Delta 3200 3 years past expiry

I was planning to do some experimental stuff with 3200, 120mm and the only roll I found during a quick trip into town was some stuff that expired in Feb 2002 and the guy at the store gave it to for £1.00.

Will it work at all? And if so, should I expose it differently? Process it for longer? I've never tried old film.

Any info would be welcome.

thanks.

Andrew

(for you Londoners out there I'd like to lament the passing of Vic Odden's at London Bridge Station, they had some 3200 a couple of weeks ago but when I went by yesterday they'd closed down. Nice store, good folks, it's a shame.)

Will it work? Probably, but it depends on how it was stored. Kept cool, it's more than likely still good. If it sat on top of the microwave in their lunch area, (hey, some folks in camera stores aren't too swift) I would have doubts.

There's only one way to find out.

I have never had any old Delta 3200, but I know that Tmax is a very touchy beast - and I understand the two are of similar type.
I was raising an eye-brow, thinking "Yeah, right..." when I read that Tmax 3200 will be affected by cosmic radiation ( I am not making this up!).... Until I saw it first hand. It is, and it is noticeable. Its an intersting effect, but completely unpredictable, so really of no use, creatively speaking. I am also unsure weather this applies as much to unexposed film, but I believe it does.
I would not risk that roll of film on something very important - more as a "hey, what the heck - lets see what comes of it" experiment.
And the roll I am talking about was several years old.
I would feel better if you verified what I wrote here with someone who can give you more definite answers, as I realize my input here is more than a little sketchy - I would hate to steer you wrong. Best of luck,

Peter.

Not sure about old Delta 3200, but my rule of thumb for fresh stock in DD-X is "soup it for the next speed up" i.e. expose for 3200 ISO, soup for the recommended time for 6400 ISO.

It always gave extremely thin negs until I started this. Funny, 'cos Ilford's data sheets are usually pretty consistant...

FrankB said:

Not sure about old Delta 3200, but my rule of thumb for fresh stock in DD-X is "soup it for the next speed up" i.e. expose for 3200 ISO, soup for the recommended time for 6400 ISO.

It always gave extremely thin negs until I started this. Funny, 'cos Ilford's data sheets are usually pretty consistant...

Click to expand...

With Delta 3200 I always "soup it for the next speed up" in Rodinal or HC-110.

The film should be ok if "souped for the next speed up".

i used a delta that had been 1 year over, but had been in the attic for 30+ degree in the summer. The film base was fogged a little after develop.

Super fast films are very sensitive to many things... one of those is long storage.

The base fog is going to be high, and I'd expose it as 800 or 1000 at best, then develop as 1600 to increase contrast.

Old Delta 3200

The issue with old high speed films => 800 isn't fog as much as it is the increase in graininess. The large AgX grains are excellent recorders of cosmic radiation. Cold storage doesn't help unless it is in a deep mine. Cosmic radiation travels unattenuated through nearly every thing. The result is an increase in the graininess of the resulting negative. If fog has become an issue it will be very grainy. First the graininess increases and then the fog grows.

Life is too short spend time on old sub-par film.

If it's been stored in the shop, it'll probably be fine.
It's true speed is about 1200asa I think. Basically a flat grained very low contrast film, which gives it's best when pushed to 3200 or 6400.
Like the others have said, my dev time for 3200asa, is round about Ilford's 6400asa time.

Suck it and see!