Expired Provia 400x ISO rating

[froyd]

I have a roll of Provia 400x with an expiration date of 2010. I don't know the history of this roll first hand, but was told it had been kept frozen until recently, when I bought it.

Should I rate it a little slower (say 320)? I'm concerned with overexposure and blowing highlight detail. Maybe better keeping the rating at 400 and assume some speed degradation ofseft by a little underexposure for color and highlights?

 

[vagab0nd]

If you develop your own film, I'd recommend shooting 5 frames, metered at the following ASA: 400, 320, 250, 500, 640. Then develop as normal and judge which one looks the best and shoot the rest of the film at that speed.

Hope that helps!

 

[Huss]

Shoot it at the box rating. If it has been properly stored it would be fine. I've never had issues shooting expired film if it has been properly stored. I just shot a bunch of slide film from 1995 this way with no issues. You can see the thread here:
http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150352

 

[froyd]

Thanks for the tips.

I'm sending the film out for processing so no go on the suggestion to test a few frames. However, I have several rolls of the same Provia batch, so I'll shoot the first one at box speed, as suggested, and then go from there.

 

[Rob-F]

+1 on the recommendation to shoot at box speed. That is my practice with Fuji reversal film, which I freeze and shoot well after the expiration date. Shooting at a lower speed may well bring about the overexposure and blown highlights you hope to avoid!




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