What to do with fogged 4x5 Ortho film?

[darinwc]

I have quite a lot of oldies Ortho film... Maybe 150 sheets?
I finally got around to testing it out and it appears badly fogged. I tried over exposing by 3 steps and pulling back on the development but still almost black negatives.
Is there any way to use this film?

 

[AnselMortensen]

What does a normally processed, but unexposed sheet look like?

 

[retina_restoration]

I have quite a lot of oldies Ortho film... Maybe 150 sheets?
I finally got around to testing it out and it appears badly fogged. I tried over exposing by 3 steps and pulling back on the development but still almost black negatives.
Is there any way to use this film?

Nit really worth trying to squeeze results out of badly degraded film, IMO. Your time is far more valuable than expired materials.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

You could make chemigrams or cliché verres with it among other things. I've seen people do crazy stuff with old materials. You just need the imagination to go for it. Forget about making regular Ansel Adams things though. Can't push a square peg through a round hole. Sometimes though the journey is the destination.

 

[isaac7]

I’ve seen people make lumen prints with film. Wonder if ortho would work for that?

 

[cliveh]

When I was teaching photography, someone gave me a box of fogged ortho film. If you then fog it completely under white light, then develop, wash and dry it, you then have a black film. My students could then use this to scratch pictures on the emulsion side and contact print onto paper. I believe Picasso did a similar technique using colour slide film.

 

[Don_ih]

Have you been handling it in total darkness or under a safelight? Some ortho material requires very dim dark red safelight.