light it or use a flash. In my mind, there was nothing, that was good as Panatomic-X, at least that you could get your hands on in the US market. It was literally a gut punch, when Kodak discontinued this film. At that point, I only shot Ektachrome-64, but missed the black-and-white so much that I pretty well hung up photography and pursued other interests. In regard to the #25 filter, I did use that extensively however, in some situations, the high contrast ratio simplifies the scene too much, and you’re better off with a polarizer. Everybody says that Tmax is good enough, but there was a certain truly cinematic look to pentatonic X. My only way of describing the look, is the difference between looking at a slide, projected on a normal screen, versus a true glass-bead screen. Veterans that actually shot with this film in a serious manner, all seem to agree that there is not been anything that approaches it… P.S. As a footnote, the current prices for film, are a guarantee that this industry will forever destroy itself! The present resurgence in film-photography, and people buying older equipment, is something that will not last unless film prices abate. People are not going to stay interested, nor maintain a photo lab at this level of expense and work involved. It seems, if they can’t make an obscene profit, they’re just not into it, which really shows their true commitment to legacy photography! I say, enjoy it while itlasts, because your options are going to continually shrink… 😢

[@zf4hp24]

Sounds silly, but with Kodak's trio of Tri-x, Plus-x, and Pan-x, I always considered Pan-x the "luxury" model with my Canon F-1. It took a lot of effort, but worth the effort.

[@randallstewart1224]

I shot a lot of non-expired Panatomic-X in the early 1960s. Bought it in bulk rolls to save money. My recollection is that like most very slow speed films, it had relatively little latitude, so careful and exacting exposure measurement was required. (In 1960, most meters were no where near as exacting and reliable as the new-tech one he is using here.) By 1964 when I went off to college, I had concluded that for my 35mm usage, ASA 32 was too slow for non-tripod work. I had moved up to Plus-X, which I used primarily until the early 1980s, when I shifted to Ilford films. If you want the Pan-X experience without having to hunt down a few over-priced rolls, try Ilford Pan f plus a yellow (K2) filter, which will net out an ISO 25 and add a bit of higher contrast to test you metering skills.

[@KentTeffeteller]

Plus X is the film Kodak should revive. It's the best happy medium between Pan X and Tri-X, and I love both those films (still like to shoot Tri-X occasionally).

[@sophietucker1255]

I like my Canon P and Canon 7 but that VT is very cool. Expired B/W is a little more dependable than color but if it hasn't been stored well then you really can't too sure just what you're going to get. Nice images by the way

[@KentTeffeteller]

As soon as I can find a nice affordable Leica Screw Mount 50mm, I will take my Canon L1 for a spin, 1957 Canon RF classic with a lever wind.

[@oddballcamera]

Great video! This was my favorite film back in the '80s. In conversation we always just called it "Pan-X" back then (along with "Plus-X" and "Tri-X" as the three main Kodak B&W films before the t-grain films came out). Thanks for shooting it!

[@RedStarRogue]

I shot a cold stored 120 roll of it for a photoshoot two years ago. I rated it at iso 25 and it came out perfect. It had expired in 1989.

[@gusatvoschiavon]

i love the panatomic look, did you ever tried the catlabs one? i think they tried to copy (or something like that) the panatomic-x look

[@paulschumacker9901]

Interesting video. I have a stock of 50 year old Panatomic X 120 film that’s been kept at -20 deg C since 1973. It’s as wonderful today as it was then, and I shoot it at box speed. But as you noted, the slow ASA is a limitation. Much of my photography is landscapes and cityscapes, so a tripod is preferred. That said, these medium format images enlarge as much as you can handle without evidence of graininess. Panatomic X was a wonderful film stock!

[@sclogse1]

Last time I shot X was, believe it not, 4x5 negs. Army. Saigon photo lab1972. I have the contact prints in my photo albums. And that Kodak 4x5 contact paper was gorgeous.

[@danienelphoto]

I used to shoot AGFA APX 25 ISO. The grain is just so smooth. 35mm would render like 645 120 film. You used to get APX 25 in 4x5 sheets. Mental detail. I really like the look of the film, and I dig the camera. So quirky!

