Expired 4x5 Polaroid Worth Shooting?

[Skulls Road]

Everything expired late 1992... Can I even shoot it? I have ISO 50, 400, and 3000 (!!!!).

 

[Dr Croubie]

no harm in trying?
No matter what comes out of a test shot, just sell it on fleabay with 'perfect for lomography' and it'll sell to some chump...

 

[Skulls Road]

Haha well I happen to appreciate lomography so maybe I'll be the chump and just use it. However, I ask because I don't actually have a 4x5 camera. My dad found eight boxes of film at NASA (where he works) and I wanted to know if I should start looking for something to shoot with.

 

[jwd722]

Unless it was stored under the very worst of conditions something interesting should develop (pun). However, spending a few to several hundred dollars for the equipment to shoot said film (unless you have access to a camera, lens, 545 film holder) seems a bit exorbitant.

I, on the other hand, have such equipment and would volunteer to test a box for you...

 

[adelorenzo]

I shot some Type 51 that was expired in 1981... A lot of dead pods but I managed to get a few exposures and it was fun to play around with.


Polaroid self-portrait by Dead Link Removed, on Flickr

A couple of possibilities:

You can sell half that film for enough money to get a camera to shoot it with. It goes for a mint on eBay.

If you were located close to me I'd lend you all the gear you need in exchange for a box or two. Might want to see if someone in your neck of the woods is interested in that kind of arrangement.

 

[clayne]

Great self portrait. There's something so great about hitting silver crystals laid down 30+ years ago with fresh light. An inherent sense of purpose.

 

[Dr Croubie]

Is it the sheet of packfilm? sheet holders in 4x5 are dirt cheap, like $10 or so. 4x5 pack holders aren't much more. The only equipment that costs >$100 are the 405 holders because they take the only currently-available fp100 and fp1000 films...

 

[jamespierce]

Leave it to develop for a bit longer (50% is probably a good start) - the process basically develops to completion anyway with the 4x5 films. Expect poor blacks, some strange colour casts and dried up development pods... Perfect lomography.

 

[Truzi]

When I dug out my great-grandmother's "The 800" Polaroid camera last year, I bought some 40-series film from ebay. Some rolls worked, some had dried chemistry. Oddly, I got images from film expired in 1968, but had no luck with film from the 80s. What I did get wasn't great, but it was fun, and I have more to shoot.

I'm not sure how the old instant roll-film pods compare to what you are using, but if you can borrow a camera or get a cheap back, give it a try.

 

[nickrapak]

The film will be hit-or-miss. The one most likely to work will, paradoxically, be the ISO 3000 (Type 57) film. However, if I were in your position, I would sell the film and use the proceeds to get more equipment in your preferred format. The film, even this old, will probably go for around $40 a box, which all together could buy you a very nice lens.

 

[clayne]

What good is a lens without film?

 

[nickrapak]

What good is a lens without film?

What good is film without a lens (and the associated camera) to shoot it with?