How long does expired color film stay usable?

[andres4ndr3s]

If i'm shooting a 400 iso color film (expired in 2005) overexposing it 2 stops (set ISO on the camera to 100) then should I develop it normally (as for ISO 400) or indicate to the lab that they should underdevelop it 2 stops?

 

[Ronald_H]

Good luck finding a lab that will push C-41. But you are right, overexpose 2 stops and process as normal. It still works for me, I just returned from holiday with 21 exposed rolls, almost all of them expired, all negatives ok.


Germany 2012: Technikmuseum Speyer by Ronald_H, on Flickr

 

[Godfrey]

How long past expiration is color film usable?

As long as you want to take advantage of how it images differently from fresh film. EG:

"Tar Dance" a set on Flickr.com​

 

[Mr_Toad]

Plop the words "Holga" and "Lomo" in the description, and you can sell expired film at a premium price on fleaBay.

Expired film is sought after by Holgaphiles for the enhanced image crappiness that we adore.

🙄

r

 

[vidgamer]

I don't recall problems from having film close to the exp. date, but someone gave me an old forgotten camera with 3 rolls of Kodachrome! From the '80's. Yikes. I have no idea. I guess I'll try it sometime, but I know it has not been in the freezer and was in sub-tropical Florida weather, so I don't have high hopes....

 

[Denis M.]

I found that film under 200 iso can be used without too much noticeable distracting impact on the final image. When going beyond that, you need to test.

I bought a pro box of 35mm 800 film from ebay that was claimed to be freezer stored - big mistake. Still trying to figure out what to do with it. The trouble is that not only do you have color shifts, and fogging, grain etc, but you have a loss of resolution too. On a holga at 120, probably not a big deal.