Expired Polaroid Films

robert blu

robert blu

quiet photographer
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A friend of mine, knowing my addiction to Instant Photography gave me one pack 665 (80 iso - expired 07/98) + one paco polapan pro 664 (100 iso - exp 04/06)+ one pack Polaroid 125 (11 shots, exp 08/06).
Additional one pack SX70 Polaroid color (exp 10/05).
And one roll of High Contrast Polachrome 35mm (iso 40, that was a film I liked in the old days, use before xx-93 😱).

Not sure if I can try them (knowing that probably they could not work at all) without risking to damage the cameras because developer will have probably dried out...

Or should I keep them on my bookshelf as a memory of the glorious polaroid days....

robert
PS: at my age memories become important...
 
Dried up dev paste won't ruin the camera, Robert. I don't much see the point in holding onto film as a keepsake. Far more interesting to shoot with it and see what happens. Even if none turn out, you can keep the packaging (but you won't) ;-)
 
Thanks Black for your quick reply, yes I agree with you it should be interesting to see what, if anything happens.
My doubt about dried paste is that maybe it is too hard and thick causing problems when going through the rollers...

robert
 
Probably the worst case scenario is that you will peel apart the film to find a few disappointingly dried up dev paste flakes and not much else. It's happened to me on numerous occasions now.
 
There’s an instant photo podcast I listen to at times. Some of the people on the podcast still use expired Polaroid film. From what they report, results are unpredictable. Sometime you get an almost perfect picture, other times it will be blank, and other times you get a pic with a strong color cast. You don’t really know what’s going to happen until you try it.

Jim B.
 
Try the newest pack first, then move to older and older packs, Robert. Life is too short to start worrying about it all. Enjoy.
 
Robert, I just tried out 4 packs of Polapan 100 with expiration of 08/2002, there are now 4 packs in the trash! 🙁 All 4 suffered from dried out dev. pods. Heartbreaking. Give it a shot!
 
Thanks for all suggestions, with no risk for the cameras I'll try just to see what happens...probably nothing !
robert
 
A friend recently gave me his old Polaroid 600, including a pack of expired film. I put it in the camera but the battery in the film pack appears to be dead (corroded terminal, which I scraped clean, but still no luck).

I'm wondering if this film can still be exposed in a folder with the film pack taped to the camera with gaffer tape to make a light seal, and then pulled through a set of rollers?
 
I had fun with expired film in the past. Results are unpredictable, which is half the fun. Not for serious work, but Polaroid rarely is.
 
with type 55 you can pull it apart and process the negative (and positive I think) as you would sheet film. Not sure if you can do that with the pack film. Of course you don't get the funky borders either.
 
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