Mixed up "old and "new" Delta 400 -- help!

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I mixed up a few rolls of exposed "old" Delta 400 with some "new" Delta 400. They have different developing times (using X-tol) and I can't figure out which are new and which are old. Is there anyway to tell the difference between the two in 120 size? (I know in 35mm, the canisters are different colors, but I didn't see any differences apparent in the 120 rolls). Do you have any other suggestions? Would it make sense to use a different developer where the development times are reasonably close? Or is the only way to really be sure (if no one knows how to tell the old from the new) to develop a clip from each roll (thereby probably ruining at least one shot, but hopefully getting it right for the rest of the roll)? Thanks!

-- william carter (wmc@po.cwru.edu), October 31, 2001

Answers

If the film is important to you, I'd sure go with the clip test option. Otherwise, choose a developer you can dilute a lot. That will allow you to develop the film fully, but will likely not over or underdevelop too severely.

-- Ted Kaufman (writercrmp@aol.com), October 31, 2001.

For anyone else who makes this mistake, I got the following response from Ilford:

To: US-techsupport/US/ILFORD@ILFORD cc: Subject: New v. Old Delta 400 (120 size) developing problem

"The old version of the film was labeled as "ILFORD 400 DELTA PROFESSIONAL", The new version is "ILFORD DELTA 400 PROFESSIONAL", with the 'Delta' and '400' reversed. This is the only way to tell them apart.

Regards, David Carper ILFORD Technical Service"

-- william carter (wmc@po.cwru.edu), October 31, 2001.


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