In my installment of Developing Adventures where I shot with Bergger Pancro 400 for the first time, I found that I really liked the look of this film. Naturally, my next step was to push it and see how it held up at ISO 800. I learned from that roll that this film has fine grain, and a moderate bit of contrast.
Developing Bergger Pancro 400 at 800
I processed this roll in Kodak HC-110 dilution B (1+31) for 11 minutes and 15 seconds. I fixed it in Ilford’s Rapid Fixer for 6 minutes and agitated for the first 30 seconds and 10 seconds every minute after that.
My Results
Right off the bat, I can see that there is a lot more grain when this film is pushed to 800. This surprised me because the film at box speed had relatively fine grain, and usually pushing a film to 800 doesn’t change too much. It may be difficult to see on here because of compression. See comparison below.
Right: Bergger Panaro Pushed to 800
The contrast is also a lot stronger after this film is pushed. The grain and contrast could also have been enhanced by the HC-110 developer. I wonder if it would’ve been a little less with D76 stock. I don’t have anymore rolls of this film, so I couldn’t test it. See the card in the pic below for an example of the grain.
Final Thoughts
I share these results with you all in hopes that it will maybe give you an idea of whether or not you want to shoot the film or push it yourself. I hope this series has helped. It has become very time consuming and a bit expensive so I may have to start doing them less often. I haven’t been well so I haven’t been able to do as much lately. I would like to try pushing this film again when I can afford a couple more rolls. Stay tuned.
Until next time, stay motivated and keep shooting.
Thanks for these film-pushing articles Aly. It’s helped me find new film stocks to try (outside of my Kodak/Ilford bubble). I’ve ordered some Fomapan and Arista in 120 format to give a whirl on (and practice shooting with) my TLR and folding camera.
I’m trying to get out and shoot all of the azalea bushes I can up here in NW FL – this time of year screams for color film!
I hope you’re feeling better soon. I really look forward to the next wild vintage camera you showcase here and on Youtube.
Thanks Tim. Your comments and support mean a lot to me. I’m glad my articles and videos have helped you. I am on the treasure coast area of Florida and I am dying to get out and take some pics of the flowers blooming. My body just will not catch up to my mind LOL my neighbor has some orange flowers. Not sure if they’re marigolds. But I hope to get a shot of them soon.