What are good developers for outdated films?

[chip j]

Both Traditional and T-grain ones? Most of my film expired 10 yrs ago, but they've been frozen since purchase. Thanks

 

[Sirius Glass]

That should not be a problem just use your favorite developer. I have used film frozen over ten years. Just let the film come to ambient temperature before opening the sealed package.

 

[craigclu]

Perhaps I've been fortunate but my frozen film has behaved well after that sort of term in the freezer. I did 2 rolls of PanF+, one fresh and one about that age, souped in the same tank and the curves laid exactly over each other. Faster films are likely somewhat less stable but I'm guessing you'll be pleased with the behavior with normal developing.

 

[KN4SMF]

I use bootleg Microdol 1:3 for everything. Never a complaint. Outdated, fresh, whatever. It all comes out fine.

 

[removed account4]

I only shoot expired films, much older than yours.
The only developers ( besides CaffenolC ) I ever use
are Dektol ( 68º ) or Ansco 130 (72ºF ) 1:6 for 6 minutes.
They are active, will give you fantastic contrast and not any fog.
That said, your film seems to have been stored cold, 10 years isn't much
and you can just be processed in whatever developer you have on hand and you don't need to worry about anything.

 

[Rudeofus]

If you have many similar rolls of film, which are seriously out of date: first check whether your film shows signs of deterioration, i.e speed loss and lower contrast. Run a roll through your camera, make similar shots with regular exposure, +1 stop, +2 stops, +3 stops and +4 stops overexposure, develop normally and see what you get.

If the film has been kept well, is a low speed film and not much older than 10 years, then chances are good it works as well as fresh film. If it's high speed film, has been stored in random places with high heat, or is really really old, only then would you have to think about special measures to get useful images out of these rolls.

General rules for picking/modifying developer for these films:

1. Ignore offerings of or formulas for miracle soups. A common cause for using aged film is cost cutting, and miracle soups are typically expensive.
2. Don't waste effort on restoring film speed. Be prepared to shoot aged films at one or more stops (depending on original box speed and age/storage of film) below box speed.
3. Do focus on restoring contrast and cutting through fog, this is essentially what David Lyga's instructions (see link above) do. Ask him, he is extremely helpful and quite experienced with this.

 

[koraks]

Frozen tmax films of 10 years old will likely perform almost as new. Especially tmax 100 ages very well indeed; perhaps 400 a little less so with minor addition of fog and reduces film speed - if that, even.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

There's great demand for expired film. If I were you I would simply sell expired film to hipsters and buy fresh film for my use. Life is too short for dealing with the vagaries of expired film. Unless that's what you really enjoy doing.

 

[esearing]

Ansco 130 (72ºF ) 1:6 for 6 minutes.

I gotta try that - love it as a print developer.

 

[Paul Howell]

HC 110 produces very low fog. I've use HC 110 with many rolls of expired film, going back 30 or 40 years, slow film ages better than fast film, I dont think that your film will have a lot of fog if any, but if develop a roll and get fog then try HC 110.

 

[removed account4]

I gotta try that - love it as a print developer.

It's good stuff !
I've been using it or its cousin ( GAF Universal ) since the 1990s, and was going to write an article for View Camera back in IDK 2003 or 4? with Jerry Katz, the Chemist from Photo Lab Index ( with charts and graphs and magnified grain &c ). It was full steam ahead, but when I pitched the story to the editor there was a slight problem; he liked the idea but refused to allow me to mention what it was currently called and where to purchase the ingredients. Jerry Katz passed away after that too, eventually I let my sub lapse and the article was never written.

Have fun !
John

 

[Agulliver]

Frozen B&W film should perform almost indistinguishably from fresh....though I might be hesitant to push it more than a stop, possibly a stop and a half as there will be some base fog.

To be honest I use ID11 with most films, but especially with expired film. If you can't get an image from something with ID11, then it's probably a lost cause.