Long-expired slide film: can I conquer the pink cast?

ntenny · Jan 14, 2011

I bought a few seriously-expired rolls (January 1997, not cold-stored) of Provia 100 from a fellow APUGger (thanks, Chris!) at an appropriate discount price. I've just shot a smoke-test roll, and while the sharpness and speed seem just fine, the images have a distinct pink cast.

I can correct it reasonably well in a scan, of course, but that doesn't help the original slides. Is there anything I can do in camera to compensate---might a cooling filter help, for instance?

Thanks

-NT

MattKing · Jan 14, 2011

Try a pale green filter. If you have a few to compare, a rough test can be done by using the filter as a viewing filter or, even better, as a filter over the projection lens on a projector.

holmburgers · Jan 14, 2011

Hey Nathan, sorry to hear the film has such a bad cast.. I hope it isn't insurmountable. I'll second Matt's suggestions though; a light cyan would probably be just right.

ntenny · Jan 14, 2011

No worries, Chris---I bought it expecting that it could be anywhere from perfect to unusable, and it's definitely something I can work with. I'm OK with hybrid processes even if they're taboo on APUG.

I'll mess around with some light blue filters and see what happens.

-NT

msa · Jan 14, 2011

Try a CC20-30G, perhaps.

Ian C · Jan 14, 2011

Viewing Filters to find the Color Correction Filter Needed

Try viewing the slides trough a Kodak Color Print/Transparency Viewing Filter Kit used in color balancing prints. The instructions printed on each holder will help you to determine which filtration gives the most natural-looking color.

Then you can use the appropriate CC Kodak Wratten filter over your camera lens. You can get the filters from B&H in NYC.

For example:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/26766-REG/Kodak_1482983_3x3_75mm_Green.html

hrst · Jan 16, 2011

The magenta cast is usually worst in shadows, so while whites are just slightly "pink", there is no decent black at all. Using filters won't help that much for this reason.

However, if you have large amounts of expired film and are willing to experiment a bit, you can add antifoggants to E6 first developer. You can get a starting point by adding bromide (NaBr or KBr) around 1 g/l. You may need to increase exposure somewhat as the speed lowers at the same time, but this way you may achieve quite good black and reduce color crossover in expired film.

Overexposure and pull processing (FD -2 min) by 1 stop usually also helps reducing cast and increasing DMAX. Pull processing can be asked from most labs whereas adding extra ingredients to developer usually cannot .

davela · Feb 2, 2011

I've been able to deal with this somewhat by rebalancing the colors in image software (after scanning it of course).

Boggy1 · Feb 2, 2011

Perhaps you should go see what could be done with slides with a pink cast- it might give the world a lovely "rose tinted" view. It might make for some good shots of any pale and pasty relatives too.

Long-expired slide film: can I conquer the pink cast?

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