Although the distributor of this product is endeavouring to arrange the production of new stock, at present (14/3/07) there is no date for this.
With Kodak Technical Pan long gone, what are the alternatives? MACO Ort 25 will give very good results when processed to low contrast for continuous tone, but is orthochromatic, which may not deliver the tonal characteristics desired.
'GIGABIT FILM' is a unique packaging of a specialised Agfa-Gevaert film, COPEX-PAN, and fits into the same niche as TP, being a high contrast ultra-high resolution fully panchromatic film, which requires low-contrast development to deliver continuous tone results.
The film base is polyester, which imposes a loading restriction - as the base is absolutely clear it can act as a light pipe, allowinglight to enter the cassette, so loading should always be done in subdued light. The film comes as a complete boxed kit, containing one 36 exposure roll and 24ml of its own developer, as well as full data sheet.
There is plenty of information regarding the film and its characteristics on the web, but a users impression from Julien Busselle is probably the best commendation, extacted from his review in 'Black & White Photography'.
".....During the printing it became clear what I was dealing with. From a good 35mm negative I normally expect a 12x16in enlargement to be very crisp, with 20x16in the absolute limit. I blew up a Gigabit negative to 20x30in and the result was still exceedingly sharp. I was gobsmacked. Put simply, this is a masterpiece of emulsion. So, what is different about this film? The detail it records is almost unbelievable, and it is crisp, clear and biting. The grain is minimal. Sure, it's evident in a shot that features murky sky, but less than you would expect, and any apparent grain is smooth,therefore unobtrusive. Then there is the film's ability to record incredible contrast, and stunning, velvety smooth midtones with fantastic separation - all at the same time. It isn't easy towork with, as it's prone to marks and unforgiving in exposure, but it surely has to be worth it
Put this film in your camera, use a good lens and good technique, and the result is much nearer medium format quality than 35mm. A word of warning, though - whatever system you use, the lens resolution will give up before the film does - Leica or Contax rangefinders included. If you aspire to a fine art quality, buy some rolls of this film and find out how to get the best from it. I've only scraped the surface and, like most things, using this film is a learning process. If you persevere you will be astounded."
