What can I expect from out of date Ilford film?

[Nigel Harley]

Much to my embarrassment I have found a box in my back room that has about 70 reels of film with date codes as far back as 2003. A box I never unpacked from a house move. Most of it is from Feb to Nov 2006. The film types range from PanF and PanF+, FP4+, Delta 100 & 3200to SFX.

I appreciate that film stored in a fridge/freezer is best, but any thoughts on what the results I can expect from film be stored in it's sealed box stored at room temp? I do not have the heating on in this room as it is upstairs - so just ambient.

Many thanks, Nigel

 

[GeoffHill]

The slower films will not be much different, unfortunately, this isnt true for the D3200 and SFX

 

[Simon R Galley]

Dear Nigel,

I think they should be OK but I would do a test on a roll of each type before taking 'important' shots, as Geoff says the SFX and 3200 will be the ones that may have deteriorated beyond use.

Simon ILFORD photo / HARMAN technology limited :

 

[ricksplace]

A while back I won a couple of 400' rolls of FP4 and Pan F (35mm movie film) on ebay. I have no idea how old the film is, but it all performs as if it was fresh.

 

[Nigel Harley]

Thanks Simon & Geoff, that's good to know as most of it is slow speed. Phew... now to explain to my wife that it the same thing as her buying shoes!

 

[Ian Grant]

A while back I won a couple of 400' rolls of FP4 and Pan F (35mm movie film) on ebay. I have no idea how old the film is, but it all performs as if it was fresh.

Ilford used to use a simple letter/number code for the date of manufacture. Something like C76 indicating 1976. I'm not sure when that changed but Simon Galley can decipher the current codes.

Ian

 

[pentaxuser]

Simon Galey may very well be prepared to do it as it's a thread here but if you just want an answer then the "contact Ilford" section on the website gets you a very comprehensive answer from one of the advisers as to age of product such as paper and film. I asked about the age of some Ilford postcard paper I had bought on e-bay and got a very quick and comprehensive reply.

For what it is worth I got some SFX rolls from a guy I bought some darkroom equipment from and I suspect it was a number of years old and may not have been stored in a fridge. It was fine.

pentaxuser

 

[Ian Grant]

There is an issue now as the Ilford expiry dates are much shorter than they used to be. So I've just noticed that all my 120 Delta 400 is now out of date, yet I only bought it this Spring (April), and my Delta 100 which delayed the order until film arrived from Mobberley expires September 2010.

At one time when you bought film there was usually about 3 years left before the expiry date, the films haven't changed it's just a tightening of quality, and recommendations, so I don't see it as a problem but it could be interpreted differently.

Ian

 

[Martin Aislabie]

Ian, when we were at the Mobberley at the Ilford visit in Oct the subject of film expiry dates came up

Basically all Ilford films now have an expiry date of 3 years from manufacture, expect one or two

Sorry, don't remember which ones - but I do remember they were not Pan F, FP4 & HP5 (as I use these so the info stuck)

Martin

 

[Ian Grant]

Martin, I don't remember 3 years as being the figure. However 6 & 18 months on fresh film from a major supplier is remarkably short, particularly as the 18 months is on film that had just been sent to the supplier from Ilford.

I rather suspect that the much shorter expiry dates are part of conforming to ISO9001, I've seen it happen in other industries products that had an almost indefinite shelf life now have expiry dates.

Ian

 

[Ian Grant]

Something up with my maths To late to edit, for some reason I'd decided 2010 was next year, and that last month was Nov 2009

That now fit's the 3 year expiry dates Martin, so those figures should be 18 months & 30 months which isn't as bad after all.

Ian

 

[michaelbsc]

Much to my embarrassment I have found a box in my back room that has about 70 reels of film with date codes as far back as 2003. A box I never unpacked from a house move. Most of it is from Feb to Nov 2006. The film types range from PanF and PanF+, FP4+, Delta 100 & 3200to SFX.

My personal experience has been that it is impossible for me to tell the difference in the slow film. The fast film will be a little less responsive, so I would shoot the 3200 at 1600, but for family and friends stuff, I doubt there will be any big issue.

Obviously, I'm not inspecting the finished product under a microscope or making scientific studies of the gamma vs. development time based on the published specs. But like I said, for family and friends stuff, shoot it up and give everybody copies of the good ones. For a pro shoot that you're getting paid, buy new film.

MB