Out of date film.

soupdragon

soupdragon

Messages
2,307
Name
Tony
Edit My Images
Yes
This topic has probably been done to death but I could not find a thread relating to it.

I have a stock of film in my freezer at about -18 deg C.
A lot of it will go past its use by date by the time I get round to using it.

Does anyone have a feel for how long colour film can go past bbe date before there is a change in character?

I guess a week or a month or maybe a year won't make any difference but, beyond that...........................................
I have no feel for this as in the past I have always used in date film.
The reason I have a stock pile is that raw materials are getting harder to source in the UK and, I'd rather not be stuck with expensive camera shaped ornaments any time soon.
 
You don’t say what film you have…
Fuji film lasts years, I have Fuji 400 dated 2000.
Lots of film stored frozen have a good shelf life.

I think the longer you have it( years ++) you may need to make some exposure adjustment.
 
I have film that's upwards of 50 years old sat in my freezer, it still shoots fine. My favourite has to be Kodak Tech Pan, and that shoots beautifully.
 
As said above, the only thing that can change e.g. the colours in film is heat i.e hotter than stored in a cool cupboard in UK temps, so I suppose you have to be careful, in hot climes, where you store film without a fridge as I bought a 20 pack of OOD kodak gold from Greece and am not impressed with the colours.
 
I received an old Zeiss Contaflex camera today and in the box was an unopened roll of 200iso colour film with an expiry date of 2004. I was just going to bin it, but now I'm not so sure. Decisions, decisions........
 
Clive K said:
I received an old Zeiss Contaflex camera today and in the box was an unopened roll of 200iso colour film with an expiry date of 2004. I was just going to bin it, but now I'm not so sure. Decisions, decisions........
Click to expand...

Shoot it rated at 80asa or maybe 50asa. It'll probably be mostly fine unless it's been stored really badly.
 
Solo man said:
You don’t say what film you have…
Fuji film lasts years, I have Fuji 400 dated 2000.
Lots of film stored frozen have a good shelf life.

I think the longer you have it( years ++) you may need to make some exposure adjustment.
Click to expand...
I have lots of film in two formats but to narrow it down.
Kodak Ektar, Kodak Portra 160 &400, Kodak E100, Fuji Velvia 50 mainly.
 
excalibur2 said:
As said above, the only thing that can change e.g. the colours in film is heat i.e hotter than stored in a cool cupboard in UK temps, so I suppose you have to be careful, in hot climes, where you store film without a fridge as I bought a 20 pack of OOD kodak gold from Greece and am not impressed with the colours.
Click to expand...
It may be you just don't like kodak gold.
I used some fresh about two years back and spent hours trying to correct the colour balance.
 
On a related topic, how long do un-opened liquid chemicals last? With particular reference Bellini E6.
I know from experience that working E6 solutions last, tops, 13 weeks.
I'm not concerned about my C41 chems as they are in powder form and will probably out last me.
 
I probably have much more than twice that amount you show, half shelved in the dining room, half in the freezer. I bought loads when the bottom apparently dropped out of the film market so lots of film is well past it's use-by date, some slide film perhaps 20 years past. I'm pretty convinced now that I shall not be able to use it all in my lifetime, not joking. If I made a choice to sell it, how to choose what to sell and what to keep, given that there are lots of different film types? Oh for the good old days, with all that choice, when you could just order or even go to a shop for the film you needed.
 
Outdated SLIDE film can be rated at 'Box Speed' but NOT C41 Neg or B&W -- with the E6 SLIDE film all you get is a reduction in the 'D-Max' due to age and radiation fogging so not so 'Black Blacks' but you can put better contrast after scanning it i have lots of 2005 dated 'TUDOR 100 ' ( actually FUJI) in fridge given to my Son by a member of E Photozine years ago and it is still good rated only down to 80 ASA and I found several 5=packs of 1999 Dated Fuji ASTIA 100 220 size so had one done professionally -- GREAT ! So did others myself i the BELLINI 1Litre E6 kit and rate film at 100 ASA still
1999 Fuji ASTIA 220 size Broadstairs, Kent
Broadstairs 05 by Peter Elgar, on Flickr
2005 dated TUDOR 100 Faversham Hop Festival
HOP FEST 06 by Peter Elgar, on Flickr
 
Thanks guys.
This information is reassuring.

I have not stopped buying film as I'm lining myself up for retirement. My guess is I will need 30 boxes of sheet film and 40 5 roll packs of 120.
I shouldn't say this but I'm currently clearing out all UK dealers of 4x5 colour film.
I'm also buying as much powdered chemicals as I can. Shame E6 can't be had dry sachets.
 
Solo man said:
I probably have 10 times the amount you have in various film.


But in answer to your other question about chemicals…. I have not used Bellini E6 but, unopened chemicals should last a good few years.
Click to expand...
That is awesome.
I hope to have that much film stock soon.
As I said before, I'm stock piling powdered chemical too.
 
Jammy Dodger said:
Does anybody know something I don't?
Click to expand...
Yes.
Are you retired or lining yourself up for retirement?
I am fast approaching that time and, whilst I won't struggle to live comfortably, I will find the price of materials prohibitive.
So, all the time I have a disposable income, I choose to buy film and chemical stocks.

