Found 120 film

lauffray · Jun 1, 2016

hey everyone

This past weekend my girlfriend found a few bags of old 120 film. They were kept in her cousin's basement in plastic bags so not refrigerated, and they're all expired since around 2004. It's a mix of 400 and 3200 speed film, mostly BW negative, I think I saw a few colour (Ilford HP5, Ilford Delta 3200, Kodak TriX, Technical Pan and a bunch I forgot too)

I've since put them in my fridge of course but I'm afraid the damage is done. Can these be shot and developed with a reasonable expectation of quality or should I not even bother ?

I know the obvious answer is "try and see" but I haven't gotten around to actually doing that just yet

markbarendt · Jun 1, 2016

Yes they're probably usable.

A little extra exposure will probably help.

Beyond their you're right you just have to try.

lauffray · Jun 1, 2016

markbarendt said:
A little extra exposure will probably help.

Do you mean a little extra compensation or full 1/2 stop overexposure ? Even the 400 speed film ?

markbarendt · Jun 1, 2016

I'd shoot 400 at 200 and 3200 at 400-800 for a start

Kirks518 · Jun 1, 2016

I agree with Mark on the speeds. The 400 may be ok at 400, but you'll be better off at 200. The 3200, well... 800 if you're lucky, but 400 should be good.

lauffray · Jun 1, 2016

Thanks everyone, any other compensation in development ?

markbarendt · Jun 1, 2016

The extra exposure is simply to get the usable image up above the fogging that comes from age.

Development should generally remain normal.

jeffreythree · Jun 1, 2016

markbarendt said:
I'd shoot 400 at 200 and 3200 at 400-800 for a start

+1

I have shot quite a bit of expired film with unknown storage. Halving the speed never hurt, and quite a bit worked fine at box speed from about your date. I would not think a basement in Canada gets very hot, unless the cousin lives elsewhere.

MattKing · Jun 1, 2016

jeffreythree said:
I would not think a basement in Canada gets very hot, unless the cousin lives elsewhere.

Depends on where in Canada? We have deserts here, you know .
The colour films probably won't be reliable with respect to colour.

I would try the 3200 EI film first. It will be most likely to show the results of age and heat.

lauffray · Jun 1, 2016

jeffreythree said:
I would not think a basement in Canada gets very hot, unless the cousin lives elsewhere.

You'd be surprised how hot it gets here in summer, though I imagine the basement should keep a little cool even in summer

BAC1967 · Jun 1, 2016

I cut the speed in half for every 10 years past the expiration and it works pretty good. The 3200 film may need more. I have shot several rolls of film that expired in the 1960's that worked and they weren't stored properly. Fog is the biggest problem but if you're just scanning them that can be fixed. I shoot a lot of 10 year old color film that looks pretty good but it's not going to be perfect like fresh film.

TheToadMen · Jun 1, 2016

I shoot a lot of Fuji NPC160 and NPH400 at box speed with good results. These films expired about 2004 and 2005 and were never stored properly.

Found 120 film

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