Shooting expired film question...

FishyFish

FishyFish

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I'm planning to have a go with some of the expired film I have. After a bit of Googling it seems that the rule of thumb is to overexpose by one stop per decade of expiry, e.g. 10 year old 400ASA film should be treat as 200ASA.

Is it best to just set the camera to the adjusted rating, or to just compensate manually with longer exposures / wider apertures based on the circumstances (I'll be using my Oly 35 RC which I tend to use in manual and shoot using the sunny 16 rule of thumb)?

I don't really know how the film has been stored beyond it being in a bag under the stairs at my dad's. Not sure how warm or cold it is in there (there's a small frosted window, so it's possible it could have gotten some warmth from the sun, but I'm not sure). The other rolls were found at a car-boot sale and I have zero knowledge of its provenance beyond that.

I'm looking forward to the results (with crossed fingers) though. :)
 
I recently used a roll of film with a bbf date of 1974. I over-exposed by two stops and then developed in Rodinol 1+50, stand development for 45 minutes. Heavy fog and large grain but quite useable. My roll of film had been stored in a garden shed.

I set the camera's meter to 25 ASA (sorry, ISO) but it won't matter how you do the exposure adjustment.
 
If the camera meters and has adjustable ISO, then it's simplest to set that. If it reads the DX code off the cassette, then you need some form of exposure compensation. If you're using Sunny 16, then you have to work it out in your head, based on the adjusted ISO... AFAIK!

You might get some idea of the date of the film based on what it actually is, as the names of at least some films seem to shift a bit over time (eg FP3, FP4, FP4+)? Do the films come with boxes at all?

I got quite good results from a roll of long expired Kodak Ultramax 400 (GC-400) that had sat in a drawer of my daughter's desk right next to the radiator! BTW, consumer-grade films will often work better than pro films when expired. Again, AFAIK...
 
The date of the films are all known - they're all still boxed.

I've got:

5 x Kodak Ultra 400 - Expired 03/2003
3 x Dixons brand 200 - Expired 06/2004
1 x Klick XD200 - Expired 03/2001
1 x Kodak Plus-X pan 125 - March 1988
1 x Fuji Super HG 100 - August 1988
1 x Konica Super XG 100 - June 1996
1 x Trifca 35 75 ASA - August 1975 (no idea if this can even be developed as I believe it's some sort of re-spooled cine film)
1 x Kodak Ultra Advantix - Date unknown, but probably around 15 years old

I'll probably give the Kodak Ultra 400 a go first. If I'm using Sunny 16 then I'll open the aperture an extra stop, e.g. f/11 for bright sunshine instead of f/16. Although it might just be simpler to set the ASA rating to 200 on the camera and use Auto-mode for the first roll. Decisions, decisions... :)
 
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Neg film will PROBABLY have enough latitude to cope with its old age but overexposing by a stop or 2 (or even 3 for the '80s stuff!) will definitely help. There's always the sell on e-bay option - stick Lomo in the description somewhere is the usual advice to get the maximum return! :D
 
That 'TRIFCA' cannot be processed any longer as the chemicals were special to that film .
 
pentaxpete said:
That 'TRIFCA' cannot be processed any longer as the chemicals were special to that film .
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It can still be developed as B&W though. This is where stand development comes into its own - an hour in almost any B&W developer with no agitation at all will usually produce an image if one is to be had.
 
john.margetts said:
It can still be developed as B&W though. This is where stand development comes into its own - an hour in almost any B&W developer with no agitation at all will usually produce an image if one is to be had.
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I spoke with Peak Imaging today when I picked up a couple of other rolls they'd processed for me. They said they should be able to process the Trifca as B&W (albeit at my own risk given its age). It'll cost about £6 to process, so I reckon it's worth a punt. :)

Any advice on how to shoot it to maximise my chances?

Thanks.
 
Standard advice is to increase exposure by one stop per decade of excess age. Actual requirement depends on storage.
 
FishyFish said:
I think what I might do then is to set it at correct rating in camera (ASA 75), set the shutter to 1/60 sec, and then shoot Sunny 16 but drop it by four stops (so bright sunshine at f/4 - or maybe even f/2.8 - etc.). I'll just have to wait for a nice bright day. :)
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H'mm Sunny 16 works sorta but a cheap exposure meter or some use a mobile... would be better, just point the meter at very blue sky or grey pavement\rocks or slighter darker green grass or shrubs or even if you have white skin the back of a sun tanned hand...and it's near as dammit for exposure for non complicated subjects and film latitude for neg film would make up for any small (and large) errors. Once you know the correct reading for fresh film you can then work backwards for old film.
 
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