How To ACTUALLY Shoot Expired Film

Shooting expired film can be complicated so I made it simple! I show you how to shoot expired film on a case-by-case basis.
Drawing from information found here - emulsive.org/a...
I just want to point out that black and white film also lasts much longer than colour and that although some of the 20 year film were quite bad, we don't know how this film was stored so it's hard to draw a real conclusion from it.
For anyone wondering, you can find my Instagram - @maxkenttt
IIf you’re interested in more of my work, check out my last book ‘So Far So Good’ www.maxkent.co...
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The film I use most of the time - geni.us/TgkbJ
My video camera - geni.us/590CHy
My video lens - geni.us/A8amM3j
My tripod (it’s great) - geni.us/Xkixa8
The safest camera bag I use - geni.us/5bhN0
My ND Filter (for video/slow shutter photography) - geni.us/jRfyfO
The kinda strap I’d suggest - geni.us/u7PxGS
My main lens for shooting film - geni.us/VHlw
My Film Camera - geni.us/bopi3b
My mic - geni.us/0CwBa2L
My external hard drive - geni.us/BR7Jp
**Some of the above are paid Amazon links that will direct you to my associate account through Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. **
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Thank you all for the time you take to watch my videos!
Max

[@kenmorrisproducer]

I bought some eBay film from a seller in Hawaii. Definitely avoid film from the tropics 😂

[@maxkent]

You gotta be careful!

[@MrHerrera805]

I picked up some really cool expired film from the tropics. It had a special, sealed metal tube around it.

[@panikiczcock2891]

Did any pictures come out? 😅

[@ChannelNotFound]

There's a film for sale in Thailand right now that expired in 1984, and I lack the balls to buy it.

[@ChannelNotFound]

There's a film for sale in Thailand right now that expired in 1984, and I lack the balls to buy it.

[@AtuPC_Fi]

Great video! Probably the first time I've seen proper side-by-side comparisons of expired films. Would be interesting to re-do this with higher ISO films like 400 and 800. Will be trying to shoot 400 ISO expired film from 2015 today. On the fence about overexposing, but will probably try 1/3 or 2/3 stops overexposure on some pictures.

[@maxkent]

So glad this helped you!

[@corbensurio1022]

Just found your comment from a year ago, but wondering what your results were for this test. I just received a bunch of rolls of expired 2015 Tri-X 400TX Black and White that had been sitting in my BIL camera bag and wanted to try them out. Based on Max's video I'll probably go 2/3 stop overexposed for ten years expired, but wondering what you wound up doing if you can recall?

[@AtuPC_Fi]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@corbensurio1022I just checked the pictures. I shot the roll at stock speed, but did one with 1/3 overexposure. The film was Fuji Superia X-tra 400, so a color film that expired in 2015. To my knowledge it was stored at room temperature. The pictures have this green haze in the darker areas, weird-ish colors and an overall underexposed look. The grain is also quite noticable. The one overexposed image is slightly better but with such little overexposure, it didn't help much. The negatives don't look that bad in terms of base fog, but they look a little thin. I think you'll have a much better experience with B/W. What I've gathered, overexposure shouldn't hurt, or maybe I'm thinking about pushing. If they were stored even a bit cooler, I would shoot a roll at box speed with a few overexposures. Otherwise a stop over might do the trick.

[@Solertcore]

10, 15, 20 years all look underexposed.

[@dagr8kerek]

Exactly what I was thinking

[@flyingo]

I’ve searched for examples of shooting expired Fuji Provia 100f and landed here on your year old video. I have about 20 rolls of Provia 100f that expired in 2005. I appreciate this video of yours. With b&w film and color negative film, I have had great success following the 1 stop per decade recommendation. However, I treat each roll slightly differently when I know how it had been stored. After trying one medium format roll of this Provia with the 1 stop per decade guide and getting 12 shots of blue-ish mud.. I’m planning on following this 1/2 stop per decade advice from Emulsive and this video for this Provia 100f E6 film. Thanks!

[@jomy10-games]

Slide film actually degrades less fast than color negative, so 1/2 stop per decade is a good idea for slide film!

[@john.vanzijl]

One of the best videos I've seen on expired film. Well explained and was good to see a side by side comparisons with various aged stock.

