Oh man...this film is probably long dead right?

duparis00 · Mar 15, 2014

So I bought a darkroom off a guy who's dad was a professional photographer. They closed the studio last year and this stuff has been sitting in his garage for a year, I'm going to guess the summer heat killed this stuff.

The Ektachrome dates back to '79, the other films range until early 90s. Such a shame most of them are unrolled 100'.

I'm probably going to test some and develop at home, any tips on trying to recover expired film? Or is it not even worth doing, he basically gave this stuff to me with the other things I bought.

Dr Croubie · Mar 15, 2014

The P3200 is more than likely past gone.
30 year old Ektachrome might have some life in it for weird pushing and cross processing, sell it on fleabay with "perfect for lomo" written all over it and you'll get some decent cash for it.

The 4x5 with a silver top looks a bit like the packaging for Plus-X, which could be fine. If you don't want it i'll have it.
The ortho film should also be good too, sometimes a bit of fog just acts like a pre-flash and you get a decent contrast out of it.

snapguy · Mar 15, 2014

Boy, I'd sure take a whack at shooting and developing some of it. A potential treasure trove. Dinosaurs raised from the grave.

paul_c5x4 · Mar 15, 2014

The remote control units might have some use if they work with your TV, else they are just junk.

As for the film - Spend the rest of the weekend testing. You might be surprised as to what is still OK.

Fixcinater · Mar 15, 2014

The ortho film, recording film and slide copy Ektachrome should be alright. The really fast stuff probably not so much.

If it's too junky for you to use (any of it), I'd be interested.

removed account4 · Mar 15, 2014

its all probably still good. just test it.
i just processed 20 year old color 120 film in
caffenol c spiked with ansco 130
and a bunch of other film the same way ..
came out fine ...

have fun
john

jspillane · Mar 15, 2014

When testing the 3200, I would assume a lot of speed loss. If you shoot it as 400ISO it may be able to cut through the fog and actually be usable (if difficult).
I've shot loads of very expired Tmax and Plus-X and always had it come out just fine (sometimes harder to work with than if it was fresh, but still very usable).

duparis00 · Mar 15, 2014

paul_c5x4 said:
The remote control units might have some use if they work with your TV, else they are just junk.

As for the film - Spend the rest of the weekend testing. You might be surprised as to what is still OK.

LMAO! You're not far from the truth I can barely use those remotes as is..I've got basic cable for guests...I barely watch any TV.

Yeah I'm going to have to get one of those lloyd bulk loaders...most of this stuff is 100' roll film. But I can't wait to try some of this stuff out...

duparis00 · Mar 15, 2014

jspillane said:
When testing the 3200, I would assume a lot of speed loss. If you shoot it as 400ISO it may be able to cut through the fog and actually be usable (if difficult).
I've shot loads of very expired Tmax and Plus-X and always had it come out just fine (sometimes harder to work with than if it was fresh, but still very usable).

That's awesome, good to know!

duparis00 · Mar 15, 2014

For the guys interested in this stuff, if I'm being realistic there's no way I'm going to go through potentially 11-12 canisters of 100' film. Once I get a bulk loader and a bunch of cartridges I'll load a few different ones up and test them out. If the films ok, and you guys are down to cover the shipping and the cost of a few cartridges, I'll send some of this stuff out. I really just stumbled onto this stuff so why not share some of the fun.

StoneNYC · Mar 15, 2014

Good rule of thumb is 1 stop speed loss for every 10 years of age, so the 1979 stuff would be about 3 or 3.5 stops slower.

I agree that 3200 stuff is probably bad, and WOW I didn't even know they made a 1600D color film, that's cool.

I'm curious about the sheet film too, and also the silver can you can't see and I can't read the one that's in the box on the bottom right.

Looks like a fun stash. That's enough film for quite a few years! Lol

duparis00 · Mar 15, 2014

StoneNYC said:
Good rule of thumb is 1 stop speed loss for every 10 years of age, so the 1979 stuff would be about 3 or 3.5 stops slower.

I agree that 3200 stuff is probably bad, and WOW I didn't even know they made a 1600D color film, that's cool.

I'm curious about the sheet film too, and also the silver can you can't see and I can't read the one that's in the box on the bottom right.

Looks like a fun stash. That's enough film for quite a few years! Lol

The two cans are pretty much the same as the other rolls, either Ektachrome slide duplicating film or Fine Grain Motion Picture film. Except for 1 box of Ortho and 1 can of Vericolor slide film. Actually I didn't even realize the slide film says duplicating film, the explains the copy stand and the slide projector stuff that was also for sale.

Can I shoot the duplicating film like any other film or it is specifically designed for copying slide film?

StoneNYC · Mar 15, 2014

duparis00 said:
The two cans are pretty much the same as the other rolls, either Ektachrome slide duplicating film or Fine Grain Motion Picture film. Except for 1 box of Ortho and 1 can of Vericolor slide film. Actually I didn't even realize the slide film says duplicating film, the explains the copy stand and the slide projector stuff that was also for sale.

