Some Film Queries: Expiration & Light related

[ch1]

All,

I have two general, if unrelated, questions regarding film. Perhaps the knowledgable folks here could help me find the answers?

1) I only shoot 35mm and only either color transparencies or B&W negative.

I have always purchased "fresh" film (i.e. not past the expiration date) and then stored it in the freezer (preferably) or at least the fridge.

I see on eBay and other sites, including here, offers of expired film at quite attractive prices compared to "fresh".

So my question is, assuming that you are confident that the seller has properly stored the film (i.e. at least in a fridge), how much past the expiration date are you comfortable with when purchasing such film?

Obviously, this can vary by maker and type (I've generally used K or F but open to others) - so please advise as explicityly as you can.

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2) With the long winter nights coming upon us, I'd like to shoot available light street scenes here in New York City in both color slide and B&W negative. Particularly during the holiday season I'd enjoy shooting the crowds at Rock Center, at the store displays, Central Park skating rink etc.

NYC, like many communities, uses sodium vapor street lights. They cast a kind of orange/pink hue. Should I try and compensate for this or just accept that it is the "reality" of the scene.

If I compensate - how? Would tungsten film "work" to counter sodium vapor light? Or would a particular filter do the trick? Should I approach this "problem" differently when using color vs. B&W.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks,
George

 

[wierdcollector]

Hi George, I buy/use large amounts of expired film. I have yet to have a roll that wasn't up to snuff and have used many as far back as 2004. No problems yet. I also freeze mine as soon as it arrives and currently have 450+ rolls in the freezer.

 

[varjag]

2004 ain't too bad.

With the stuff from the mid-90s or earlier problems do start to show up though. High-sensitive films are getting fogged with background gamma-radiation; a fridge wouldn't much help with that unless it's located in that nuke shelter you made during Carribean crisis 🙂

Color films can get off color balance with time. Fridge helps with that.

Generally the slower emulsion is, the better its keeping properties. 3200 films go bad relatively quickly, while a pack of paper can be stored for decades without fogging.

 

[ch1]

2004 ain't too bad.

With the stuff from the mid-90s or earlier problems do start to show up though. High-sensitive films are getting fogged with background gamma-radiation; a fridge wouldn't much help with that unless it's located in that nuke shelter you made during Carribean crisis 🙂

Color films can get off color balance with time. Fridge helps with that.

Generally the slower emulsion is, the better its keeping properties. 3200 films go bad relatively quickly, while a pack of paper can be stored for decades without fogging.

Eugene,

Thanks. Sorry I don't have one of those nuke shelters - it would make a great wine celler or, better yet, darkroom. 🙂

Appreciate your thoughts - since I may try 3200 during those winter nightime shots I want to take, I'll make sure to only get a few rolls of the freshest I can find.

Regards,
George

 

[wlewisiii]

I recently bought a bunch of 120 Tri-X that expired in 1973 IIRC. It was stored in a basement, not a fridge, but still was quite usable. Biggest problem I had was the end of the film liked to rip when I went to take off the backing paper.

More recent stuff I've had has all been refridgerated and was just fine.

William

 

[ch1]

Thanks, William

 

[Doug]

I too have used outdated film, the oldest I'd bulk-loaded and then stored for 20+ years in the freezer, mostly Ilford Pan-F and XP1. Seemed to be fine. I resupply my color neg films from eBay auctions, but generally prefer to stay with very recently out-dated or "short-dated" with only months to go before the date. That's all been fine too. I keep in mind that I'll be storing it for a time too...

On the sodium-vapor lamps... This is narrow-band light emission, so it's not easily correctable. You could try a purplish (or blue) filter, but the filter factor will reduce the effective film speed. With tungsten-blanaced film, I'd guess you might get a greenish effect. Sodium vapor light emits strongly in the orange color, weakly in the blue-purple.

With black & white film, I'd give a half-stop or full stop more exposure than indicated by the meter, which tends to be more red-sensitive than film.