[@maxkent]

Thanks a lot dude!

[@dalehammond1749]

So true! Excellent job. There's a lot of false info out there. I was told by "experts" to shoot expired 8 & 16mm movie film at f1.9. I wasted a lot of film until I figured out I was drastically overexposing my film. I was always blaming my developers. Today I shot 30 year old 120 film at new film settings and got great B&W images with D-76.

[@maxkent]

Thanks Dale, that’s great to hear! It can be complicated because we don’t always no how it’s stored but usually we don’t have to overexpose as much as we think!

[@Kwright304]

I can’t imagine an actual expert would tell you to shoot at f1.9 without knowing how much light or what your shutter speed would be. Shooting at 1.9 is only 1/3 of your exposure options so there’s a lot going on there you could do to shoot at 1.9 and keep exposure

[@andredingstertsao]

@@Kwright304many say that because they assume that whole 10 year per stop theory is an absolute axiom. My father leaves a tons of expired B&W films which expired in the 90s. They were stored in the fridge for a while but then just normal conditions. I have been experimenting and found that most of the rolls are doing fine at box speed. There may be some light leaks here and there there but in general overexpose two to three stops would be disastrous.

[@Kwright304]

@@andredingstertsao yeah, either way you can’t select aperture without knowing the conditions

[@QeZobaBazZz]

Well you can do this too: Low the iso by two stops if is asa 400 or above, lower asa you can shot it on one stop lower or leave it as stock, then in the processing of development you can over reveal it by a couple of minutes depending on the time is it expired, with this you can have good results, never use the stock times to reveal expired film. In my experience b&w film is a lot easier to work with when is expired that color.

[@Nuwandaz]

Thank you for this, it was really interesting and the comparison of pictures next to each other was great 👌🏻

[@maxkent]

Thanks! Hopefully people feel a bit more confident with expired film 😎

[@tobiasvandevoort5027]

I managed to buy a few rolls of Kodak ektar 25 that have been in the freezer fresh since purchase.

[@aeyb701]

A decade ago got a block of Royal Gold 25 35mm Film, expired 1999. Still looks fresh after shoot and process. The prices for expired emulsion often exceeds the current stuff these days, so I stick to buying very slow box speeds.

[@mynewcolour]

Nice channel. It can be handy looking at the negs when trying to figure out if you got the best exposure - how dense they are etc.

[@maxkent]

Hey thanks a lot! That’s a top tip too

[@markgoostree6334]

I have five rolls of Fujifilm, "superia X-tra 400. " It expired March, 2007. a friend of mine found it in her dad's dresser drawer. I will be shooting this, maybe this spring / summer.

[@volodymyrbratique3039]

i just bought xtra 400 expired 2019/06 and now thinking about should i overexpose it or leave with stock exposure settings. wish me luck💀

[@laurentengelbrecht3875]

Same here ! Did you get results yet ?

[@mxrius1739]

If you get your hands on expired film that is not expensive, then try to shoot on role and try various different scenarios with over and under exposing. Generally you can expect the ISO to be around the same and if you develop your film at home you can shoot at stock speeds and just push it (1 minute less in the developer). so you get a less color shifted image and can manually adjust the contrast while having a good dynamic range. I cross processed 25 year old E-6 64 iso film in bad c41 developer. Results turned out great. Just metered for 50 iso and just calculated a little bit for the developer time. Its more like a stomach feeling.

[@iwillnever4getu]

great song recommendation.. classic beat

[@apistosig4173]

I recenty spent 10 days on King Island off Tasmania's North West Coast / Bass Strait / and carried my trust-worthy Canon AE1+P with 15+ year old Fuji Superia 400 which I had kept in the 'Fridge. No exposure compensation - end results were grainy with an art-like character. Clouds were rendered most interestingly. If I were to do this again I would employ exposure compensation especially when the light was dull-ish. Old Film can produce some very interesting results

[@8bit_cat72]

I have an about 50 year old 400ft reel of Tri-x motion picture film. It's iso was originally 320 iso, but I shoot iso 20 and it works well.

