Expired film
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- DaveO
Anyone ever shoot with expired 35mm film?
Is there a sweet spot in terms of dates?
What kind of results do you get?Got a new film camera and been messing around with different film and whatnot.
Fucking fed up of digital now because all my friend's lightroomed facebook pictures are beginning to look the same, with a faux-tiltshift / lomo tunneling effect, so I'm returning to a more basic process.
- odinie0
I mainly only shoot expired, and it's fine as long as the film has been cold stored. I don't get color shifts that are too weird, etc. I buy on craiglist, and just confirm with the seller that it's been in the freezer since they've had it. Never had a problem with it before, but I'd ask about testing an old roll first before you buy 100s of them.
- scarabin0
what are the advantages/characteristics of using expired film? looking at images i see a lot of cross-processed/toy camera looking stuff, but i can't tell if that's from their cameras or treatment...
- sequoia0
"what are the advantages/characteristics of using expired film?"
Typically you will get what's known as "base fog" where the film has effectively (for lack of a better term) self exposed itself. This will result in a slight loss of contrast. That and color shifts, which don't really matter that much.
- vaxorcist0
post-nuclear-war look
- Atkinson0
The majority of these are expired
http://www.craigatkinson.co.uk/c…
Expired just leaves a little more to chance.
- Atkinson0
just try it though, cheap
- odinie0
Yeah, it's totally a crap shoot. If you are looking for "cool" effects, often people cross process their expired film to add to that vintage look. In that case, the older the better, and sometimes film that was left to the elements works better for that style (barf).
When properly stored in a freezer you'll find that the film will behave as new, or close to it. In that case it may be a big disappointment if you want hipstamatic-style photos. I love it because it's about $1 a roll off of Craigslist, rather than $5+ a roll from a dealer. Plus there are a lot of discontinued films with gorgeous color that you can't find any more.
- bigtrick0
you can also try messing with your film deliberately to introduce flaws. i've had rolls of 35mm that had gotten wet come out looking kinda funky - time to experiment!
- ok_not_ok0
or...Develope your Film in coffee.
- Atkinson0
Yeah I got a load from a guy who said 'you wont want this, it's been in a box on my radiator for ten years'. Ace film.
- sea_sea0
i have at least 15 rolls i never developed from maybe 6 or 7 years ago. just found a place that will develop for cheap. i'm about to go for it. i can't start to imagine what's on there! hope i get some crazy weathered effects on those too. :)
- Atkinson0
Asda do negs for £2, then scan them free.
- ndugu0
I've shot a lot of expired film. usually the color is a tad muted and just lacks the contrast of the fresh stuff. But if you scan it in, you can punch it up and make it look pretty good.
Does anybody Develop their own C-41 rolls at home?
- I used to do Bleach Bypass on c-41 film at home, but it's been a while.Tungsten
- inteliboy0
I dunno, i've found expired film just = more grain. And not in a good way. Like odinie said, far better playing with actual exposing, developing and prints/scanning.