expired film sometimes soft focus

[jaimiepeeters]

Hi

Up untill now I've only used expired film. Sometimes the sharpness of the images are beautiful but sometimes the overall image is soft.

I've noticed this in a Hexar AF but also in a T4. I have heard of contrast fading with expired film and a color cast but never about the sharpness fading.

It seems to always have happend with a Fuji 400 NPH or other Fuji 400 film.
It made me frustrated that my camera is out of focus or something but I recently put a Superia film in my Hexar and shot outside and the images were beautifully sharp.

Today I also saw another photographer posting on a dutch film photography blog that he found it hard to focus with his CLE minolta, when looking at his results. He used expired Fuji 400 and the overall image was soft and not sharp.

The facts seems to be there but I have yet to hear from somebody to explain me what the issue is. Is it devolopment? Is it Fuji 400 when expired? Is it expired film in general? Please help me understand this occurance.

 

[jordanstarr]

....you sure you have your facts straight? With expired film the base fogs, film loses speed, contrast can go down....but "out of focus"? Never heard that one before. Films have progressed over time, so if there's a marginal difference, it could be because of that. I bet I can show you a couple shots from some film that expired in 1984 I have along with some fresh film of the same type (Tri-x...I know, not the fuji you have) and you wouldn't know the difference in sharpness. I think something else is playing into this and it's coincidental.

 

[sevo]

Unusual. But it is not entirely impossible. Inconsistent freezer storage may dry up the film (if so, you could find traces of crystallized ice somewhere inside the canister or wrap) - and dry film will warp or buckle. I'm a bit surprised that it should be strong enough that the pressure plate can't hold 135 film in the focal plane (personally I've only experienced similar effects in medium and large format where the film has more leverage), but stranger things have happened...

 

[jaimiepeeters]

Explain to me the fogging of the base. Because that seems the correct description. It looks like the focus is ok but there's a soft fog over the overall image.

 

[pinkarmy]

why not show some photos...???

 

[jordanstarr]

base fog is simply a greying of the film, so it's not as "crisp and clear" as new film. There will still be blacks but not entirely see-through in the shadows.

 

[joeswe]

Hi

Up untill now I've only used expired film. Sometimes the sharpness of the images are beautiful but sometimes the overall image is soft.

I've noticed this in a Hexar AF but also in a T4. I have heard of contrast fading with expired film and a color cast but never about the sharpness fading.

It seems to always have happend with a Fuji 400 NPH or other Fuji 400 film.
It made me frustrated that my camera is out of focus or something but I recently put a Superia film in my Hexar and shot outside and the images were beautifully sharp.

Today I also saw another photographer posting on a dutch film photography blog that he found it hard to focus with his CLE minolta, when looking at his results. He used expired Fuji 400 and the overall image was soft and not sharp.

The facts seems to be there but I have yet to hear from somebody to explain me what the issue is. Is it devolopment? Is it Fuji 400 when expired? Is it expired film in general? Please help me understand this occurance.

What you encounter might be fogging (difficult to tell without seeing examples), but whatever it is, the lesson is easy: Do not bother with expired material if you want your results to be consistent and reliable. Print film is relatively cheap, I don't see a point in wasting your time, effort and money with outdated and possibly defective material. B&W film is a different story, with reasonable storage conditions, speeds up to 400 ISO can normally be used well past the "best before" date, but for color film (reversal and print), the risk is just not worth it IMHO.