Colour film well out of date.

The friend that gave me the out of date colour film did so in part for the removal of a partly exposed roll of film from her Dads camera a week or so earlier. She was not sure if it had become stuck or not.

The camera was an Olympus OM707. The battery carrier lid was broken and held in place with sticky tape and not working. The batteries were flat, so I tried some new ones but there was still no life which is a shame as it was in good order otherwise and had been in regular use up until eight years earlier. I had not come across this camera before so was not sure if I would be able to unwind the film manually. I found a re-wind button on the base plate, pressed it and went into the darkroom and opened the back. I took the cassette out first then gently pulled on the film and to my surprise it started to unwind. Once the film was fully removed I wound it back into the cassette.

A couple of weeks later I found out that the film had been developed and to her surprise it had produced some excellent results. It just goes to show even with a partly exposed colour film that has been sitting in a camera for eight years and extremely out of date, it can still produce some unexpectedly good results!

Yes I will admit that it is a risk when using film well outside the bbd; even more so with colour but I do not believe, like some, that you should only use this film with a so called toy camera as it suggests that if it goes wrong then it's “OK!” You just have to look at the lomograph site to see some excellent photographs. Personally you should have the courage of your conviction, use the best camera you can lay your hands on and embrace the results no matter what!

The colour pictures attached to this post were taken on my F5 on Agfa vista neg film that could have been out of date by fifteen years or so and kept in “iffy” conditions. So I walked into Lincoln on a warm sunny day with this film     and an open mind.  If I had listened to the doom and gloom merchants it was likely a waste of time! As it happens it was a good result even though I would have liked some colour shift to the pictures.

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Film Storage



Film storage.

Out of date colour film.
Upto four years on some
boxes

The recent receipt of ten rolls of out of date colour negative film from a friend has prompted me to share my experience with issues around the storage and freshness of film.

How do you define fresh? A film that has a long expiry date, one that has been kept refrigerated most of its life or even in the deep freeze. It is true to say that film used before the manufactures expiry date, which by the way is a conservative indication of when it should be used by, will yield the best results provided that it has been kept properly. The manufacturers suggest that  normal conditions are temperatures of no greater than 24 degrees C (75 F) and a relative humidity of 40% to as much as 60% in some cases. At temperatures and humanities greater than this will cause the emulsions to age far quicker. Normal conditions also refer to the fact that the film should only be removed from, in the case of 35mm from its plastic container and roll film from its foil wrapper just prier to use. Once the film has been exposed the rate of deterioration increases so you should not leave it to long after the roll is finished, to develop the latent image. It is reasonable to say that  monochrome film is more robust relatively speaking to colour film which has a greater number of   delicate layers for the atmosphere to attack and if stored badly will increase the likely hood of a colour shift.

Fg 1
Film 35mm, FP4, developed in ID11.
Printed on Ilford MGr paper 

Freezing is an extreme method of slowing the ageing process and can cause  problems with condensation and ice particles. Refrigeration is the most popular with film photographers but should be treated with care and common sense. At one time I used this method but not any more as it is not suitable with the way I work. Instead I use a floor standing Cabernet that is out of direct sunlight and away from direct heat. I have used this method for years with no ill affects. I also pay little attention to expiry dates as experience has shown me that it has had little affect on my results thus far.

FG 2
Same as above.

A couple of years ago I was sorting out some boxes of darkroom kit when I came across some containers of FP4 that was about twenty years out of date. I say twenty but on thinking back it's probably closer to thirty years or longer. The pictures (fg1 & fg2) are the results from one of those rolls of FP4 which was mistakenly exposed at ISO 400. Half the film was developed in ID11 and timed for HP5 and the other was developed in Rolie R3 developer and timed  for 400 iso. With results like this it makes me wonder whether refrigeration is necessary for monochrome emulsion if stored with care.

 It would seem that all film users over estimate how quickly film deteriorates. Each person needs to look at the way they use film and what sort of climate they live in, then take the appropriate action to comply with normal conditions. 

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Colour film out of date