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120 film outdated


olivier_reichenbach

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My friendly lab around the corner has a stock of 120 films (mostly color) that are

outdated (not by much), but kept in the fridge. The guy is offering to sell the whole

lot to me for a good price. My questions is twofold: should I buy outdated film and

what are the risks involved? And what would be a fair price? Half price? A quarter? I

have no idea.

 

Thanks.

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If you're doing commercial work, I'd say the small chance of having less-than-stellar results from using outdated film would outweigh the minor savings involved. If it's for your own use, go for it. I think with color film, the color balance can shift slightly, but I've never been able to see that in outdated film I've used. Maybe if you shot the same scene with fresh and old film, you could see the difference. If you're sure that it's been refrigerated, and if it's JUST out of date, half price isn't too bad. If it's film you wouldn't normally use, or you're not sure about the refrigeration or it's a year out of date, expect cheaper. And when you look at the price, compare it to B&H's price, too. If your lab charges $6 normally, cuts it to $3, and B&H only charges $4 for fresh, you're not saving as much as you think.

 

There is a Wolfe Camera in the area with a clearance center where they dispose of outdated film. Most of it is $1 a roll; they just started charging higher for some of it. But there is gobs of 120 transparency film of all speeds, T or not, for $1 a roll. And they're not selling it at that.

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I've had poor experience with long-outdated Kodacolor stored at room temperature; base fog increases to make the outcome pretty bad. On the other hand I had a 100' roll of Ilford XP1 and loaded a bunch of cassettes in Oct 1984. Stored in the fridge 19 years, they're still good.
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  • 11 months later...

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