"Older film" for cross processing

[mark]

I've been reading up on cross processing here and saw a statement from mrcallow. He said "older film" can be hammered with light. Can someone explain what he was talking about?

What constitutes older film?

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[thebanana]

Many have tried to explain what mr. callow is talking about. Few have succeeded

 

[mark]

So, you are telling me that I must approach the sage himself?

 

[jd callow]

when slide film gets old (something like 2 or 3 years out of date) it loses density -- the blacks are no longer light stopping. If the film hasn't shifted colour too much -- gone blue or pink -- than it can still be used as intended or crossproccessed. IF you crossproccess film of this nature it will not block-up as much as it would if it were fresh. This allows you to give the film more exposure, achieve an interesting look and have a printable neg. At one time if i could find a large quantity of OOD chromes on ebay I would buy the lot, test the dmax and colour fidelity. If the colour was still ok and the dmax had dropped a stop or more I'd experiment with over exposure and crossproccessing. Each batch would be somewhat different and often the film wouldn't be usable, but just as often or more it would be great.

 

[mark]

SO one year over date is not considered "older films"? With younger films I need to watch out for things blocking up, so stick to normal exposure levels maybe one stop over? What about the 30cc Magenta filter?

 

[MartinB]

E200 from 1991 - colours OK

Somewhat off topic of cross processing but earlier this year I was given about 20 rolls of 120 Ektachrome 200 that expired in 1991. I tried a roll through my Holga, had it processed regular E6 and picked it up last week. Surprisingly, the colours were fine (I was kind of hoping they would be off to go with the Holga asthetic) The contrast was lower but that could have been the Holga. I am going to try another roll through a "good" camera but I am amazed at how well the film has held up. I don't think it was stored with any refrigeration. Go figure!

Martin

 

[jd callow]

Mark,
With any film test it first. Some e6 films xprocess w/o any deviation from bx speed and require no on camera filtration others need some adjustments. E6 by its nature is built to stop light and is contrasty so blindly adding a stop will give you better shadows, an increase in saturation in the mids and blocked up highlights, but the added exposure will allow you to do more colour correction when printing. There is no rule of thumb for what is an 'older' film. To know whether or not a film can take extra exposure or not requires testing, either by having the dmax read by a densitometer or by use (expose, develop and print). Finding the best exposure/rating for a film is to test it using your equipment and your metering style -- no one can tell you what speed to rate any film.

Martin,
I have found that many films age gracefully (especially epp, epn e200). They lose density and maybe speed, but the colours stay relatively true (although the blacks are often less than light stopping black and tend to have a cast). These are films that can be crossprocessed and 'hammered with light,' but you'd want to do some tests first.