How long does expired color film stay usable?

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Ronald_H

Don't call me Ron
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Recently I have been shooting Fuji Superia 400, expired in 2005, not cold stored. Yes, it was cheap, almost free in fact.

If I expose it at ISO125 it is hard to see a difference with fresh Superia. I am so comfortable with it now that I even used 5 rolls on my holiday.

I also found a roll of Kodak Gold 200 at a fair. Cyrillic lettering, expiry date somewhere in 2003. I shot it a ISO50 and didn't expect much. Again, the negs were more than acceptable, with good and accurate color.

Yes, I have fresh stuff at hand for really critical work, but I was just wondering what other people's experiences are. I was wondering if we aren't too afraid of expired film.
 
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Depends how it was stored. Run a few test rolls and go for it. I'm shooting Kodachrome expired in 1984 without a hitch.
 
I shot Velvia that expired in 2003 earlier this year that was not cold stored and it shifted yellow and went very warm. I've shot Kodachrome that was supposedly cold stored that expired in 1998 and it is still just fine while some KR200 that was 'cold stored' has a very pink color shift.
 
I don't think the manufactures make any allowance for geography in the expiry dates; so while I would be happy to use stuff bought here in the UK a bit out of date, I'd think twice if it were sweating in a shop in Mediterranean temperatures somewhere
 
Sparrow said:
I don't think the manufactures make any allowance for geography in the expiry dates; so while I would be happy to use stuff bought here in the UK a bit out of date, I'd think twice if it were sweating in a shop in Mediterranean temperatures somewhere
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Depends.. depends..

Even in more temperate regions, there's no guarantee that what you get has actually been kept at reasonable temperatures. Think of the stands/kiosks you see in zoos or amusement parks. I'm pretty sure that the film they sell has been boiled in a couple of really sunny days, no matter what it says on the box.

I wouldn't at all be surprised if the people living in Mediterranean temperatures somewhere are much more aware of how to keep film from going bad..
 
pvdhaar said:
Depends.. depends..

Even in more temperate regions, there's no guarantee that what you get has actually been kept at reasonable temperatures. Think of the stands/kiosks you see in zoos or amusement parks. I'm pretty sure that the film they sell has been boiled in a couple of really sunny days, no matter what it says on the box.

I wouldn't at all be surprised if the people living in Mediterranean temperatures somewhere are much more aware of how to keep film from going bad..
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Well ... yes, maybe...



... and, probably not

 
I have NPH from 2005 that's always been in the fridge, but not in the freezer. Shot at 400 it shows a strong cyan/green cast. This lessens when shot in bright light rather than in the shade.
 
Done with few films expired between 2000-2005, all came almost fine except one, i will shoot more of that one didn't came out fine and see if all films same results, then it is not so great to use it, but i got something out of it anyway and even with color corrected still not that colors it should be to my eyes.
 
Not that long ago I found 2 rolls of expired Fuji C41 film. My guess was that it was 5-7 years old, stored mostly in a cool, but not cold cellar.

The gang here convinced me to just use it normally.

Ugly ugly ugly! :(

Bad fog and color shift! :(

I just ash-canned the second roll.
 
As long as it's not fogged, most of these color things can be sorted in the digital light room! I have some outdated 4X5 tungsten slide film that I use as a black and white replacement, the dates on the ready loads are in the mid 2000s I think, works just fine for a B&W conversion, no fogging.

Dave

Dave
 
Is there any exposure rule of thumb I could use for expired rolls? Say, "iso400 expired 2 years ago, shoot @320" or something in that sense?
 
dmr said:
Not that long ago I found 2 rolls of expired Fuji C41 film. My guess was that it was 5-7 years old, stored mostly in a cool, but not cold cellar.

The gang here convinced me to just use it normally.

Ugly ugly ugly! :(

Bad fog and color shift! :(

I just ash-canned the second roll.
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Wait a minute, I didn't say normally. The stuff I use is old and I compensate by overexposing 1.5 to 2 stops! Then it behaves fine. YMMV so try first. My rule of thumb is overexposing two stops for C-41 that is expired anywhere from 2-7 years (my bandwith so far). I tried both Fuji Superia and Kodak Gold.

I also have used expired B/W, oldest was about 4 years expired (Ilford Delta 100&400 and FP4+). I used that normally without noticable difference with fresh stuff, even when developed in the same tank at the same time.
 
nksyoon said:
I have NPH from 2005 that's always been in the fridge, but not in the freezer. Shot at 400 it shows a strong cyan/green cast. This lessens when shot in bright light rather than in the shade.
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Same with 400H (successor of NPH) and 800Z. Needs lots of light or cyan monster does it's job.
 
This January i'm been in Bangkok for my job, i decide to bring with me only BW negatives so one day i have bought 1 rolls of Fuji Superia 200 in a shop...the rolls was in the shop window, under the sun and was expired in 2010, i have exposed the rolls at nominal ASA and then developed in my Lab in Rome...maybe i'm been lucky but these are some shot:


Fuji Superia 200 - Ultron 28-1.9 - Market street di Emiliano L. Maiello, su Flickr


Fuji Superia 200 - Ultron 28-1.9 - Rivers 3 di Emiliano L. Maiello, su Flickr


Fuji Superia 200 - Ultron 28-1.9 - Wat Arun 1 di Emiliano L. Maiello, su Flickr
 
Someone gave me a grip of 160NC that expired in 2004. Shot at 160 it sucks. Shot at 80-100 it's just fine!

Though I have noticed that it's SUPER sensitive to scratching. Like just putting it into a PrintFile sleeve scratches it. Not sure if this is a sleeve problem or a film problem but my B&W negatives do not scratch under the same conditions.
 
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