Shot two rolls of Tri-X 220 Exp Dec 1982 - Came out Perfect.....

Today I shot two rolls of TXP 220 that had expired Dec 1982. One roll was shot in my Pentax 6x7 and the other in an A24 back on my Hasselblad 500C. The film came out perfectly... for the task it was given.

I'm getting ready to shoot some Fuji Velvia 100 220 and I wanted to check out my cameras before wasting $20 on film plus $15 on processing and $28 on scanning - total of $63 per 220 roll. I have never ran 220 through the Pentax 6x7 and I haven't used the A24 back in at least 11 years. So I took the oldest 220 film that I had and ran it through to check for frame spacing and light leaks.

Sure enough the A24 back needs a needs a new light seal (I have 5 kits on hand). Frame spacing is fine. The Pentax 6x7 film is perfect - spacing is correct and the exposures are even (as expected as it was rebuilt by Eric Hendrickson ).

I have one more A24 back and two Horseman 220 (6x7 & 6x9) backs to check. I have 3 rolls left in the Dec 1982 TXP 220 Propack and I know what they will be used for !

Very expired film can be very helpful!

Is there a lot of expired 220 film floating around in people's closets or refrigerators? 220 backs for Hasselblad are pretty cheap, as you might expect. But if there are a few years worth of 220 around, it might be a worth buying one of the backs.

220 C-41 is the most common. The last run of 220 C-41 from Kodak was 2015 (I bought 4 cases - 4 Propacks per - 60 rolls). 220 fresh E-6 Fuji is still available from dealers in Japan but is EXPENSIVE. I just ordered 3 Propacks of Velvia 100 220 from Japan. That's 15 rolls of 220 which is like 30 rolls of 120. Cost was $300. I use the E-6 in my Cambo 6x9 view camera .

B&W is the hardest to find. Ilford stopped their 220 production around 2005, Kodak stopped 220 B&W around 2009. I use most of my B&W 220 in my Mamiya 645 where I get 30 frames per roll.

220 is becoming rare.
I do have some black and white, c41, and e6 rolls. I'd say one roll will cost about $20 today, while most of my ebay buys were packs for $20 (I also had the brilliant idea of buying late 70s expired fp4 from Australia and New Zealand for about $40 US each and have no idea when or what to use them for).

Though, last year I found two 1992 Ektachrome 100 and four undated but kind of archaic plus x pan rolls at the camera shop where I have my film developed for one dollar each.

How much base fog was there? My HP5 from the mid 1980s, refrigerated since new, had a base fog 0.6 last time I processed a roll.

ic-racer said:

How much base fog was there? My HP5 from the mid 1980s, refrigerated since new, had a base fog 0.6 last time I processed a roll.

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Lots. I don't have a desiometer to messure it. Still easy to see frame edges and light leaks.

aoresteen said:

Lots. I don't have a desiometer to messure it. Still easy to see frame edges and light leaks.

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I wondered if you had tried Dave L. method for expired film. https://www.photrio.com/forum/threa...ts-of-age-fog-in-b-w-films-and-papers.161268/

ic-racer said:

I wondered if you had tried Dave L. method for expired film. https://www.photrio.com/forum/threa...ts-of-age-fog-in-b-w-films-and-papers.161268/

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No I haven't. Thanks for the link!! If I wanted to actually print the film it looks interesting. But I'm using it just to test the equipment before running expensive & rare 220 colour film through the cameras.

I've booked marked the page for future use.