[@franciscovarela7127]

Shot a lot of Panatomic X in the 70's-80's. Very slow but beautiful film. Found an exposed roll of 120 when clearing out the basement of the family home, must have been shot in the early 80's. Unfortunately film density was almost non-existent after being stored for so long in not ideal conditions. Also found an exposed roll of Royal-X Pan of same vintage, will develop one of these days...

[@randallstewart1224]

Regarding that trigger advance system on the bottom of the VT, Canon copied that from a Leica accessory of same sort for use as a replacement base on the IV series of cameras. It was integrated rather than used s a replacement accessory on the V and VI models which followed. It disappeared with the P, and 7/7s models, which use what was becoming a convectional top-mounted rapid advance lever. In use, they are every bit as quick (and cool) as seen here.

[@pastedtomato]

I am once again blown away on how the film behaved after 50 years!

[@steveb7477]

I have some Panatomic in my fridge (or freezer, can't remember) that I want to shoot eventually use but I want the pictures to be of something worth while. Love that film. It's a shame we'll never see it again. I recently bought that new KEKs meter when they notified me I could pre-order it. I have several cameras without built in meters and don't want to always lug around a meter. It works really good and I like. Their website currently says it's out of stock so I know the demand is there. It has a lot of more features than their previous model had. Your pictures were excellent.

[@kanabcameraco]

Appreciate it! I do love the Keks meter, so easy and sleek.

[@angrycyclop]

wow, film did great, considering the age! your shots are on point as well!

[@kanabcameraco]

Much appreciated!

[@jayabramson6702]

Amazing film Panatomic X. Probably wins the Cool Film Name Award. Not sure of the cool factor of the camera, but it sure beats the dickens out of knob advance! Great job; enjoyed the video. Count me subscribed!

[@short1961]

Amazing; 50 years expired film it came out great. I would like to see how many of the digital cameras will be working or for that matter will the sensors be functioning in 50 years.

[@DayneFilm]

That canon would make people nervous when you say you’re going on a ‘shoot’ 😂

[@nothingaroundus_]

Nice video, thanks for making it. I also have 2 rolls of Panomatic-X, but in 120. Not sure about storage though, I think I will rate it at ISO16 or 8.. As you also mentioned, I am just waiting for a bright sunny day

[@KentTeffeteller]

I think the Canon VT Deluxe is a cool camera.

[@EdShutter135]

It has the old Leica leader.

[@Batou_73]

The handle is like the coolest thing ever! Never seen anything like it before. I m still shocked how good that film looks. Not even grainy? I shot 10 year expired Ilford and it was grainy as hell. Looked great though😅. Did you overexpose in addition to the rating? Or did you do anything else because of the age? Looking forward to your next vids! This channel will grow fast with content like that.

[@kanabcameraco]

Thanks! The grain is super fine even being this expired. The base ISO is only 32 so very low grain to begin with!

[@Joabjoel]

So, I know nothing about any of this but this is all pretty satisfying! 🔥🔥 my question is why does film “expire” if it still looks pretty darn good? May be a dumb question I suppose, but like I said, I know nothing bout this (don’t roast me)

[@kanabcameraco]

Thanks man! Film naturally tends to fog or lose density over time if not stored correctly and can dramatically affect the images. This film was stored well and still looks amazing!

[@pdtech4524]

Interesting video, images turned out spot on considering the age of the film, I added your channel, hopefully you'll connect with another retro film photographer?

[@peterlindholm2463]

[@YotamGuttman]

you didnt mention the fact that this was Ansel Adams favourite stock

[@Tenskwatawa4U]

It just dawned on me that film was probably the very first freshness (out)dated product.

[@ericespinal9961]

Panatomic x isn’t thats what the professor used to make the powerpuff girls

[@kyuss6663]

what do you mean, made up words? all words are made up. great video though!

[@outtathyme5679]

I really wanted to watch this but the annoying music makes this unwatchable