Help, don't know whether to use 2006-expiry date Ektachrome for 4x5?

Holly · Nov 9, 2010

Hi guys
I've got some old film I want to use, because it's free, and I'm a poor art student..
It's Kodak Ektachrome 100 which expired in 2006.
It's 4x5, I'm going to use it on a Toyo View camera, just mostly for
learning how to use the camera, get used to the whole rig, etc. But I want to know:
What will this film look like, considering it's 4 years out of date?
Should I be adjusting exposure to get a half decent effect somehow?
Or is it too far gone?
Thanks

antaios · Nov 9, 2010

According to my personal experience, using 4X5 Ektachrome E100G sheets, expired in 2007, the results were excellent, with no obvious problems. I could compare the performance of the expired Ektachrome as I had shots of the same subject with the same setting on fresh film in parallel.

Paul Green · Nov 9, 2010

Maybe try one sheet with an extra stop and get it deved and then you’ll at least have an idea of what it’s like. Do you know how it has been stored?

hrst · Nov 9, 2010

If it's stored in cold, it's usable with minor shifts, if not perfect. If it has been in room temperature for years, there probably is some color shift, usually to magenta, especially in blacks, but probably not that bad yet. Overexposing and asking for pull processing can help giving stronger blacks, but try one sheet normally first.

Robert Hall · Nov 9, 2010

If it's chrome, you will receive no benefit from adding a stop of exposure. In fact most chrome film gains a little saturation from 1/3 under exposure. This of course assumes one has metered correctly.

I would suggest testing a film sheet on a moderate to low contrast scene and expose and develop normally. Adding variables to a new processes only makes it more complicated.

Unless the film was damaged by heat or light, you should get something worth seeing.

Best of luck,

hrst · Nov 9, 2010

Robert Hall said:
If it's chrome, you will receive no benefit from adding a stop of exposure. In fact most chrome film gains a little saturation from 1/3 under exposure. This of course assumes one has metered correctly.

Aged chrome film benefits from overexposing combined with pull processing, as this brings image over fog and reduces fog level in first silver negative, resulting in better DMAX in dye image, which would be otherwise compromised due to age fog. OTOH, underexposing aged chrome film places exposure nearer to the fogged blacks---- the "saturation trick" is largely based on very good blacks on fresh film and on expired film it may not work so well...

And, film can also lose some speed as it ages!

However, film expired in 2006, if stored in cold, may not be that old, so you may be right. It depends on storage and has to be tested.

removed account4 · Nov 9, 2010

hi holly

i regularly use expired chrome film, room stored.
i never really get bad results ... try it, you like it

have fun!
john

ps. ektachrome can look kind of blueish, even when it is good ..

Robert Hall · Nov 9, 2010

hrst said:
Aged chrome film benefits from overexposing combined with pull processing, as this brings image over fog and reduces fog level in first silver negative, resulting in better DMAX in dye image, which would be otherwise compromised due to age fog. OTOH, underexposing aged chrome film places exposure nearer to the fogged blacks---- the "saturation trick" is largely based on very good blacks on fresh film and on expired film it may not work so well...

And, film can also lose some speed as it ages!

However, film expired in 2006, if stored in cold, may not be that old, so you may be right. It depends on storage and has to be tested.

Agreed, but as Holly stated she is a beginner with the view camera. I think that keeping things straight forward would be the best at this point. Adding variables, again, complicates things unnecessarily. Shooting one sheet of film to see where the film is in relation to her exposure would be the best place to start, then making adjustments as necessary as comfort level with the entire process continues.

Holly · Nov 10, 2010

Thanks for all the helpful replies.
The film actually got given to my art school by the National Gallery here, so I presume it was used for archival reasons and would've been stored in cold if the art restoration/curator types who work at the gallery know their stuff!
We've had it sitting in our freezer since we were given it though.
I shot 3 sheets of it already, but forgot about old film losing speed. Doh.
Not sure what I do to compensate for that?
I'll have a look at the results in a couple of days, and see if there's any magenta happening.(I'll be prepared for a blueish cast too?) I probably stuffed up my exposures a bit anyway, because the shutter on this Toyo is slightly dicky, and opens up but shuts itself erratically. But if there's some loss of contrast, I can overexpose a stop and ask them to pull process and it might be ok?
Will wait and see what they look like before I shoot again.

hrst · Nov 10, 2010

Holly said:
I shot 3 sheets of it already, but forgot about old film losing speed. Doh.
Not sure what I do to compensate for that?

As said before, start from the normal exposure, and correct only if needed. Especially if it has been stored in cold, it probably does not need any corrections.

Help, don't know whether to use 2006-expiry date Ektachrome for 4x5?

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