Bergger Pancro was first released in 2016, the film was introduced in large format size 4x5, 5x7, 8x10, during the same year at Photokina they announced that they would be releasing the film in 35mm and 120.  It was a very exciting news for the analog world because there was actually a new film, not a OEM or repackaged film but actually a new film.

Aurelien who is the "CEO" of Bergger was eager to have something different on the market and different meant being an original.  This  meant you had to invest in creating a brand new emulsion from scratch which is not easy to do as the investment is immense.  

Aurelien wanted an original film as the predecessor was BRF400 which was an Orwo film. So he took the plunge and worked on a new film which is called "Pancro 400".

Since the film released, which has been approximately 2 years ago, the second batch production which was made in 2018 has some improvements to the film. They have the film in the "sensitivity" and "decrease in grain size".   This is really good news as we are always looking for better sensitivity and smaller grains.

Last month when Aurelien was visiting Hong Kong, we had some time to during the weekend when we were not working to go burn some film and obviously we both shot Pancro 400. 

We visited Lantau Island and did some touristy things as it was his first time in Hong Kong.  We rode the cable car from Tung Chung up to Nong Ping where the "Big Buddha" is located.

Aureliene, photographing with his Leica M7 loaded with Pancro and myself photographing with Hasselblad SWC/M.  However most of the image samples provided here are shot on the SWC/M.

I shot two rolls of Pancro and had the film developed with "Bergger Berspeed" which is one of my favourite film developers as the results are always outstanding.  The developer is powdered based  come in three packets A, B & C come in package to prepare 1L and 5L.  The developer is 1+1 and you get best results when you process the film at 24 degrees celcius.

Film is processed by our in house lab instagram: @cfplab

So more about "Bergger Pancro 400", the film is a two emulsion film , composed with silver bromide and silver iodide. They differ by the size of their grain. These properties allow a wide exposure latitude.  Cristals are precipitated by double-jet process, under the control of a computer. The two emulsions are panchromatic, and are stabilized by high tech systems.

BERGGER Pancro400 in 135 is coated on a 135 microns acetate base and includes DX Coding. It is designed with an undercoated anti-halation layer which clarifies during processing, and a anti-curling layer.

Processed in every developer, "Bergger Pancro 400" exhibits outstanding results, in term of grain size, detail rendition, and greyscale.

The "Pancro 400" is suitable for pulling and pushing so it does not necessarily have to be shot at box speed. I do recommend using either Bergger Berspeed or Ber49 to get the best results.

In summary, I feel that the "Pancro 400" renders very similar to the previous Kodak Trix 400 which makes me really like this film and you all that know me are aware that my favourite black and white film is Trix. So am pretty pleased with this.  If you haven't treated yourself to this film as yet, I highly recommend you do.  

I hope posted links below to the film and to its developer.

Bergger Pancro 400 Here

Bergger Berspeed Black & White Film Developer Here