Best way to go about shooting expired Velvia 50

[Minolta93]

I just bought about 20 rolls of Velvia 50 in 35mm. It's been cold-stored and I was told by the seller that some of the rolls he's shot came out fine, so I'm not too worried. The expiry dates are from 1999 to about 2013 IIRC. Most of them are ~2010 so the first roll I shoot will be from that batch and I want to use that first roll to do some testing.

I will be shooting at box speed. I also want to bracket my shots for testing purposes. I'm planning to do 1/2 stop above and below. Is this fine, or should I do less than half-stops (or more)?

I'm also planning to have them processed normally, as I don't want to introduce too many variables at once.

Assuming my Velvia is *mostly* fine, but may have experienced some color changes, what sort of color cast would I expect, and what correcting filters should I consider?

Can anyone recommend good E-6 labs? I generally use Memphis Film Lab for my C-41 film but I've never shot slides before.

I am open to processing myself but I've never processed color film of any kind at home before.

Any additional advice is welcome.

 

[Minolta93]

Oh, also, does anyone have metering recommendations for this film? I don't have any cameras that do evaluative matrix metering, I'll instead be using a camera with a center-weighted metering system.

 

[AnselMortensen]

You don't want to over-expose, because that washes out the highlights.
I'd recommend bracketing with 1/3 stop or 1/2 stop increments.
EI 50, 64, 80.
Any color cast will probably go toward magenta.
Best to shoot a test roll & evaluate.
Good luck!

 

[Minolta93]

You don't want to over-expose, because that washes out the highlights.
I'd recommend bracketing with 1/3 stop or 1/2 stop increments.
EI 50, 64, 80.
Any color cast will probably go toward magenta.
Best to shoot a test roll & evaluate.
Good luck!

No box speed at all?

 

[AnselMortensen]

Box speed is EI 50.

 

[Taylor Nankervis]

For every decade beyond expiry, the film will lose its original speed and contrast, with a palette that is more unnatural and potentially grainier. I believe 26 years is really pushing the envelope.

What constitutes 'cold storage', beside proven deep frozen storage over all those years?

I would bet the film isn't going to be textbook Velvia 50 beauty. But experimentation is a great teacher!

You will need to expose at various compensatory speeds (and take careful notes of what you are doing so you can made valid judgements when assessing the slides on the lightbox). Start with 50, then EI40, EI32 (my bet is EI40 will be the best); then EI64 and EI80. These adjustments can be made by switching the ISO on the camera's dial, but again, keep track of what you are doing. Don't add any exposure compensation through the camera until you have seen at least one roll that follows the above methodology. There will likely be a heavy purplish cast and colour shift — you will not know for certain until the results come back.

Velvia 50 requires care with exposure even with cameras that have onboard matrix/evaluative metering. CWA metering will work if the conditions you are shooting do not present extremes of contrast (again, bright light, deep shadows etc.) Even then, dexterity of 'reading' the scene and adjusting the suggested exposure pays dividends.

 

[loccdor]

Shoot it at either 50 or 40. If it needs more exposure, it's probably toast.

If the expiry dates range from 1999 to 2013, it may be hard to get consistent results. It's easier to test a film batch if it's all the same date.

I've shot expired Velvia 50 where the black disappeared and turned to red. I've also shot some that had completely perfect results. It's all down to the true storage of it and how much you can trust the description.

Overall, had much better luck with expired Sensia (as old as 1996) compared to expired Velvia.

 

[Minolta93]

Box speed is EI 50.

My mistake, I think I just had a brain fart.

For every decade beyond expiry, the film will lose its original speed and contrast, with a palette that is more unnatural and potentially grainier. I believe 26 years is really pushing the envelope.

What constitutes 'cold storage', beside proven deep frozen storage over all those years?

I would bet the film isn't going to be textbook Velvia 50 beauty. But experimentation is a great teacher!

