I have a bunch of old Efke film...

shead · Apr 20, 2023

I have a couple of blocks of Efke 127 and 120 film, including several IR820 rolls. Half of it has been in my refrigerator for 12 years, the other stored improperly in a warm room. Anyone know if I should toss the poorly stored stuff or see if it may be any good? Any Efke shooters here with experience in expired film? I am fairly certain the cold storage will give me at least some decent results. At best, I can shoot my Yashica 44s and vintage pocket cameras for a while before having to cut down 120 film.

MTGseattle · Apr 20, 2023

If you're going to throw any poorly stored 120 away, send it to me. I'll pay you for the shipping.

Disconnekt · Apr 20, 2023

Depend's by on how "warm" the room has been & how long it's been in there. I say try out a roll & see if you like the results, 50/50 chance it'll come out fine to your liking or not.

If you don't feel like dealing with the poorly stored rolls (shooting, dev'ing, scanning, etc.), you can give/sell it to somebody here on the forums (like MTGseattle) who likes shooting expired film.

eli griggs · Apr 21, 2023

I like the 25 and 100 ISO films I've used, plus a partial (50'?) 135 bulk roll of Efke I still have in a bulk film like loader in my darkroom.

The pre-packaged 25 iso is 135mm and the 100 iso I use in my Sawyer's Mk.V, and I do no care if it's out of date or , so, if you decide to ash can the stuff, I'll be glad to send postage for it.

I never developed a preference (that I can remember) for a developer for those films, so you might just be better off asking readers, for developer and fix recommendations, 'normal' processing and still bath developing for these films and an idea of what you'll want to do with them.

Cholentpot · Apr 21, 2023

127 paper and spools have a use. Don't throw them out.

titrisol · Apr 21, 2023

Lucky you! Those were wonderful films and if they were in a cold storage should be OK.
I'd add 1 stop exposure in the 1st roll and assess whether that is needed or not.

Andrew O'Neill · Apr 21, 2023

I have Efke 25 and IR that is older than what you have and they still produce excellent negatives. Don't chuck. Use them!

Alan Johnson · Apr 21, 2023

I started to use my 2014 dated, fridge stored, 35mm Efke 25, cannot distinguish it from new:

ntenny · Apr 21, 2023

I’ve seen some mottling in Efke IR that hadn’t been cold-stored, but as a worst-case scenario, a little mottling isn’t too bad. The Efke 25 that I’ve used after expiration has been completely fine.

Certainly no reason to give up on it presumptively. I’d shoot a test roll of the warm-stored IR, though.

-NT

shead · Apr 21, 2023

Thanks for the info folks. I won't trash the rolls but if the 127 turns out to be in terrible shape after a few test rolls, the paper and spools will be used to roll fresh film cut down from 120 film. I will shoot some of the poorly stored film and compensate a stop or two and see how it goes.

eli griggs · Apr 21, 2023

Alan Johnson said:
I started to use my 2014 dated, fridge stored, 35mm Efke 25, cannot distinguish it from new:

Nice photograph; thanks for sharing!

Sirius Glass · Apr 21, 2023

Bidding War!!

I will buy the IR820 120 rolls from you.

Patrick Robert James · Apr 21, 2023

Unrefridgerated infrared probably won't be very good, but it will still make an image. The rest will probably be perfectly fine.

Sirius Glass · Apr 21, 2023

Sirius Glass said:
Bidding War!!
I will buy the IR820 120 rolls from you.

Patrick Robert James said:
Unrefridgerated infrared probably won't be very good, but it will still make an image. The rest will probably be perfectly fine.

Thank you. I missed that. I will just go and buy some lenses instead.

Tel · Apr 21, 2023

I'll join the chorus. Got the remains of two bricks of 127 Efke 100 and a couple of boxes of 5x7 sheet film. The expiration dates are 2014 and 2015; I bought them when Efke announed it was closing down. All kept refrigerated but not frozen, still shooting at box speed and developing normally and getting good results.

Pieter12 · Apr 21, 2023

If any of the 120 proves to be unusable, I need 6 rolls to test a couple of film backs' spacing. Needs to be really cheap.

shead · Apr 22, 2023

Thanks for the great advice folks. As it stands, I will be shooting the film based on what everyone has said here. I loaded some today and will know soon if its really that compromised. It would be a shame to waste this film.

Pieter12 · Apr 22, 2023

shead said:
Thanks for the great advice folks. As it stands, I will be shooting the film based on what everyone has said here. I loaded some today and will know soon if its really that compromised. It would be a shame to waste this film.

If it is compromised, please don't forget me. I will buy (at a low price) 6 rolls of 120, any emulsion.

shead · Apr 22, 2023

Pieter12 said:
If it is compromised, please don't forget me. I will buy (at a low price) 6 rolls of 120, any emulsion.

I will remember, might be a while before I actually shoot.

MikeT-NYC · Apr 25, 2023

MTGseattle said:
If you're going to throw any poorly stored 120 away, send it to me. I'll pay you for the shipping.

And I'd be glad to buy the 127 film. It's worth it even if only the spools are usable.

I have a bunch of old Efke film...

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