Exposure Compensation for 11 year old Ektrachrome

Hello all,

 

I recently picked up some 220 Ektachrome 100GX at a local camera show and was planning on using a few rolls. According to the box, the film expired in May 2005, and the guy I bought it from said the film was refrigerated ever since it was purchased. How much would I have to compensate the exposure? I've seen people shoot similarly expired Ektachrome 100 at around 80 ISO so should I just do that? I've looked around for a guide but haven't found anything too definitive.

 

Thanks!

I have some 2008 ex. E100G in my freezer that I shoot at box speed. The color is a bit off compared to slides I shot with in-date E100G, but the densities are normal to my eye(no, I haven't taken a densitometer to it).

 

I have '05 E100GX(frozen since new) on the way and I'm planning on treating it the same.

 

I wish you the best of luck. I've been buying up these films recently as I've caught the "bug" for them since Kodak announced their plans to reintroduce Ektachrome. I always preferred GX to G, but the thing that always stood out to me was how "clean" they were. I've called them the most technically perfect E6 films I've ever used and I'll stand by that. The colors are punchy but not over the top like Velvia(although the 100+ rolls of Velvia in my freezer show how much I like it).

Hello all,

 

I recently picked up some 220 Ektachrome 100GX at a local camera show and was planning on using a few rolls. According to the box, the film expired in May 2005, and the guy I bought it from said the film was refrigerated ever since it was purchased. How much would I have to compensate the exposure? I've seen people shoot similarly expired Ektachrome 100 at around 80 ISO so should I just do that? I've looked around for a guide but haven't found anything too definitive.

 

Thanks!

 

 

I have lots of ektachromes expired in 1989 in my freezer purchased from ebayb(unknown storage). Compensated one stop on the first roll and blew out my highlights. Exposed at box speed gave good results, desaturated colors is the only thing i've noticed.

For negative film, the exposure latitude usually means that increasing exposure helps get above the fog.

 

For reversal films, there is no such help. Expose at the same speed you would new, and it either works or doesn't.

Normally, reversal films do better with a little underexposure, and worse with a little (or lot) of overexposure.

Last year I used a roll of Sensia 200, refrigerated since purchase, 12 years old.

 

It came out just fine, at least for non-professional use. (This was for a family

vacation, and I also used a digital camera. The Sensia was in a Canon IID2.

Thanks for all the good advice! I'll be shooting a couple rolls soon, but I don't know where to get them processed. Nobody processes E-6 close to where I live in the Phoenix area, (so far as I can tell), and I'm afraid of mailing off my film as it will reach over 100° F here just about everyday, and my film would likely be destroyed in transit. Should I just wait until the cooler months come around, or are their better options for shipping temperature sensitive items in the mail?

The rule for expired film is to push the film one stop for every decade past it's date, but since it's slide film that may be less applicable. I would push it one stop and only use it on a nice day in natural light, any further and you'll start to lose the fine grain and bright colors that make shooting slide film worth the hassle. If you're sending it out to be developed, make sure that you tell them to push it one stop as well, it shouldn't be an issue.

 

Otherwise, good luck! I love Ektrachrome.

I would home most big cities would have at least one E6 lab running.

 

It doesn't go bad so fast at 100F, for one reason, the processing temperature for E6 is 100F.

 

Most post offices should be cool enough. You might avoid the USPS blue mailboxes,

which could warm up in the sun.

 

The main one to avoid is a car in the sun, which heats up way above 100F pretty fast.

At 120F, 130F, or 140F it goes bad somewhat faster.

 

If you have more than two rolls, the results from the first will tell you what to expect from the rest.

I would home most big cities would have at least one E6 lab running.

 

We have one in Louisville, KY, which is not a huge city but not tiny either. They do a decent amount of mail order work, too.

 

They don't run E-6 every day-they do it when they have enough. If I bring them a half dozen rolls, they will probably run it that day if early enough, or the next day if I bring it in during the afternoon.

 

I miss the lab I use to use in Lexington, KY. They did two runs of E-6 a day, and if I got it there before ~9:30 or so I'd have it by 1:00. They've been gone for 10 years now, though...

Exposed at box speed gave good results, desaturated colors is the only thing i've noticed.

 

My experience too.

When I was younger, the Kodak Palo Alto lab was on my father's route to work.

 

When I was in high school, the Kodak Rockville lab was on his way to work.

 

For both, you could drop off film in the morning, and pick it up the same evening.

 

Yes, the Seattle lab I now use doesn't do E6 every day. Most days do C41, though.

Well I shot two rolls and it turned out well! The film must have been stored well since the colors were still very bright and vibrant. The only issues I noticed was that it tended to be very cold- whites turned out as a pale blue- and the film tended to over-expose and under-expose easily. Not sure if thats a common issue with Ektachrome but I'm excited to use it more! Also, for developing since I used the film on a trip in California, and managed to find an inexpensive E-6 lab in San Francisco.

 

Also, here's one of the photos I didn't have to adjust the color of, enjoy!

 

WOW. That is AMazing. Great shot.

The "cold blue" you speak of is characteristic of E6 films, and very much a characteristic of Ektachromes down through the ages.

The description also applies to Provia 100F, but not necessarily its slower stablemate, Velvia 50.

The place to look is the dark blacks. They will turn lighter, possibly a color other than white, when they go bad.