How to tell expiry of 35mm slide film

BetterSense · Jan 27, 2014

I found a roll of slide film in my stash. It does not have a date on it since film companies never seem to print the date where it matters, only on the box.

Is there any way I can discover the expiry based on the edge codes if I pull off and develop a few inches?

Fixcinater · Jan 27, 2014

You can't get close by looking at the design of the canister? Seems like the majority of manufacturers changed up the logos every so often, that should get you close enough, wouldn't you think?

Sure, 3rd quarter of 1998 would be ideal but wouldn't "late 90s" be accurate enough in this case?

BetterSense · Jan 27, 2014

Well, I need to know if it expired by more than a couple years. A roll lasts me an easy 6 months and between that and processing costs, I can't afford to gamble. I may end up throwing away a perfect roll of film if I can't determine the age.

CatLABS · Jan 28, 2014

BetterSense said:
Well, I need to know if it expired by more than a couple years. A roll lasts me an easy 6 months and between that and processing costs, I can't afford to gamble. I may end up throwing away a perfect roll of film if I can't determine the age.

Seems like there is an easy answer for you here - when in doubt, throw it out.
Buy new film, its better for everyone, especially you.

clayne · Jan 28, 2014

Throw it out film? That's crazy talk. When in doubt, use it for something that can have some doubt.

gone · Jan 28, 2014

No, it's good advice. Or sell it on ebay. Why go to the bother and expense of shooting film that you don't know is any good?

BetterSense · Jan 28, 2014

So, when i get processed film back, it has tons of barcode info in the sprocket areas. What does it mean? I assumed it had information like the film type, speed etc.

lhalcong · Jan 28, 2014

I wouldn't throw it away and I wouldn't use it for something important. I would use it for whatever else you may have that is not critical. Or if possible for you to do, develop a clip of two/three frames as test shots to see how it renders.

BetterSense · Jan 28, 2014

How am I going to develop test frames of E-6?

CatLABS · Jan 28, 2014

BetterSense said:
How am I going to develop test frames of E-6?

Just as you would with any other film, but why would you even bother?

BetterSense · Jan 28, 2014

That was my point.

StoneNYC · Jan 28, 2014

momus said:
No, it's good advice. Or sell it on ebay. Why go to the bother and expense of shooting film that you don't know is any good?

Yup, sell it as "Lomo" and charge double what new film costs haha

BetterSense said:
So, when i get processed film back, it has tons of barcode info in the sprocket areas. What does it mean? I assumed it had information like the film type, speed etc.

Yes it does, google it.

BetterSense said:
How am I going to develop test frames of E-6?

Take a test clip of an unexposed piece of the film, stand develop one hour in Rodinal 1:100, then stop/fix as normal. You'll get the silver to develop and can read the data of the edges.

CatLABS · Jan 28, 2014

StoneNYC said:
Yes it does, google it.

Google says the barcode only tells you the frame number (and sometimes the type of film, but you will need a list of codes to figure out what film it is, or just look at the cassette), but not the date.

clayne · Jan 29, 2014

momus said:
No, it's good advice. Or sell it on ebay. Why go to the bother and expense of shooting film that you don't know is any good?

You shoot one roll to determine if it's good. It's not that hard. The people shouting about not using anything but new film are simply being stubborn for the sake of it.

Any of you people who don't want your old "trash" send it my way please.

StoneNYC · Jan 29, 2014

clayne said:
You shoot one roll to determine if it's good. It's not that hard. The people shouting about not using anything but new film are simply being stubborn for the sake of it.

Any of you people who don't want your old "trash" send it my way please.

+1

E. von Hoegh · Jan 29, 2014

BetterSense said:
Well, I need to know if it expired by more than a couple years. A roll lasts me an easy 6 months and between that and processing costs, I can't afford to gamble. I may end up throwing away a perfect roll of film if I can't determine the age.

Keep it for testing a camera/cameras, even if the color is completely wacked out you can still learn a lot - shutter accuracy, focus accuracy, meter, etc.

StoneNYC · Jan 29, 2014

E. von Hoegh said:
Keep it for testing a camera/cameras, even if the color is completely wacked out you can still learn a lot - shutter accuracy, focus accuracy, meter, etc.

You won't learn anything about exposure from expire film because you won't have a baseline.

Focus accuracy, sure, but not meter or shutter

lxdude · Jan 29, 2014

Use it for situations where exposure and color are more subjective- like night shots and sunsets.

E. von Hoegh · Jan 30, 2014

StoneNYC said:
You won't learn anything about exposure from expire film because you won't have a baseline.

Focus accuracy, sure, but not meter or shutter

Did I say you would?? Even if the exposure is wrong due to an unknown EI, you can still tell if it's consistent. If you get the same exposures at f4 and 1/1000 as you get at f16 and 1/60, the shutter's useable. If the meter gives consistent exposures under varying conditions, the meter's likely useable.
Not really feasible with E-6 due to the processing cost, but you could even cross process it (cheap c41 minilab) and learn things.

How to tell expiry of 35mm slide film

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