Color Film Advice

jamusu · Dec 12, 2008

A few months back, I purchased a Pentax 645 off of ebay. The guy included lots of expired color film with it as a bonus. They are as follows with the expiration dates:

(3) Fujichrome 100 Slide film. Expiration: 2002

(5) Portra 400 NC. Expiration: 2002

(3) Portra 160 NC. Expiration: 2002

(3) Portra 160 VC. Expiration 2000

(1) Portra 120 VC. Expiration 2000

(9) Reala Fujicolor CS 120. Expiration 1997

(3) Fujichrome MS 100/1000. Expiration 2003

(10) Konica VX 100. Expiration 1998

Are these films worth using? If so, how do I compensate for the severe color shift that will occur due to how severely outdated the film is?

I must be honest, I am not a big fan of color photography. In fact, I have only shot a couple of rolls of color slide film, but lately have wanted to dibble and dabble with color film just for the heck of it.

Any advice?
Jamusu.

MattKing · Dec 12, 2008

I think you might be pleasantly surprised, at least with respect to the Portra film.

I'd shoot a test roll of the Portra 400, and ask the lab to comment on whether they found it difficult to print from.

Matt

nickandre · Dec 12, 2008

I don't think it will be bad. I processed a roll of consumer film that was shot around '02 and it came out good with a little fogged. HAve fun!

StorminMatt · Dec 13, 2008

I would say to give it a try for the fun of it. But if you are shooting something REALLY important, get new film.

railwayman3 · Dec 13, 2008

I'd certainly give one-or-two of the films a try...particularly the types where you have several rolls. The expiry date is only the date which the manufacturer guarantees that there should be no visible deterioration with storage as specified. There's lots of latitude in this, particularly if the films have been stored under cool dry conditions (and I'd guess that a guy who used a Pentax 645 ought to know how to keep his film )
(Obviously, as StorminMatt wisely says, don't use them, untried, for irreplacable shots.)

jamusu · Dec 13, 2008

Thanks for all of the good advice, but I have one "MAJOR" problem. I do not have much experience with color film. In fact I barely have any at all. I have only shot two rolls (slides). What are the best methods for shooting color film?

Thank you,
James.

DJGainer · Dec 13, 2008

Your metering needs to be more precise for color negative over B&W and even more so for color slide as there is less exposure latitude. Are you asking about anything other than metering?

MattKing · Dec 13, 2008

If you want to experiment, 35mm colour film is a great place to start - inexpensive, relatively easy to have processed, and you can pick up excellent cameras cheaply.

Once you get a feel for it, most of the experience transfers easily to MF.

Matt

2F/2F · Dec 13, 2008

Most of it should work OK.

I have used much older MS 100/1000 (rated at 100). It was perfectly neutral in daylight, and the exposure was fine using the sunny 16 rule. It is a nice, plain-looking film that seems to have a very wide dynamic range at 100. Reminds me of my prints from Pro 160S, actually. I have not tried pushing it, as I do not trust any lab to follow the instructions for how to do it.

From experience with old films, I would say that the negative films may have lost some speed, but the transparency films might be remarkably close to how they originally would have looked. The ones with the most problems will probably be the stuff from the '90s, and the Portra 400 (although I have got good pix from older Press 800).

I would start by shooting the neg. film at half box speed, and see what happens. If it is too dense and grainy, you can probably go back to using box speed. If it is thin and washed-out grainy, you probably need to downrate it even more to get some use out of it.

For the transparency film, I would start your tests at box speed.

Obviously, test first.

jamusu · Dec 13, 2008

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I am interested in making pictures like JD Callow's color prints. I believe I read that he develops and prints all of his work.

Jamusu.

nickandre · Dec 14, 2008

Printing isn't as hard as one might think. Color print film has a lot of latitude, so you can use it in those hokey point and shoot cameras and still get decent results if printed digitally. Exposure alters contrast, however, so you should be consistent if you plan to print optically. It's not imperative, but don't stick it in the crappy camera and expect to get good prints.

jamusu · Dec 14, 2008

I will not print it myself. I only have the options of printing and developing for black and white. I will be using a Pentax K-1000 mainly for the 35mm and a Pentax 645 for the medium format.

Jamusu.

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