The Bergger Pancro 400 is a black and white film. It is offered by the French company Bergger. Bergger is the last company in France to specialize in the production of photosensitive material. The offer includes mainly a wide range of photographic paper and photographic chemistry.
The special feature of the film is the double panchromatic emulsion of silver bromide and silver iodide. According to the manufacturer, these should allow an extremely wide exposure latitude.
The Pancro 400 is available as 35mm film and as 120 medium format film. It is also offered as sheet film in 4x5", 5x7", 8x10" and 13x18 cm formats.
The 35mm film is coated on a 135 micron acetate base and comes in a cartridge with DX encoding. The medium format version is cast on a 100 micron PET base. The sheet film is also PET-based but 175 microns thick.
Development
The Pancro 400 must be developed in a black and white developer. You can either use Bergger's own photochemistry or one of the common black and white developers.
It is important to note that the choice of developer has a great impact on the result. Each developer has its own characteristics and can affect the appearance and contrasts of the final image. Therefore, the choice of developer depends on personal preference and the desired result.
If you use Bergger's own photographic chemistry, you have the advantage that it was developed specifically for the Pancro 400 and is therefore optimally matched to the film. On the other hand, there are also many other black and white developers on the market that can deliver very good results.
Development Times
| Developer | Dilution | ISO | Time | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D-76 | Stock | ISO 400 | 9 min | 20 °C |
| D-76 | 1+1 | ISO 400 | 17 min | 20 °C |
| Kodak HC-110 B | Stock | ISO 400 | 9 min | 20 °C |
| Rodinal | 1+25 | ISO 400 | 8 min | 20 °C |
| Rodinal | 1+50 | ISO 400 | 22 min | 20 °C |
| Xtol | Stock | ISO 400 | 10 min | 20 °C |
| Xtol | 1+1 | ISO 400 | 18 min | 20 °C |
| Bergger BERSPEED | 1+1 | ISO 400 | 12 min | 20 °C |
| Bergger BERSPEED | 1+1 | ISO 800 | 10:50 min | 24 °C |
| Bergger BERSPEED | 1+1 | ISO 1600 | 13:45 min | 24 °C |
Calculation of the development solution
| Dilution | Developer (ml) | Water (ml) |
|---|---|---|
| Stock | 500 | 0 |
| 1+1 | 250 | 250 |
| 1+25 | 19 | 481 |
| 1+50 | 10 | 490 |
The manufacturer recommends pre-watering the film in water for one minute before putting the developer in the developer can.
Sample photos
The film was used in the Minolta Weathermatic 35 DL. It was developed in the Ars-Imago MB Monobath developer. The development time was 8 minutes.
