Expired Astia question

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Jon Buffington

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I was just gifted a box and a half of 4x5 Fuji Astia dated 9/1999 exp. As I have no experience with outdated E6 or Astia, any suggestions on shooting it? Wonky colors or should it be ok? I know this is rather vague, lol. Basically just looking for anyone shooting very outdated Astia and their experience. Thanks!
 

AnselMortensen

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My experience is that there is a light magenta cast with most expired Fujichrome films.
I recently shot some 8x10 Astia from 1998, and it had the typical light magenta cast.
My recommendation is to try a test sheet under controlled lighting, have it processed normally, & see if the tests are acceptable.
 
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Jon Buffington

Jon Buffington

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My experience is that there is a light magenta cast with most expired Fujichrome films.
I recently shot some 8x10 Astia from 1998, and it had the typical light magenta cast.
My recommendation is to try a test sheet under controlled lighting, have it processed normally, & see if the tests are acceptable.
Thank you and will do. I do all my processing at home so time to order some E6 chems
 

pentaxpete

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I was given several boxes of 5 rolls of 220 ASTIA dated 1999 -- put in fridge -- forgot about it for years then tried a roll in C220 and had it professionally processed and was amazed how it came out - GREAT ! So I got a BELLINI 1 litre E6 kit and did some more myself -- I can still rate it at 100 ASA !
WORTHING 05 by Peter Elgar, on Flickr
WORTHING 07 by Peter Elgar, on Flickr
WORTHING 16 by Peter Elgar, on Flickr
 

runswithsizzers

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In 2019, I shot one roll of expired Astia 100F (35mm). I can't remember the expiration date, but it was probably past its use-by date when it went into the freezer in 2010. Metered at box speed. Lab E6 processing. I thought the slides looked pretty good. My only regret was that I didn't have more of it. I have used a lot of Kodachrome, Ektachrome, and Provia, but that was the only roll of Astia I ever exposed.

I'll bet it looks fantastic in 4x5!
 

Prest_400

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I just loaded and have a few frames left of a couple rolls 2006 exp Astia that I got on a trade. Always Frozen. Results were good on 2019 when I shot the penultimate roll of the same batch, although there was some slight texture of maybe paper backing imprinting?

Nowadays when I buy E6 films I just freeze them as I go through them in pulses and irregularly. Got some 2020 Provia that I just replenished (last batch exp 2025)
 

DREW WILEY

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Outdated Astia is somewhat prone to highlight crossover and overall blandness, especially the acetate variety prior to the polyester sheet Astia 100F version. I kept the last of that frozen nearly 20 yrs, and then sold it to another 8x10 photographer, and it has performed perfectly for him. The problem with 120 roll version is that Astia wasn't all that popular, and was often already getting old when bought, with disappointing results. But nearly all my own work involved 4X5 and 8x10 sheets, which tended to be more carefully-cool stored before selling.

I used a lot of it in the lab to make precision duplicate chromes - Astia 100F did it better than any other film, even their own line of official CDU duplicating films, which was basically just tungsten-balanced earlier Astia. But in general, the Astia lineup had the most hue neutrality and correctness of any chrome film ever. Sad to see it gone. But everyone like the highly saturated look instead, which has really gone over the top now, all jam and jelly atop sugar cubes, in terms of the ease of PS hyper-saturation.
 
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loccdor

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I was able to get five 2000-ish-expired rolls of Astia 100 in 135-36 for just under $10 per roll last year. The speed hadn't perceptibly dropped and color shifts were moderate. This was Astia 100, not Astia 100F which I haven't had the opportunity to shoot. The film was not claimed to be frozen. I found it to have a good exposure latitude, as you can compare in the highlights vs. shadows of this shot:

53121918549_4b921014af_k.jpg
 

Roger Cole

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I have several 120 rolls still frozen that went into the freezer when they were still fresh. I haven't shot any in several years and hope it's still good; the results above with frozen film are encouraging. What a fantastic film. I agree with Drew - one of the best chrome films ever.
 

blee1996

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But in general, the Astia lineup had the most hue neutrality and correctness of any chrome film ever.

I second Drew's view on Astia 100F.

My stash are mostly from 2006-2012, so a bit younger than the OP's. I rate them at ISO 100 and process E6 normally, and there is little speed loss or color shift.

 
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