Michael L.
May I please join your group, be educated about the treatment of expired film, and share my own experiences with you? And could the below contribution about old GDR film serve as my ticket of admission?
Several APUG threads already deal with developing expired films, but mostly it is assumed that such films have been kept frozen or at least suitably cool. The following remarks may be of interest to members or guests who find themselves possessed of old B&W films which have been less adequately stored.
Feeling concerned about waste and being in a nostalgic mood, I recently picked up a number of 35mm Orwo NP20 films, expired in 1989 and stored throughout at ambient temperature in a loft. Expecting seriously lessened sensitivity, I experimentally exposed half a roll at ISO 32 and developed it in R09 (1+40) for 10 minutes at 20°C as per the instructions for this 20 DIN/80 ASA film in GDR photo handbooks.
The resulting negatives were disappointingly thin with much loss of shadow detail; nice fine grain, though.
With film speed this severely reduced, the remaining NP20 rolls obviously would be good for bright, sunny days only, none too frequent at our latitude. Or so I concluded at first, but then I remembered a 30+ years old (600cc) packet of Microphen lying in the junk drawer, still looking good, and decided to try it on the second half of the NP20 roll. I made some hasty new test shots at the rated 20 DIN/80 ASA and developed the film (as per The MDC) for 8 minutes in undiluted Microphen, and lo and behold: out came a strip of perfectly usable negatives with satisfactory midtones, good detail in both highlights and shadows, and very little perceptible fogging. If anything, the negatives were a mite too dense and contrasty, so I could probably have set the meter to 100 ASA and even reduced the development time.
Quite a lot of film (both as rolls and in bulk) from the Wolfen plant is regularly on offer on various auction sites. It seems to me that with results as encouraging as these it would be a pity to let it all go to waste, even if it wasn't professionally stored for the past 25 years. Of course, the development process for such films must be fine-tuned; I look forward to your suggestions.
The scans posted in the pictures section were made from prints of some of the test shots (incidentally, the prints were made on expired Orwo baryta paper, grade "normal"). The scanner used is an age-old mediocre flatbed, but hopefully you will nevertheless get a fair impression of how well the Orwo film has stood up to the Toll of Time. I have done nothing at all to the scans; you may have to make them a little bit darker to match your monitor's display to the original prints.
Comments, please?
Regards,
Michael
Several APUG threads already deal with developing expired films, but mostly it is assumed that such films have been kept frozen or at least suitably cool. The following remarks may be of interest to members or guests who find themselves possessed of old B&W films which have been less adequately stored.
Feeling concerned about waste and being in a nostalgic mood, I recently picked up a number of 35mm Orwo NP20 films, expired in 1989 and stored throughout at ambient temperature in a loft. Expecting seriously lessened sensitivity, I experimentally exposed half a roll at ISO 32 and developed it in R09 (1+40) for 10 minutes at 20°C as per the instructions for this 20 DIN/80 ASA film in GDR photo handbooks.
The resulting negatives were disappointingly thin with much loss of shadow detail; nice fine grain, though.
With film speed this severely reduced, the remaining NP20 rolls obviously would be good for bright, sunny days only, none too frequent at our latitude. Or so I concluded at first, but then I remembered a 30+ years old (600cc) packet of Microphen lying in the junk drawer, still looking good, and decided to try it on the second half of the NP20 roll. I made some hasty new test shots at the rated 20 DIN/80 ASA and developed the film (as per The MDC) for 8 minutes in undiluted Microphen, and lo and behold: out came a strip of perfectly usable negatives with satisfactory midtones, good detail in both highlights and shadows, and very little perceptible fogging. If anything, the negatives were a mite too dense and contrasty, so I could probably have set the meter to 100 ASA and even reduced the development time.
Quite a lot of film (both as rolls and in bulk) from the Wolfen plant is regularly on offer on various auction sites. It seems to me that with results as encouraging as these it would be a pity to let it all go to waste, even if it wasn't professionally stored for the past 25 years. Of course, the development process for such films must be fine-tuned; I look forward to your suggestions.
The scans posted in the pictures section were made from prints of some of the test shots (incidentally, the prints were made on expired Orwo baryta paper, grade "normal"). The scanner used is an age-old mediocre flatbed, but hopefully you will nevertheless get a fair impression of how well the Orwo film has stood up to the Toll of Time. I have done nothing at all to the scans; you may have to make them a little bit darker to match your monitor's display to the original prints.
Comments, please?
Regards,
Michael
