I was given a roll of EIR today. Now what?

[msuchan]

I stopped by the local camera store today and they give me a roll of EIR. It expired in '97 but they had it in their fridge in the back so it may or may not be any good. I just have a couple of questions. What filter would be best to use? What speed should I rate it? It can be developed with E6 chems right?

 

[nickandre]

You need a orange or yellow filter to block blue light entirely, or else you will get fog on all layers. It doesn't really matter, the colors are going to be wonky anyways. IDK what the EI is, there have bound to be instructions somewhere. You'll want to home process that or make sure that the IR sensors in the processor you're using have been shut off. If possible you probably want to overexpose a stop and pull it during first development to get better DMAX on that old of film. It probably depends on how fast it is. Also DO NOT remove it from the canister in anything less than total darkness. You'll have to load it in a dark bag as it will fog the film.

 

[cinejerk]

I don't know about E6 standard processing. A lot of this older ektachrome ir film was intended to us a pre development hardener. Like the old E4 processed films the emulsion will de laminate from the backing if
processed in elevated temps.

 

[Athiril]

EI 200 I think for E6 and EI 400 for AR5.. or the other way around.. it should say in the box though..

But you'd need exposure compensation, Id rate the EI 1 stop slower, and bracket 1 or 2 slower than that

 

[msuchan]

Thanks for the info everyone. I will probably use a home E6 kit at room temp. If a pre development hardener is recomended could I use a hardner solution before first developer? As for the EI I think 200 might be a good starting point and then bracket plus and minus a couple of stops each way and see what comes out. If it works I can get more.

 

[Toffle]

I pretty much agree with all the above. I shot one roll of this film last year metered TTL at ISO 200 with a Hoya G filter. I forget how old the film was, but it was definitely out of date by some years. The results were not bad at all, considering I had no experience with the film and hence, no learning curve to apply. I think I remarked at the time that flowers, foliage and fabrics (the three "f"s?) seemed to give nice colour effects, while the concrete and steel of cityscapes were not so remarkable.

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Cheers,

 

[Photo Engineer]

Infra red films are among those which have the worst keeping due to sensitivity to heat. Therefore an expired IR film is chancy at best.

PE

 

[nickandre]

IF it's process E6 I doubt you should try room temp.

 

[msuchan]

Thanks PE. I have read that IR films have lousy keeping properties. They just gave me the roll mostly because they want to see if any of it might still produce a picture and I am foolish enough to try. I would be happy if any image came out but really do not have my hopes set too high. I just want to make sure, in the remote chance, that something does come out I do not screw up the processing. I have some other E6 film I need to process and since it has been years since I have done it myself I want to make sure I do not miss a step. Mostly I am just going to enjoy trying this film again and it has motivated me to get into chrome film again. Something I do not shoot nearly enough.

 

[tjaded]

I recently bought a lot of expired EIR (expired in 1996) and it was ok--as in, an image and some of the EIR look, but not all that great compared to fresh stock (when there was some!) Anyway, shoot it at 200, bracket, and enjoy. Orange filter makes it nice, other colors can be fun, too. It's fun but somewhat limited in use (in my opinion.) I have a couple EIR images in my gallery, some EIR 35mm and at least one 120, from cut down aerial film.

 

[Athiril]

Ah yes, you can get fresh EIR in 120, from cut down aerochrome from a guy in germany that cuts in down and packages it up for you (expensive!)

IR film isn't sensitive to heat (as in far IR spectrum) otherwise it'd fog and expose as soon as it was made in the "dark", it's near-IR spectrum only, but yeah doesnt keep as well as other films.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Athiril;

Any radiation in the range of 700 - 900 nm (approx. for our purposes) is defined as IR. While it is true that IR films are mainly near IR sensitive, this does increase their sensitivity to heat induced fog. Therefore, storage at room temperature is more damaging to them than other films, as they feel the heat more strongly. All films are heat sensitive, IR films just more so.

PE

 

[msuchan]

One good thing is they did keep it in cold storage. The owner told me they were one of the primary labs for processing EIR for years. He did say that he has no idea if the film would still be good. If, by chance, it shows some good results, without too much fog, I will be more than happy. I am a little worried about developing it myself since it has been many years since I have done any color processing. I would hate to have usable film and ruin it by making a mistake in the darkroom.