[@turboseize]

Your 20 year example seems underexposed, the other look about fine. I recently shot a 12 years expired Superia 1600 that was stored in a fridge until 4 years ago. Shot at 520 ISO (1/3rd over 400, whatever that amounts to). Turned out surprisingly good: no noticeable colour shift and surprisingly fine grain (for such a sensitive film, that is). Not much detail in shadows nor highlights, though; it's extremely high contrast. But that could just be the nature of such a high ISO film and it might not have been better even when fresh.

[@juliafranch7848]

I just got a camera from the 90s with a 12exp film inside not used i do believe its been 20yr+ there now so im quite afraid since its a 100iso film

[@MrHerrera805]

I've shot expired film from the 30's. I shoot mostly expired film. Usually anything under 200 iso, I add .5 per decade and 1 stop for iso over 200 per decade, max 5 stops.

[@Federico84]

I’ve shot a b/w roll expired in 1988 and the pictures came out perfectly

[@MrBlompod]

Did you adjust your camera down a few stops?

[@muhammadshuman4465]

The 15 years old is the best vintage looking ❤

[@DJag14]

Mines been stored in a cupboard...can I still put them into. A freezer?

[@tracyborland5471]

Thank you!!!

[@SendingThruHardware]

What about expired kodak film from the 60s?

[@Arturo.H.M]

I don't think that 10 years = 1 steep rule be fully true, in fact I'm in the middle of this rule and your opinion, but... I'm in Spain and where I live, summer use to be in highs 30⁰ and over 40⁰. It's mean that film over 15 years old use to be useless, even with the 1 steep rule (or 1 1/2 seeps).

[@NekoSkwama]

great content, but i have a question, is it the same for black and white film?, can you do the same video with b&w film to see the comparation, love you content, thanks

[@maxkent]

Black and white lasts a lot longer, I left a little note in the description about this!

[@rachelmaemaningo3020]

For 200 ISO, mine expired last 2015. Shooting it in 100 ISO is fine? Thanks for the tips by the way!

[@khanscombe619]

What do U think on a processing a roll of Kodak 800 Max properly exposed new but indoor cool storage for 18-20 yrs? Can higher temp cook help to offset age ?

[@inlightenedbeing]

I found an old film in my boxes How can I tell if it is used or not?

[@benravetta]

I just wouldn't bother, most of the time you can push it in post anyway

[@professionalvr]

I have a Kodak Gold 200 ISO film, that has expired in December 1999. I don't know where it has been stored. Does that I mean that I have to shoot at 50 ISO, so I can get the best results ?

[@ruvimsa3574]

I just came across 1980s Kodak FX 135-20 black and white fine grain film. Looks like it was stored at room temp in a dry climate. What would you recommend?

[@datomimo6814]

for iso200 30+ years with average conditions?

[@EDT278]

There are great pictures for the age of film.

[@tuetkin2398]

I’m started to use some of my expired film , do I develop the pulled expired film on pulled iso or box speed iso

[@joseluisfernandez2966]

W vid

[@Jiwonsharma]

What do u mean by stop??

[@fustigate314159]

A "stop" of light. ISO 200 to 400 is an increase of 1 stop. f/16 to f/22 is a decrease of 1 stop. There are two stops between 1/15 sec and 1/60 s. The easiest way to adjust your exposure for expired film to get that "stop" offset by setting the ISO and leaving it. You're tricking your camera's light meter to think it has slower film. And if there's no manual setting (if your camera reads the DX codes), you'll need to use some of those DX code stickers).

[@sayuriwebster1241]

Hi I've got some colour 1600 film that is max 10 years old. I stored it normally so am really unsure what kind of overexposure would be good to test on it? Should I overexpose it more due to the sensitivity?

[@maxkent]

Yeah you might want to overexpose it a little more due to its sensitivity. It could look pretty bad because it’s 1600 but it’s worth a try!

[@dvtony]

How about 70 years old film??

[@maxkent]

Now that’s a big one. Once again would depend on how it’s been stored. I’d assume it’d be black and white so that gives it more chance of survival! I’d probably be over exposing by 2-3 stops

[@zzstrone1354]

Hey Max! I've recently purchased some unused films(konica centuria 100) from an old man for about £5. He said they were stored in a wooden cupboard in his shop(studio). Once i got home, films started producing an awful (sour-ish) smell. Should I still shoot those films? They expired in 2009.

