Expired Reala indoors - bad results

valdas

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I shot a roll of expired Reala indoors with the flash and got really bad results (don't even dare to post any examples here). The grain was huge (like iso 800 film) and It was difficult to get color right (it was a lot of magenta all over the place) - tried both with silverfast and vuescan. Even when managed to get decent color, grain was still unacceptable. Previously I was shooting the same expired film outside and results were fine. So what was wrong this time? My first guess: 1) quite significant underexposure (I rarely use flash and have no experience with "artificial light"); 2) the film is really "expired"... 3) a combination of the two - as the film is expired it lost some sensitivity and requires longer exposures? Any ideas?
 
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uhm...diaphragm not enough open?
(Assuming that the speedlite works fine)
Yes,I think it has been underexposed...

I'm also in trouble managing the Reala's magenta cast...
 
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Hmm, I don't use flash, but am still using up some 2007/2008 stock. I use at ISO 50 and get good colors.

The only film that gives me yellowish colors indoors is the Walgreens (Fuji) 200 film, which I think is very sensitive to florescent or mixed lighting.
 
me guesses it was a problem with the flash....
so how do the negatives look?
- Super dark (overexposed)
- Super thin (underexposed)

well, maybe the problem is not with the flash, but with my skills using the flash... it was sunpak 622 and I used it on Contax Aria with dedicated C/Y module which is supposed to allow shoot in TTL (I was shooting in aperture priority). I will take a closer look at negatives, but at first glance they did not look that underexposed. here is the shot from the same "batch" of expired reala (outside):

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=116764&ppuser=9415
 
The grain & magenta happen on expired Kodak Gold as well (finished off a roll that probably expired a year or 2 ago earlier this year). I shot my roll without flash but indoors under tungsten and underexposed a bit too.
 
2006 is not that old, I have shot Reala outdated by a few years and never had any issues...so it should shoot fine. Reala is a film that excels in high contrast lighting, in my opinion. I shoot it, always exposing an extra stop. My guess is that you are getting a color cast due to lack of exposure if not color temperature of the light.
 
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