So I got a few bricks of expired film...

PeteZ8 · Mar 5, 2012

A pro shooter friend of mine gave me a whole grocery bag plus of film from the pre-d****** days. Mostly stuff expiring around 2001, (Ektachrome and Gold), and has not been refrigerated for many years but have been kept in <70* house for the last decade. Also some T-Max 100 and 3200, some of which dates back to '92 expiration.

The B&W and C-41 stuff I'll shoot and test at home but around here E6 is $13/roll for processing. Is this stuff worth shooting or should I just consider it good experimental/lomo/cross processing type material? What kind of losses can I expect from E6 film that is 10 years past it's prime? Fogging? Speed loss? Color casts?

rawhead · Mar 6, 2012

You can send me a few rolls; I'll test them, develop them, and post pictures online for you to decide

PeteZ8 · Mar 6, 2012

Rawhead, if you're serious I'll send you up a few rolls. Heck it would be cheaper to mail you 2 or 3 rolls than to get one developed myself

PM with address!

Leigh Youdale · Mar 6, 2012

Look at it this way. The films came free, cost you nothing, and if you put them in the trash tonight they'd not cost you any more than nothing.
On the other hand, you can mess around "testing", paying for processing, probably getting a lot of poor results and that's all going to cost you both time and money.
You're talking about film that has not been refrigerated and some of which is 10-20 years old.

Don't be cheap. Throw them all out without a thought and use fresh film - that is, if your images are important to you. If they're not, then no advice here is going to help you.

benjiboy · Mar 6, 2012

Leigh Youdale said:
Look at it this way. The films came free, cost you nothing, and if you put them in the trash tonight they'd not cost you any more than nothing.
On the other hand, you can mess around "testing", paying for processing, probably getting a lot of poor results and that's all going to cost you both time and money.
You're talking about film that has not been refrigerated and some of which is 10-20 years old.

Don't be cheap. Throw them all out without a thought and use fresh film - that is, if your images are important to you. If they're not, then no advice here is going to help you.

I agree I wouldn't waste my time and effort on shooting it, why do people agonize about their equipment and technique then contemplate using outdated materials when the film is the cheapest thing in photography?.

Araakii · Mar 6, 2012

I also don't see any point in using expired film except out of curiosity or going for a result that you know you will get.

drumlin · Mar 6, 2012

I personally will use expired film in my Holga or Canonet for xpro and/or just general goofing off. The unpredictability of the film matches that particular style. For me. I'm often surprised at the quality of the film and I'll throw some rolls in a "real" camera.

One thing I've done when I've been given a bunch of film I don't think I'll ever shoot is put it up on APUG classifieds for cheap (<$1/roll) and donate the proceeds to APUG. One man's trash is another's treasure. And APUG gets a little support too.

jeff786 · Mar 6, 2012

I used some 10 year old Provia the other day. It had fallen to the back drawer of my desk and I was cleaning it out and found it. Honestly it looked fantastic no fogging maybe a tiny bit unsaturated but honestly I couldn't tell it from the next roll. I wouldn't worry about it assuming your shooting as part of your hobby/creative endeavor.

winger · Mar 6, 2012

I also stick expired film in my Holga. I also cross-process slide film as C41 (cheaper and sometimes funky colors) - I shoot the roll with that in mind. Slower speed film loses it slower than fast. I'd guess that 3200 is very fogged by now.
I say play with a few and put some in the classifieds for others who like to play. It's not always about getting a "perfect" result.

Thomas Bertilsson · Mar 6, 2012

Some people actually WANT expired film. Put it up for auction, take the proceeds and buy some fresh film.

PeteZ8 · Mar 6, 2012

Thank you for all the replies. I figured it might be a neat experiment and I will definitely cross process some for fun. I don't expect to shoot anything serious with this stuff unless it really proves to be still of high quality. I was really just curious from a technical perspective what may happen to 10 year old E6 film.

Also, having been just let go from a job, I'm not being "cheap", I'm being wise. "A smart man learns from his mistakes, a wise man learns from other mans mistakes." If the failures are predictable, sometimes they can be turned into assets.

So I got a few bricks of expired film...

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