[@maxkent]

Hey! I’ve never heard of film starting to smell sour-ish. It could be the way they were stored or the type of film. I’d suggest popping this info into a film subreddit cos someone will definitely know what you need to do 😎

[@jasrenfro9856]

American here. We casually use cough up a lung casually. I think its from the big anti tobacco campaign back in the 80s and 90s

[@malman1080]

Those last 3 examples were badly underexposed. The 1 stop per year rule would have absolutely helped in those cases.

[@randallstewart1224]

One rule which comes out of this video is that if you consider buying film more than 5 years expired, particularly color negative film, if the seller cannot tell you how the film has been stored, you are a fool to pay more than a small amount, say, 50 cents a roll of 35mm or 120. Another rule is that the popular "rule" on YT to rate speed on expired film to over-expose one stop for every ten years old is just nonsense. Doing this may give a better result than "box speed", but it's more likely to just over expose the film. If you want to risk your time, photo opportunity, and processing cost to save a few dollars per roll using expired film of unknown history, then shoot a roll, all the same shot representative of the type of photography you do, then ask the processor to split the roll into three parts to be developed as normal, with 1 stop push, and 2 stops push. Scan or push each to see results and proceed accordingly, including a trip to the bin if indicated. Many processors may not be willing to do this for you, as they use machines which automatically load film from the cartridge. 120 film tends to be handled in the dark for loading, so that may be more available. The bottom line on expired film is that there are no reliable "rules" for exposing and processing film expired for more than a year or two. If you expend any significant expense on setting up a photo opportunity and pay a lab to process your film, there is no rational economic reason to shoot expired film unless (1) someone gave it to you, and (2) you fully test the film in advance to determine how it will perform. The dozens of YT videos suggesting otherwise are just bullshit authored by folks who are just trying to post another video to maintain their YT publication commitment, regardless of lack of value to the content.

[@florian_kopr]

if it called vista, it was agfa vista and good quality

[@maxkent]

Hey, I think it was Agfa vista and it must be alright because it lasted a good while

[@v-g-z3689]

Interesting... my results over the years were very different! With colour negative film, I already overexpose it one stop when fresh. Then I overexpose one stop per decade, plus one additional stop. Standard lab developement.. that has worked best for me! Apart from the storage conditions the emulsion itself makes a big difference. Kodacolor II from the late 70´s for example ages extremely poorely and comes out dark green with no images whatsoever. 3M/Ferrania film from the same era usually still yields usable contrasts even if stored hot. Any film that requires an older process than C-41 or E-6 usually ages better, probably because the developement temps are lower is one reason.

[@ilaion11]

Man, we overexpose new stock by one stop to get good shadow detail, what are you talking about? Any of those films you exposed should have one stop over or any 5 years at least!

[@cheetoproscheetopros]

If I do end up overexposing by a full or half stop do I get the to push it at my lab still?

[@maxkent]

Nah I wouldn’t bother if you’re only overexposing by that much. Most people do that anyway 👍

[@darkcustomxxx7252]

I love expired film. I have a heap of Kodak B & W panchromatic negative 16mm cine film expired in the mid 50s that is in sealed, mint condition. I have it in the freezer, but I don't know it's storage history although by the look of the boxes it's been stored very well. Two boxes have the flap seal cut and the sealed cans inside are mint, still gloss black and no trace of rust. I'm yet to shoot any, but i will be experimenting with different developers and times and I might even try reversing some. My only issue is the stock has no indication of it's ISO. I don't know whether it's fast or slow. My experience is that it probably cant be any more than 200 or less than 50. I can't find any information on it. If you or anyone has any ideas, it's "Kodak Panchromatic Negative Safety Film" All yellow box, plain black print and the emulsion starts with 72 which i can only find as meaning acetate base. Good vlog, lots of great information to play with.

[@maxkent]

Hey! I would assume that it may be pretty bad at this point, 70 years old and you don’t know how it’s been stored. I would suggest asking Reddit, make a little post with all that information. There’s a hell of a lot of people in the know on Reddit so you’ll get a pretty good idea of what you should do with this!

[@randallstewart1224]

Who cares? The best history here is that someone gave this stuff to avoid the trouble of putting it in the garbage. If you paid ten cents for it, you are an idiot, so there would be no reason to get further involved here.