You will need to expose at various compensatory speeds (and take careful notes of what you are doing so you can made valid judgements when assessing the slides on the lightbox). Start with 50, then EI40, EI32 (my bet is EI40 will be the best); then EI64 and EI80. These adjustments can be made by switching the ISO on the camera's dial, but again, keep track of what you are doing. Don't add any exposure compensation through the camera until you have seen at least one roll that follows the above methodology. There will likely be a heavy purplish cast and colour shift — you will not know for certain until the results come back.

Velvia 50 requires care with exposure even with cameras that have onboard matrix/evaluative metering. CWA metering will work if the conditions you are shooting do not present extremes of contrast (again, bright light, deep shadows etc.) Even then, dexterity of 'reading' the scene and adjusting the suggested exposure pays dividends.

Seller says they were kept in the freezer. I'm expecting some degradation but something still fairly usable. I'm planning to shoot low contrast scenes, I haven't used slide film before but I know enough not to use it for high-contrast lighting.

 

[blee1996]

My experience is similar to @loccdor , it can vary a lot due to age and storage. But I will still bracket both plus and minus ISO in half stop increments.

Color cast is mostly magenta. But the worst samples come out very dark and weird.

 

[Minolta93]

My experience is similar to @loccdor , it can vary a lot due to age and storage. But I will still bracket both plus and minus ISO in half stop increments.

Color cast is mostly magenta. But the worst samples come out very dark and weird.

have you ever successfully used color correcting filters to improve the magenta cast?

 

[blee1996]

Not really, I just leave it as is for the expired film look.

 

[Taylor Nankervis]

My mistake, I think I just had a brain fart.

Seller says they were kept in the freezer. I'm expecting some degradation but something still fairly usable. I'm planning to shoot low contrast scenes, I haven't used slide film before but I know enough not to use it for high-contrast lighting.

You'll have to put more than a modicum of faith in what the seller tells you — touch-wood and hope for the best.
The film could potentially also be affected by humidity over such a long time, particularly in 'wet' freezers that do not defrost (aka 'dry' or 'frost-free').

I would expect the results to be 'useable', but perhaps not so easy to scan and print. What is your end-use for the processed film? Whatever you come back with, please post the results here on Photrio — even the most experienced E6 users here probably don't have so much exposure (ooops, I have punned...) to film that has expired more than two decades ago. If we have changed so much in that time, just imagine the film! Oh, never mind...

 

[Minolta93]

You'll have to put more than a modicum of faith in what the seller tells you — touch-wood and hope for the best.
The film could potentially also be affected by humidity over such a long time, particularly in 'wet' freezers that do not defrost (aka 'dry' or 'frost-free').

I would expect the results to be 'useable', but perhaps not so easy to scan and print. What is your end-use for the processed film? Whatever you come back with, please post the results here on Photrio — even the most experienced E6 users here probably don't have so much exposure (ooops, I have punned...) to film that has expired more than two decades ago. If we have changed so much in that time, just imagine the film! Oh, never mind...

It's just for fun, but I still want some pictures that are worth looking at which is why I'm willing to do some testing instead of just going out and shooting it without being careful about it.

 

[lamerko]

These films are absolutely unpredictable when they age. Sometimes they lose almost no speed, other times they do. Sometimes, although rarely, they lose speed, more than a stop, but they have no base fog. In 15 years I don't expect the speed to have changed significantly.
Find a place with low dynamics - without big differences in light and dark. Not in the shade. That way the average metering will do its job without deceiving you.
Make a bracketing through 1/3 stop. I would recommend pulling the process by about 1/2 stop. You just have to find a lab that agrees to such processing. Pulling will slightly increase the dynamics and possibly improve the situation slightly if there is a slight fog present.

 

[destroya]

I have a few rolls of velvia 50 from 06 that i got for free. they are the only ones i have used that had color casts. I was going to toss them after I developed them but thought i would try scanning one frame to see what happened (I project my slides). a quick scan and a simple auto correct and the shot was pretty close to normal. I would shoot the film at 40, which is what I rate the original RVP at and then go from there.