Why would you buy expired 35mm film?

[henryvk]

Well I want to develop expired ektachrome as a positive for actual slide projection/ viewing, not for printing.

I've had 2004-expired Ektachrome developed as E-6 and at least one roll came out with a very pronounced pink tinge.

I had a tool colour-correct them, here's one result:

 

[faberryman]

I've had 2004-expired Ektachrome developed as E-6 and at least one roll came out with a very pronounced pink tinge.

I had a tool colour-correct them, here's one result:

So is the takeaway that thanks to digital you can shoot expired film. Sort of ironic don't you think?

 

[henryvk]

So is the takeaway that thanks to digital you can shot expired film. Sort of ironic don't you think?

Yes, like rain on your wedding day.

 

[OrientPoint]

Well, that's why I said fog would be the big problem. What do you get when you reverse fog?

Maybe your film isn't too badly age fogged. Who knows.

It may be fogged, or not. It may be extremely color shifted, or not. Maybe a warming filter will help, or not. Bottom line is: test the film, starting with exposure at box speed and the standard E6 process times. You may get lucky and have usable film as-is. If not, you can try some of the suggestions above (cross processing, exposure compensation, warming filters, etc.) and see if it's salvageable.

 

[Don_ih]

So is the takeaway that thanks to digital you can shoot expired film.

Well, FA, lots of people don't actually enlarge fresh film, so digital makes it possible for them to shoot film, too. Ain't it wacky?

 

[kfed1984]

Well, FA, lots of people don't actually enlarge fresh film, so digital makes it possible for them to shoot film, too. Ain't it wacky?

Digital correction could still have some use, for instagram etc. But better if it can be developed properly for slide projection and scanning.

 

[Don_ih]

better if it can be developed properly for slide projection

Like @OrientPoint said, you'll need to test. Age and storage conditions are the worrying factors. Far as I know, there are no development tricks to fix slide film that's gone off.

 

[DNH]

If I saw a 35mm roll of Portra 160VC I would be tempted for old times sake as I loved the stuff. Other than that, I don't buy expired film.

Chances are film.purchased in date will go out of date in the fridge before it gets shot anyway.

 

[kfed1984]

Well the negative film you can always correct in the enlarger, slide film is a bigger issue. Only filtration during exposure maybe can fix it.

 

[henryvk]

For me, having it processed as E6 was to determine if colour-correction would be a viable solution for this particular batch of 10 or 12 rolls of Kodak EPP 100; I decided that it's not for me because the correction made the grain more pronounced than I wanted it to be.

I had all the other rolls cross-processed and I was happy with pretty much all the results (these are from different rolls):

This one had more of a muted look with yellow tinge.

This one had more pronounced red/pink.

And here we have a more typical green cast which imo works well if you have non-green subjects/foreground to break up the "greenery".

 

[kfed1984]

For me, having it processed as E6 was to determine if colour-correction would be a viable solution for this particular batch of 10 or 12 rolls of Kodak EPP 100; I decided that it's not for me because the correction made the grain more pronounced than I wanted it to be.

Sorry these last three were cross processed? Could you elaborate cross processing?

 

[henryvk]

Sorry these last three were cross processed? Could you elaborate cross processing?

Cross-processing means that film stock is developed in the "wrong" chemistry for the type of emulsion. In this case it's slide film (E6) developed in regular colour film (C41) chemistry.

Cross processing - Camera-wiki.org - The free camera encyclopedia

camera-wiki.org

 

[kfed1984]

So those images you posted were cross processed ? And that produces a negative from a slide film i guess. Will give that a try. Those pics look really good, with the color off or not. Exactly the look I'm aiming for.

 

[psmithp]

This is the answer. For those of us who were born before 1990ish, it's easy to think perfection is the goal. Perfection has long been the sign of the skilled hand. However, in today's world, perfection is the sign of computers and automation. Perfection is everywhere. Perfection is cheap and it's boring. It's the hallmark of the unskilled laborer, not the skilled master. To people who grew up after the digital revolution, there is a decided lack of human touch on everyday existence.

When photography first came out, it was accused of killing painting. It made no sense to pay a highly skilled painter to paint your portrait when a photographer could do it more quickly, cheaply, and accurately. But painting didn't die. It evolved beyond realism. Abstraction took over. Expressionism reigned. Surrealism flourished. Photography didn't kill painting; it freed it from the bonds of everyday experience and placed it on an ethereal plane, free to find it's own meaning of existence.

And that's what digital has done to film. Making a perfect photograph with film still takes a lot of skill, but it will never look as good, be as cheap, or be as quick as a digital photo (remember we're still in the infancy of digital sensor technology). As such, the whole reason for shooting film for most people who grew up after the digital revolution, is to "show the artist's hand", as the saying goes. The whole point of it is to show off the flaws. It's to reinforce the idea that it was made by a human, for humans, and in celebration of the human condition (flaws and all). Perfection is no longer a goal, or even a desirable trait. Film is no longer tied down by the expectation reality. The flawed nature of expired film mirrors the human experience. The flaws of expired film are a metaphor for ourselves. It's unrealized potential at it's finest.

So the real question is, why shoot film over digital if what you want is reliable and repeatable results?

It is just sad that AI can mimic this imperfection too. I feel lost.

 

[Kino]

It is just sad that AI can mimic this imperfection too. I feel lost.

In this regard, AI is an appliance and gives me zero personal satisfaction. Any person can submit imagery and get back impersonal, homogenized images, but it has nothing to do with experiencing the process of crafting an image and the personal satisfaction of making that image.

Convenience displaces personal growth and experience to our detriment.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I would buy expired HIE.

 

[MCB18]

I would buy expired HIE.

Still trying to figure out how to remove the antihal from Aviphot so I can mimic the look

 

[kfed1984]

It is just sad that AI can mimic this imperfection too. I feel lost.

The fascination of making color negatives comes from knowing that you're making an object, and not just collecting information. This is what drives people to use film unconsciously.
We had a very long thread on this topic, but it got a bit out of hand and the thread got locked.