Expired motion picture film.

[Icra]

I have 50m of Fuji Eterna (I think is Vivid) 500T from 2010. What ISO should I rate the film/canister? Should I rate it as an 200ASA or 400ASA? Don't know how was stored before, came from a cameraman.

 

[Cholentpot]

I have 50m of Fuji Eterna (I think is Vivid) 500T from 2010. What ISO should I rate the film/canister? Should I rate it as an 200ASA or 400ASA? Don't know how was stored before, came from a cameraman.

This stuff is pretty bullet proof.

Shoot a test roll, work your way up from 25 to 3200.

If you don't like the stuff I'll take it, I love Eterna and it's getting hard to find. I'm down to my last few rolls of 250D.

 

[Icra]

This stuff is pretty bullet proof.

Shoot a test roll, work your way up from 25 to 3200.

If you don't like the stuff I'll take it, I love Eterna and it's getting hard to find. I'm down to my last few rolls of 250D.

So can I shot at 400iso?
I can't test as I'm traveling .

 

[Cholentpot]

So can I shot at 400iso?
I can't test as I'm traveling .

Are you shooting stills? Under what light? If it's 500T then it's rated for tungsten lighting. If you don't have and 85B filter things are going to come out blue.

I wouldn't shoot anything vitally important with it but I'd shoot half the roll at 200 and half the roll at 400, hedge your bets.

 

[138S]

So can I shot at 400iso?

It is T , so it's balanced for tungsten lights, for outdoors you need a Wratten 85 or equivalent (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wratten_number) to balance color temperature, if not your outdoor scenes will be pretty blue.

With the filter factor you should shot around ISO 320 (https://www.fujifilm.com/products/motion_picture/pdf/eterna500.pdf), (always read the datasheet two or three times ), but as negative film likes light I'd shot it EI 200 perhaps, depending on how you meter, your taste, and how your shutter exposes.

IIRC this movie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Hustle was the last major production shot on Eterna. I'd recomend you watch that movie to learn the powerful aesthetic nuances this film has, see how that movie was illuminated, it is a nice lesson on photography IMO.

 

[Icra]

I have 85B and I have read about 320 iso but I've forgot to use it. So to summarize it is ok to use it as normal even if it is expired?

 

[138S]

So to summarize it is ok to use it as normal even if it is expired?

There are many "kinds of expiration". A very expired film can be perfect if it was aged sealed and frozen, or refrigerated, while less aged film can be damaged because of several storage conditions, temperature ? underground ? (protected aganist Muons/Cosmic rays ?)

With that 10 years old film I'd shot first roll with bracketing mode (0 , +1 perhaps) if rating nominal ISO 320. Also in the first roll I'd shot some reference scenes with a wider bracketing, to learn both effective speed and how film works in different conditions.

Having 50m first you should do is testing well this film to see how it works and how can be used to suit your taste. If film is damaged it will have some fog, some speed loss and color shifts, so it would be perfect for lomography !

...but probably you have a jewel, Eterna is pure beauty for some, still it can suit your taste or not. You will find a bit of grain in the 500, for motion pictures this is not bad because we don't see the grain at 24 frames/s, instead grain makes amazing swirls on motion and it becomes hypnotic, immersing the viewer inside the movie.


Personally I felt that the 500 coarseness (in the shadows) can team with defocus, for portraying people volumes can be worked by taking advantage of glare and powerful texturized highlights on skin. I've experimented more with Kodak Vision 3 and only two rolls with Eterna, I found both have the same soul but diferent bodies. Vision is more direct and spectacular, Eterna is oriental refinement and sophistication.

 

[Cholentpot]

There are many "kinds of expiration". A very expired film can be perfect if it was aged sealed and frozen, or refrigerated, while less aged film can be damaged because of several storage conditions, temperature ? underground ? (protected aganist Muons/Cosmic rays ?)

With that 10 years old film I'd shot first roll with bracketing mode (0 , +1 perhaps) if rating nominal ISO 320. Also in the first roll I'd shot some reference scenes with a wider bracketing, to learn both effective speed and how film works in different conditions.

Having 50m first you should do is testing well this film to see how it works and how can be used to suit your taste. If film is damaged it will have some fog, some speed loss and color shifts, so it would be perfect for lomography !

...but probably you have a jewel, Eterna is pure beauty for some, still it can suit your taste or not. You will find a bit of grain in the 500, for motion pictures this is not bad because we don't see the grain at 24 frames/s, instead grain makes amazing swirls on motion and it becomes hypnotic, immersing the viewer inside the movie.


Personally I felt that the 500 coarseness (in the shadows) can team with defocus, for portraying people volumes can be worked by taking advantage of glare and powerful texturized highlights on skin. I've experimented more with Kodak Vision 3 and only two rolls with Eterna, I found both have the same soul but diferent bodies. Vision is more direct and spectacular, Eterna is oriental refinement and sophistication.

Major difference for me is Vision 3 remjet does not like to come off easy. Eterna just washes away.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

General rule is one stop per decade. If it is a decade out of date I'd start at 250 minimally. 125 would be a safe bet. Overexposure isn't a big deal, but underexposure is burnt toast. Faster films tend to age worse than slower films too (higher base fog), so factor that in.

 

[Cholentpot]

General rule is one stop per decade. If it is a decade out of date I'd start at 250 minimally. 125 would be a safe bet. Overexposure isn't a big deal, but underexposure is burnt toast. Faster films tend to age worse than slower films too (higher base fog), so factor that in.

I found that motion picture film ages better than consumer stuff. Not to say the rule isn't a good one.

 

[138S]

Major difference for me is Vision 3 remjet does not like to come off easy. Eterna just washes away.

Yes.. of course still Vision has the easy Cinestill choice, with the remjet removed. Cinestill it is expensive and it has some different glow as remjet is not there and it lacks anti halation, but Cinestill is a great choice to start with stock film.

I find Eterna and Vision have quite different spectral responses, personally I feel more atracted by the Vision nature, perhaps it's easier to exploit it aesthetically, Eterna is more complex I guess, it is a film I'd like to learn.

Here there is a list of movies shot Eterna 500T https://shotonwhat.com/film-negative-stock/fujifilm-eterna-vivid-500-85478647

...remarkably Black Swan (2010), a $13 Million production that made $330M in the Box Office.

American Hustle (2013) costed 40 and made 250.

...and The King's Speech (also 2010) made $414 million with a $15Million budget, obtaining 7 Oscars from 12 nominations

So at least Eterna was a sharp tool for some that were knowing what they the hell they were doing.