Effective use of expired film.

[Homebrewmess]

Hi everyone,

I come to you today because my film enlarger came with a tonne of Ilford FP4 125 from 198X (the label is cut off before the exact year), I have been bulk loading it and reusing cassettes almost the entire time I have been shooting film. I often get decent photos from it but they aren't stellar no matter what I do, especially when compared to brand new FP4. I often lose my mid-tones a lot by the end of development. I am currently playing with development times at the moment and am taking note of my results. But I feel like maybe its not just the development end of things that is making me lose my detail. So I was wondering if anyone had any advice for how to get more out of this film. beyond some special film I buy for specific uses I try to save money by using this stuff. does anyone have any advice on how to get better performance out of these negatives? (I will try to get examples of my negs up soon)

 

[MattKing]

Is it the current version - FP4+ - or is it the previous film, FP4?
And yes, please share backlit digital photos of the negatives themselves - something like the ones shown in this resource: https://www.photrio.com/forum/resou...nsparencies-for-troubleshooting-purposes.461/
It would help if you could share with us the exposure information and development information that corresponds with the negatives you share.
Finally, here is a resource that might help you assess the negatives you have: https://www.ephotozine.com/article/assessing-negatives-4682

 

[Homebrewmess]

Is it the current version - FP4+ - or is it the previous film, FP4?
And yes, please share backlit digital photos of the negatives themselves - something like the ones shown in this resource: https://www.photrio.com/forum/resou...nsparencies-for-troubleshooting-purposes.461/
It would help if you could share with us the exposure information and development information that corresponds with the negatives you share.
Finally, here is a resource that might help you assess the negatives you have: https://www.ephotozine.com/article/assessing-negatives-4682

Its the previous fp4, for a shoot to properly understand what I was working with I got some modern FP4+ to shoot the same pictures with the same lighting and settings. It was the first time I really paid attention to that stuff. And right now when that would actually be important, I am embarrassed to admit this but I misplaced said card I took my notes on. I will continue to search for it in hopes I kept it, and didn't absentmindedly banish it to the recycling.

Anywho forgive the makeshift Backlight set up, here are the negs. they have some splotching because I hadn't quite mastered loading my reels yet. They aren't perfect copies because there was time in-between and whatnot but I hope it helps. They were developed at the same time in the same tank as well

 

[Wolfram Malukker]

Your film is fogged-overexpose by some amount, and you'll have to deal with that extra density in your scans/prints. You could try a restrainer in development but I would try overexposing first.

Instead of shooting it at 125ISO, I'd start at 80ISO, and may try 64ISO.

 

[Craig]

There is a lot of base fog there, that may not be salvageable.

 

[koraks]

Your film is fogged-overexpose by some amount, and you'll have to deal with that extra density in your scans/prints.

It's not just that, though. The fog will also compress anything happening in the toe of the curve, which is now of course shifted upward by several stops. What remains is a very non-linear film with a low dynamic range.

@Homebrewmess that film is toast; you're wasting your time with it IMO.

 

[Bill Burk]

Your film is fogged-overexpose by some amount, and you'll have to deal with that extra density in your scans/prints. You could try a restrainer in development but I would try overexposing first.

Instead of shooting it at 125ISO, I'd start at 80ISO, and may try 64ISO.

It’s fog for sure, may even need more exposure than that, 25 might work. Develop longer. Expect wildly grainy results. @koraks is not wrong. But if you want wild results you’ll get it.

 

[Agulliver]

That is an unfortunately high level of fog, especially for FP4+ which is usually very robust.

I have to say I'd relegate this film to testing cameras. Or for teaching people how to load cameras and developing reels. It's not likely to give consistent images.