How best to test outdated film

[cxc]

In a moment of weakness I bought a bunch of 8x10 transparency film

that expired in 1984. What the hey, it was only 20 cents a sheet.

Now I want to test it in a reasonably efficient/cheap manner, that

is, without having to use a whole lot, to determine what if anything

it might be good for.

 

First step, does it record a usable image at all. I was thinking of

shooting the same shot at N, N+1, and N+2 (I've been told that old

film is more likely to need overexposure). An 'easy', typical shot

for me, that is, a well-lit cityscape. Does that sound like a

reasonable start?

 

Assuming it passes test #1, then test #2 would be with brighter and

and darker images. After that, I dunno what.

 

Any advice or pontifications welcome,

 

CXC

[kcrisp]

Christopher: If you're talking about color transparency film, I don't think there is any chance it will perform normally. If you just want to see what kind of weird orange or pink image you might get, then take one picture with it at normal exposure and you'll know. B&W if kept very cold might still be acceptable for some uses, if you can live with elevated b+f which is inevitable, but my experience with color even if kept refrigerated after about 12 mos. over the expiration date has not been good. Good luck.

[david_goldfarb]

I've used cold stored color film, not quite that old, and it hasn't all been beyond correction. As films have been discontinued in larger sizes, it's become something of a necessity.

 

Shoot and process one sheet normally. Be sure to use a short exposure time to avoid reciprocity complications. View it on a corrected light box to determine whether you need to adjust exposure. Once you've got the exposure correct, then you can determine whether you need to add filtration, which I like to do using a set of Kodak Color Print Viewing filters.

[dan_fromm2]

You might want to try what I do when trying to see if a shutter is off enough to matter. I don't have a shutter speed tester, so instead I pull the dark slide out a little, take a shot, pull the slide out a little more, take a shot, ... This is a quick way of estimating effective shutter speed without burning much film, should work for film too if you trust the shutter you use.

 

Cheers,

 

Dan

[louie_powell1]

If it expired in 1984, an important question is what process was used - E6 or E4? E4 was being phased out in the late 1970's, and if that's what it was, you will have the additional challenge of finding the chemistry that you will need to process it.

[cxc]

Dan, nice tip, a darkroom-style test strip, why didn't I think of that? Thanks.

 

Film was supposedly frozen the entire 20 years (yeah, right).

 

We shall see...

[pvp]

You could shoot some test shots at various ISO's, and have it cross-processed in C-41 chemistry. The color shift from aging would just add to the weirdness from the chemistry...

[james_driscoll2]

I used to work for a photographer (around 1995-1996) who had

frozen agfa-chrome stock from the late 1970's in his freezer and

we would occasionaly shoot it.

 

It always performed fined, the only way to find out is to shoot a

couple of sheets.

 

BTW, on the leica forum there was a former USAF photographer

who posted that in the mid 1990's the USAF was usuing tech

pan that expired in 1969 in recon missions over Iraq!!!

 

talk about your outdated film, good ol US of A.

[david_goldfarb]

Wasn't Tech Pan introduced in the 1980s?

[kelly_flanigan1]

Place a known color control patch in the test photo....What is the asa? It it was frozen; then the main aging component is cosmic rays..........slower films are effected less............I have frozen asa 3200 konica 120 roll film; that is 5 years old and is now horrible; and some 10 year old frozen Kodak ektar 25 that is still very decent....The faster 3200 versus 25 asa gets zapped faster; due to cosmic rays; even if frozen.........IBM studies with memory errors on servers showed that 50 feet of solid rock halts most all of the cosmic ray error rate........So maybe You all in Kentucky ; etc could keep a freezer in a deep local cave; and have a nice film storage area................<BR><BR>

[cxc]

Kelly, the film is Kodak Ektachrome 200, and yes, it is e-6.

[jtuck]

Easy answer: Quickly, and often...

 

Use it as practice film, leave it in the freezer...

I use outdated film as "boredom shooting film"

When I get bored on a sunday and the day is too blah for serious shooting I use the graflex and two slaves to take snapshots of the cats and dog, in 4x5 of course

[john_burnley3]

Kodak Ektachrome 200 does not have very good color (poor saturation) to begin with, so I would not expect too much of aged film. For 'normal' use the film is only of value if one has got to have the extra speed. The test I do for outdated color transparency film is to shoot a landscape in full sunlight - rather easy to see if it is 'off' and how much, on a light box. Expect shift toward magenta with contrast and speed loss for the film you have, IF it was stored reasonably well.

[james___]

Just shoot a couple of sheets. That will tell you all you need to know.