Processing Expired Kodak Porta 160 in 4x5, Higher temp, longer time, or more agitation?

[f/Alex]

Hi, I received some expired kodak portra 4x5 film the other day for the low low price of $0, and I figured, what the hell, why not try and shoot a lil' bit of 4x5 in color. The actual package appears that someone ripped off the sticker with the expiration date on it, although, everything that I got with it, including some E6 slide 4x5 and a 25 box of delta 100 (something I'm very happy to have come into ownership of for free) was expired, so I figured this must be too. Supposedly, all this film had been in a refrigerator, not a freezer, but I ain't sure how much of a difference it makes if it's not fully frozen. Based on the age of the other film, I'd imagine it expired between '09 and 2018. I metered the film for 80 ISO, did a 8 second exposure with f/32, since there wasn't exactly enough light to go higher out today.

Basically, I'm planning on processing in a yankee cut film tank, and am wondering if I should do one of the following on top of the initial metering one stop lower: Increasing my temp, Developing for longer time, Or agitating for longer. I have fairly minimal color film expierece, although I also came into posession of a suis vide recently, via the wonders of people leaving stuff in my uni's dark room, graduating, and then it being handed down to whoever the guy running it likes. Although my predecessor had the priviladge of using C41 in my uni's darkroom, something that I no longer am allowed to do, B+W only, maybe because the ventilation system in there doesn't work anymore.

 

[Don_ih]

That's barely expired, if stored in a fridge. Develop normally.

8 seconds at f32, however, bumps it into reciprocity territory. You may want to look up the values for that.

 

[f/Alex]

8 seconds at f32, however, bumps it into reciprocity territory. You may want to look up the values for that.

Is reciprocity failure a bigger deal in color than in B+W? I mostly work in 100 Tmax, and at 8 seconds maybe I'd give it 1 or 2 extra, but I don't seriously start to correct till I'm around 16 seconds or so.

 

[BrianShaw]

Try exposing one sheet normally (not more than 1 second) and process normally. Understand your baseline before deviating.

https://imaging.kodakalaris.com/sites/default/files/files/products/e4051_Portra_160.pdf

Kodak Portra Reciprocity Times — Bruce Percy

I’ve had trouble buying Fuji Velvia 50 for a year now. I am told that due to material shortages, Fuji cannot make enough of the stuff. An order I placed with Wex Photographic a year ago, is being honoured by a few packs of film every six months. It’s clear to me that Wex (and others) are simply divi

brucepercy.co.uk

 

[f/Alex]

not more than 1 second

I'll be honest, I'm not sure I've ever done this on 4x5, I normally work with film I've already gotten the hang of in a smaller system, before using it in 4x5, often using a borrowed Mimeya 7II for a test roll. I'm quintessentially a long exposure landscape girlie.

I grabbed the portra at the last minute on my way out the door and figured, well I'm shooting this mainly in B+W but I wanted to get a feel for A. how expired it is, and B. 4x5 color in general, so I shot two negs of the same thing that I also have in B+W on tmx 100, figured I'd process the two portra's at a time, and see which one comes out better.

 

[koraks]

That's barely expired, if stored in a fridge. Develop normally.

There you go.

Don't worry too much about the reciprocity for this particular sheet (there's not much you can do about it anymore anyway). Just see what you get. It'll be fine, I'm sure.

Btw, in terms of reciprocity failure, you can expect the color layers to respond slightly differently. This means crossover. Don't worry about it and embrace it for its artistic merit.

I don't seriously start to correct till I'm around 16 seconds or so.

I do the same.

using C41 in my uni's darkroom, something that I no longer am allowed to do

It's astounding what kind of weird policies people come up with. Ah well. Don't waste any time trying to convince them it doesn't make any sense; just do C41 at home.

 

[Don_ih]

The only reason I mentioned potential reciprocity was to indicate that this particular sheet of film might not be exposed properly, so would be a bad choice to use as a test of the film's viability. Generally, if you want to test how good a film is, you give it the recommended exposure for a normal contrast scene, with standard development.

 

[f/Alex]

The only reason I mentioned potential reciprocity was to indicate that this particular sheet of film might not be exposed properly, so would be a bad choice to use as a test of the film's viability. Generally, if you want to test how good a film is, you give it the recommended exposure for a normal contrast scene, with standard development.

I took two images of the same scene, one with an 7 or 8 second exposure one with a 9 or 10 second. My lightmeter read 8 seconds with F/32 @ 80iso I believe. Little softer than I'd like but.

Again, the question is should I develop it with 1 stop of pull processing, since I exposed it at 80 iso instead of 160, or should I assume that the age and expired nature of the film means that it's ~1 stop less sensitive anyways and process standard 3.5 minutes.

 

[koraks]

Just process normally. No need to overthink this. It's color negative; it'll easily tolerate a stop of overexposure. And 'pulling' C41 tends to be disappointing, unless you like soft, lackluster, desaturated and anemic images. YMMV of course.