I'm also using it as well. Just not as fast as I'm buying it.
 
pentaxpete said:
Outdated SLIDE film can be rated at 'Box Speed' but NOT C41 Neg or B&W -- with the E6 SLIDE film all you get is a reduction in the 'D-Max' due to age and radiation fogging so not so 'Black Blacks' but you can put better contrast after scanning it i have lots of 2005 dated 'TUDOR 100 ' ( actually FUJI) in fridge given to my Son by a member of E Photozine years ago and it is still good rated only down to 80 ASA and I found several 5=packs of 1999 Dated Fuji ASTIA 100 220 size so had one done professionally -- GREAT ! So did others myself i the BELLINI 1Litre E6 kit and rate film at 100 ASA still
1999 Fuji ASTIA 220 size Broadstairs, Kent
Broadstairs 05 by Peter Elgar, on Flickr
2005 dated TUDOR 100 Faversham Hop Festival
HOP FEST 06 by Peter Elgar, on Flickr
Click to expand...
It's quite astonishing to see such vibrancy in old colour film.
 
Last edited:
soupdragon said:
It may be you just don't like kodak gold.
I used some fresh about two years back and spent hours trying to correct the colour balance.
Click to expand...
Well without looking back at shots, IIRC Fishyfish has posted some nice shots (which I like) using Kodak gold.....but I had some OOD film from the bootie and although Asda produce some reasonable scans, when I home scanned (the best shots) found they were unscannable............. as like you couldn't get all the colours right. I can only assume bad storage.
 
soupdragon said:
Yes.
Are you retired or lining yourself up for retirement?
I am fast approaching that time and, whilst I won't struggle to live comfortably, I will find the price of materials prohibitive.
So, all the time I have a disposable income, I choose to buy film and chemical stocks.

I'm also using it as well. Just not as fast as I'm buying it.
Click to expand...
I did the same myself and that was when film was almost half today's prices and because I stored it I can now use it, there have been times since I stockpiled when I couldn't even find Fuji Provia 100F for sale whatever the price.
 
Because I'm home processing I have decided to wean myself off E6.
I'm going mainly colour neg and some B&W as the chemistry can be had in powder form which basically lasts forever.

The toughest part is working out how many years worth of stock do I need :eek:
 
soupdragon said:
Yes.
Are you retired or lining yourself up for retirement?
I am fast approaching that time and, whilst I won't struggle to live comfortably, I will find the price of materials prohibitive.
So, all the time I have a disposable income, I choose to buy film and chemical stocks.

I'm also using it as well. Just not as fast as I'm buying it.
Click to expand...

I have already returned from my main job after suffering a stroke, I work part time and I'm disabled, I prefer to buy as I use.

Horses for courses I suppose
 
Jammy Dodger said:
I have already returned from my main job after suffering a stroke, I work part time and I'm disabled, I prefer to buy as I use.

Horses for courses I suppose
Click to expand...
Absolutely horses for courses.
I have recently got out of hospital for cardio reasons having had a heart attack and stents fitted, plus cardioversion to stop my heart running at 170 bpm.
But when I retire, I will still struggle to buy film and chemicals.
Now is the time I feel.
 
A response from Bellinifoto regarding E6 kits.:

They should last for about 1-1.5 years after purchase but this is a guideline only as storage conditions usually vary once the chemistry leaves our factory. We don’t print a use-by date on the bottles or the boxes because the storage conditions can vary so much and because accidental oxidisation can also occur (this is mainly an issue with the developers, the other kit components don’t have particular problems with shelf-life). If you’re in doubt, you can send us a picture of the developer solution and a description. How long ago did you buy the kit and from which distributor?
 
At todays prices, my raw materials (film and chemistry) would cost £2565.
 
excalibur2 said:
As said above, the only thing that can change e.g. the colours in film is heat i.e hotter than stored in a cool cupboard in UK temps, so I suppose you have to be careful, in hot climes, where you store film without a fridge as I bought a 20 pack of OOD kodak gold from Greece and am not impressed with the colours.
Click to expand...


25 or so years ago, I bought a roll of (in date!) Gold in Crete and the colours from that roll were a bit... different! It was early in the season and not fridge stored so may well have been a couple of years old and gone through fairly hefty temperature fluctuations. Back then, Gold was my film of choice so I knew what to expect and the results weren't quite that!
 
I’m Greek and I can guarantee it gets ridiculously warm indoors in summer. I developed a tmax400 I had forgotten for a long time sitting on the shelf and the grain was really bad, it looked like an iso3200.
It’s funny how i didn’t know about temperatures back then and i regularly left film sitting in a car with temperatures going over 40degrees celsius :hungover: .
.
.
I prefer to buy as I go but it’s a reassuring feeling knowing there’s all kinds of film available in the cupboard :angelic:
 
Karl.t1965 said:
I have film that's upwards of 50 years old sat in my freezer, it still shoots fine. My favourite has to be Kodak Tech Pan, and that shoots beautifully.
Click to expand...
Ah! Technical Pan. What a wonderous product to have suffered an early demise. Together with Kodak High speed Infra red two of the finest films ever produced by the yellow God from over the pond.
There are still IR films sold but none even come close to the Kodak version.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top