Can I shoot the duplicating film like any other film or it is specifically designed for copying slide film?

The speed will be very slow for the duplicating film, I've never used it so my info is limited but to my understanding we are talking like 3 ASA kind of speed.

The motion picture film may have RemJet backing, a black anti-halation layer that doesn't just dissolve in water, you have to use something like a teaspoon of sodium carbonate and do a minute wash, shake drain, rinse again, shake drain, then repeat the sodium bicarbonate again, do that about 3 times or so should get rid of most of it, then develop as normal.

akaa · Mar 15, 2014

I once bought a Kodak box camera at a yard sale. The guy said it was his inlaws and was never able to open it. I got it home and popped it open and lo and behold there is a finished roll of super X (?) in it. I developed it in HC110 and a dash of Orthizate and they came out quite beautifully. I made a bunch of 8x10 and took them back to the guy I bought the camera from. His wife was ecstatic. The pictures were taken of her family from the sometime in the mid to late '50s.

Moral: as others have said, shoot some of it and maybe get a surprise.

If you decide to offload some, I'd love to have a bit.

StoneNYC · Mar 15, 2014

I've got enough movie film, just selling some of my own actually, but the E64 looks fun. Enjoy!

duparis00 · Mar 15, 2014

StoneNYC said:
I've got enough movie film, just selling some of my own actually, but the E64 looks fun. Enjoy!

Yeah you know I just did a little research on the roll files and to be honest I don't think I'll be shooting them. The slide is something like 40ISO and your right the movie film is like 6ISO, only sensitive to blue but doesn't have the remjet back. Might be interesting to shoot as an experiment or art project but I don't think I'll be rolling them after all. I might keep a few cans but probably going to unload the rest. I'm going to look a little more into this.

gorbas · Mar 15, 2014

Right now I'm shooting 35mm Panatomic X with expiry date of March 1969. 25 asa, still in perfect condition, no base fog. No idea how it was stored until a year or so ago. You just never know!?

AgX · Mar 15, 2014

Film will never die...

duparis00 · Mar 15, 2014

gorbas said:
Right now I'm shooting 35mm Panatomic X with expiry date of March 1969. 25 asa, still in perfect condition, no base fog. No idea how it was stored until a year or so ago. You just never know!?

That's really exciting...I should be on the lookout for these more. Not a lot left in the city but the surrounding rural areas might have something somewhere.

Truzi · Mar 16, 2014

duparis00 said:
Yeah you know I just did a little research on the roll files and to be honest I don't think I'll be shooting them. The slide is something like 40ISO and your right the movie film is like 6ISO, only sensitive to blue but doesn't have the remjet back. Might be interesting to shoot as an experiment or art project but I don't think I'll be rolling them after all. I might keep a few cans but probably going to unload the rest. I'm going to look a little more into this.

Don't rule out the copy film. I have some b&w duplication microfilm (expired in 2009) and it is fun. Not good for full tone photos, but can be used creatively. A coworker just loves how it looks so I gave him a few rolls. He has no desire to "make it work," he likes the results as-is.

Athiril · Mar 16, 2014

It's not long dead if you DIY your own process for it.

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

duparis00 · Mar 16, 2014

Athiril said:
It's not long dead if you DIY your own process for it.

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

Oh that's great stuff! I'm still getting the darkroom together but I can't wait to get started on c-41 and e-6 processes.

duparis00 · Mar 16, 2014

Truzi said:
Don't rule out the copy film. I have some b&w duplication microfilm (expired in 2009) and it is fun. Not good for full tone photos, but can be used creatively. A coworker just loves how it looks so I gave him a few rolls. He has no desire to "make it work," he likes the results as-is.

That's a good point. I have 2 unopened boxes I just listed on ebay...see if any takers. But I've got at least 4 opened boxes of the b&w copy stuff so that'll keep me busy for a while if I do try it.

I'm actually really curious about the slide stuff, apparently the only real major issue is that it's extremely low sensitivity film, add age to that and it should be interesting to see what I can do to expose it properly.

StoneNYC · Mar 16, 2014

Panatomic-X is about the only expired film I would invest money into. It's lovely

StoneNYC · Mar 16, 2014

duparis00 said:
That's a good point. I have 2 unopened boxes I just listed on ebay...see if any takers. But I've got at least 4 opened boxes of the b&w copy stuff so that'll keep me busy for a while if I do try it.

I'm actually really curious about the slide stuff, apparently the only real major issue is that it's extremely low sensitivity film, add age to that and it should be interesting to see what I can do to expose it properly.

Color could have nice long exposure images without having to use ND filters...

The B&W copy stuff is the stuff I would KEEP, it's like having tech pan...

Oh man...this film is probably long dead right?

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