I Know. I Know.

[alapin]

I know that film that has expired and has been kept in refrigeration can last a long time.

I have the opportunity to buy some B&W Kodak film which expired in 2006 but has been stored in a warehouse the last three years. Will it still be good to use?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Konical]

Good Evening, Alapin,

Not enough information. What kind of film--fast, slow?? What kind of warehouse--air-conditioned or not? If not air-conditioned, what is the location--northern Alaska or southern Florida? What kind of price--a real steal or something close to standard retail?

Konical

 

[removed account4]

if you can get the film for not much money, and you don't have
high expectations, and want it as your " shoot like it's free film" then
don't hesitate, but if you buy it, and expect it to be like new, and have no "bad storage signature"
and use it for important "stuff" then hesitate and buy new.

i would buy it, use it, and not think about it,
but then again, i think that film with some sort of "signature" is good.
it shows that it is film, defects and all ...

good luck

john

 

[alapin]

Good evening, Konical

Kodak B&W 400 24 exp., Maine is where it is now and $1.00 a roll. Not sure about air-condition.


Alapin

 

[nickandre]

that will give you moderate base fog and some speed loss. Personally, I'd skip it.

 

[Konical]

Good Evening, Alapin,

At the price, it's probably worth a try, although the short, 24 exposure rolls can be a nuisance.

Konical

 

[removed account4]

hi alapin

like konical says
it might be worth it ...
(i have no problem with 24exp ) ..

 

[alapin]

Hi Jnanian

I have no problem with 24 exp. either. He wants to sell 50 rolls of it. He also has some Kodak 400 color that expired in Nov. last year but at a little more per roll. I brought 40 rolls in Feb. of this year than was just expiring for 25 cent each. So not sure about the color ones.

alapin

 

[nickrapak]

I would try it. At $1.00 a roll, you can't go wrong. Heck, if you don't like it, ebay the rest! (or sell it to your very good friends here at APUG )

 

[removed-user-1]

Should be fine for non-critical uses. Buy it cheap and shoot lots of it! This is exactly how I bought film when I was first learning; I picked up several bricks of expired EPD - a now-discontinued? Kodak 200 speed E6 film - for a dollar a roll, and at that time my school processed slide film for free as part of the basic photo course. I suspect that I am largely responsible for them instituting a lab fee after that semester...

 

[jon koss]

Is it C-41 film or traditional B&W, by the way?

 

[nicefor88]

Hi alpin,

I'll give it a try (before buying the whole lot if the seller agrees) and overexpose it a bit (1/3 of a stop or so). It's BW after all and should be fine. I would be much more cautious about color negs with the same profile...
Good luck and please keep us informed about results.

 

[Ian Grant]

It's unlikely to have suffered at all unless the warehouse was excessively hot in the summer, any changes will be slight and shouldn't require any changes in exposure & development. People shoot far older film than that with no ill effects.

In recent years all film manufacturers have printed far shorter expiry dates on film boxes than they used to, this has happened in all industries and has more to do with tightening quality controls for various ISO standards (not film speed) like 9001.

Ian

 

[Anscojohn]

Good evening, Konical

Kodak B&W 400 24 exp., Maine is where it is now and $1.00 a roll. Not sure about air-condition.


Alapin

******
What kind of B/W? If it is a chromogenic C-41 developed film it is far more sensitive than if it were a "real" black and white film.

 

[Alex Bishop-Thorpe]

A couple dollars worth of interesting never hurt anyone, worst case scenario.
I bought 200ft of 7 years expired FP4+ recently, test it this week...

 

[alapin]

Jon Koss

Is it C-41 film or traditional B&W, by the way?


Anscojohn

What kind of B/W? If it is a chromogenic C-41 developed film it is far more sensitive than if it were a "real" black and white film.


After talking with the seller it is C41.

 

[Anscojohn]

Jon Koss

Is it C-41 film or traditional B&W, by the way?


Anscojohn

What kind of B/W? If it is a chromogenic C-41 developed film it is far more sensitive than if it were a "real" black and white film.


After talking with the seller it is C41.

*******
Well, unless it were cold-stored it would not be my idea of a good buy. Besides, stick to "real" b/w film!!

 

[alapin]

Anscojohn

I agree with you on the cold-storage and have not had much success with someone else processing C41 B&W film. I really don't want to get back into color developing again and having someone else doing it, defeats why I develop my own.

I have heard of people using b&w developer to process C41 color and possible b&w C41. Just don't know of anyone who has actuality done it.

 

[srs5694]

Some people like Kodak's chromogenic B&W film; others don't. Certainly it's different from traditional B&W films.

As a point of comparison on cost, consider that you can get a 100-foot bulk roll of Arista.EDU Ultra 400 for $27.99. I'm not sure precisely how many 24-exposure rolls you'd get out of that, but the cost is likely to be in the same ballpark as what you've been offered.

 

[cmacd123]

You normally can get 18 36 exposure rolls out of 100 ft of Film. so each roll takes 5.5feet. 36 exposures by itself takes up 4.5 feet. (8 frames in a foot) 24 takes 3 feet. overhead would therefore be 1 ft a roll (leader and trailer), so you would use up 4 feet for a 24 exposure roll. and so you should get about 25 of them out of 100 ft. YMMV
I know that next time I bulk roll, I will aim for 35 exposures as my silly Canon camera insists on rewinding at frame 36 no mater how much more film is left. I used to try to load 38 or so to reduce the waste from leaders. Instead I get blank frames at the end of the roll.

 

[alapin]

srs5694

Some people like Kodak's chromogenic B&W film; others don't. Certainly it's different from traditional B&W films.

As a point of comparison on cost, consider that you can get a 100-foot bulk roll of Arista.EDU Ultra 400 for $27.99. I'm not sure precisely how many 24-exposure rolls you'd get out of that, but the cost is likely to be in the same ballpark as what you've been offered

******
You're right about it being different from traditional B&W films. If we were able to develop it ourselves, maybe, we would have better control that some of the labs (if you can call them that) that we use to do it.

I also agree with you on bulk loading ones own film. I shoot very little 24 exposure film in B&W and only when I am on vacation. I am used to loading for 6 (occasional), 8 and 12 exposure. I know that this may sound strange but it comes from being able to switch between color or B&W without having to worry if the roll is all used up.

I was hoping that these rolls would replace my need to load for 24 exposure.

 

[alapin]

cmacd123

I agree with on your calculations as mine are about the same as your. I only use 24 exposure rolls once or twice a year and only about a dozen rolls. I got used to 6, 8, and 12 exposure rolls when I was younger and shooting more. I like not worrying about having to shoot things to just finish up the roll.

 

[clayne]

Just pull a stop. No big deal. Buy it.

 

[cmacd123]

Slightly related data point - today I got around to developing two rolls of EFKE Kb14 and Kb17. that had been lying around, they had been in the freezer for part of the time but had been out in a drawer for quite a while also. Both were marked develop before 1986. both look printable with development in HC110 dilution B, and marked exposure. The Kb17 does have a bit of base fog. Both were shot in the last month to checkout cameras. (I figured that at this point they were "free" rolls for testing.)

 

[eddie]

Unless you're doing your own processing, this could be a "false economy". I don't shoot 35mm color, but I'd think the processing costs would exceed the cost of fresh B&W film, and home processing. What's the cost of getting a 24 exposure roll of C-41 processed these days?