Expired 101 | Expired Film Basics

[@ralphbrandi]

Oldest film I've shot successfully is Kodak Eastman No. 10, which I understand was a cinema film, expired in 1931, which I shot at EI 0.3. One technique I've used for ridiculously old films like this is cold development. For the No. 10, I did clip tests and wound up using a really intense non-standard dilution of HC-110, 1:10, for 9 minutes, after refrigerating the developer overnight. So dev temp was about 36 degrees F, or 2 degrees C. There was essentially no fog on the results. Another approach I used earlier this week on a roll of Svema KN-1, expired around 1980 and exposed at EI 12, was HC-110 1:75, at refrigerator temperature, stand development for 30 minutes (1 minute of agitation, then back into the fridge). Wound up with very little fog if any; the underlying color of the film was what I would get from a fresh roll of Plus-X. Your comments about overexposing are well-taken; sometimes these old slow black and white films don't need any. I bought a brick of Adox KB-14 in 35mm, expired in 1963, so 60 years old. Box speed is 25. I get the best results from it at box speed, amazingly enough. I was fortunate in that I bought enough that my first roll could be used to test the film, and anything over EI 6 was overexposed IIRC. Anyway, neat episode, with a lot of good information.

[@AlexLuyckxPhoto]

Oh that is some amazing experiences with expired films! Thanks for sharing and for watching 🍻

[@flyingo]

I’m probably different than most in that I use expired film almost exclusively. I love the surprise factor with old color films, slide films especially. There’s nothing like cranking through a roll of old Fuji Velvia and seeing what other-worldy results emerge. Worst case scenario is that you convert really strange ones to monochrome.

[@AlexLuyckxPhoto]

That is awesome, I love that you embrace the weird and run with it! And yes there is always the option to convert to B&W and play with curves and levels. Thanks for watching 🍻

[@MattLovesCameras]

Fantastic overview Alex! Much to my surprise, I had amazing results with 10-15 year old Fuji Industrial and Made in Italy Agfa Vista 100 recently. Living in a subtropical city, I was shocked they turned out so well.

[@AlexLuyckxPhoto]

Thanks! Yeah colour is hit or miss but glad yours turned out! Thanks for watching 🍻

[@theoldcameraguy]

Love the car shots on Verichrome Pan. I’ve never shot Plus-X, but I took your developing advice on some Panatomic X from 1978 and loved the results.

[@AlexLuyckxPhoto]

Thanks! Yes Panatomic-X is something special! Thanks for watching 🍻

[@ruudmaas2480]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[@AlexLuyckxPhoto]

Thanks for watching 🍻

[@SinaFarhat]

My frozen stored since day one ektachrome 100 and 200 medium format rolls that expired in 1995-2001 deliver great results with those magenta shadows, I shoot them at stock speed and develop in stock times. As for c22 film I have developed films from the 1950-70s with d76 stock 11 minutes and got some usable frames, as expected a good amount of rolls are just dark and bad negatives as time is harsh to exposed film that hasn't been developed until in my case 60+ years later. I am hoping that at some point I get back my interest in photography, probably spring 2025 when I graduate from my 2 year project manager studies so that I can properly enjoy my ektachrome 120 slide rolls!

[@AlexLuyckxPhoto]

Oh that’s awesome! Shows the power of proper storage! And good to know on the C22 trick! Thanks for watching 🍻

[@MtnSoul89]

Another great video sir!

[@AlexLuyckxPhoto]

Thanks for the kind words and for watching 🍻

[@shogunmio1611]

Great video. There are so many on this subject, but you have done a great job at explaining things far easier. However, I would have liked a more detail explanation when it comes to developing expired film, more so Slides. I have well over 100 rolls of 120 Velvia 100F as well as 4x5 which has been kept in the freezer since I bought them, as I had very little demand by clients to shoot film when digital set in. I am now retired and slowly using up my frozen film stock and would like to know what your thoughts are re shooting at box speed due to how they were stored, but more importantly would I extend the dev.

[@AlexLuyckxPhoto]

Thanks! Sadly I don’t do a lot of colour development at home, C41, E6 or ECN2. And I don’t like talking on subjects I have little practical experience with. Bit from what I have read, develop normally with over exposure on the film. Thanks for watching 🍻