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Old 27th November 2021, 05:55 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Default Expired film - exposure and development adjustments

I've done quite a bit of searching on this, and there doesn't seem to be much consensus, so I'm curious to know what you all do when you expose and develop expired b&w film. Overexposing by one stop and developing normally (as for box speed) seems to be a common way to handle it. Does this hold up in your experience? Or is there a slding scale as the films get older and older?

Reason for the question is that I got some expired HP5 a while back. There's no date on the rolls (which didn't include boxes), so I don't know how old they are -- probably 10 years at least, but stored in a fridge.

I'm halfway through a roll now, exposing it at 200 iso. I plan to develop in D76 at 1+1, but am uncertain as to a dev time.

Any experiences to share would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance!
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Old 27th November 2021, 06:05 PM
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B&W Neil B&W Neil is online now
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If it has been stored in a fridge that is good but it would be better if frozen for that time. Dev time is difficult to say but at 200 iso you are already doing some compensation. I would dev at the normal time for the first film and take it from there. Or if you have the time shoot just a few frames at 200 iso, clip them out and dev the film, and see what you have.

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Old 27th November 2021, 06:23 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Hi Neil,

I have a roll of 135/24 in the camera now, so it's sort of a test roll. But it would still be nice if I could get the best out of it from the start.

Normally I would develop HP5 in Perceptol 1+1, but I wanted a developer with a bit more energy for the old film so I will use D76. I'm thinking develop for box speed would be a good start, but was curious what the gang here had to say.

PS -- I don't think I have the patience or the time for doing clip tests with these films . It's a good idea, but I don't have enough of these rolls to make it worth the effort.
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Old 28th November 2021, 06:43 AM
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10 years are not sooo much. It may be that it can be processed normal.
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Old 28th November 2021, 08:21 AM
John King John King is offline
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Default Out of date film

I can say from experience try this with XP2 and you may really struggle. A few years ago I was given a few rolls of 120 that were about 2 yrs out of date and the storage had been 'questionable'.

Processed in conventional C41 developer, there was an negative but possibly with being a dye based image, it was 'thin' with some places having no image at all. When printing (or trying to) there were a lot of variations in depth of tone of what was there and what was printed. It was like trying to print a film that had been unevenly developed. I only used 2 rolls and dumped the remainder.
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Old 28th November 2021, 10:39 AM
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I have always developed out of date film at standard development no matter how old the film is or iso I choose to expose it at.
If you are doing this for the first time then standard dev is a must without it you have no idea how much to compensate the next film by if the negs are outside what you call normal.
The one thing about storage that most people miss, have they been kept in sealed containers if so they will remain fresh no matter whether kept in fridge, frozen or not. I know this from experience as all my film is kept in a cupboard.
I think you need a sense of adventure when using out of date film and what ever the results are you will have gained some knowledge you did not have before.
All the best with your quest
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Old 28th November 2021, 12:23 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Svend View Post
Hi Neil,

I have a roll of 135/24 in the camera now, so it's sort of a test roll. But it would still be nice if I could get the best out of it from the start.

Normally I would develop HP5 in Perceptol 1+1, but I wanted a developer with a bit more energy for the old film so I will use D76. I'm thinking develop for box speed would be a good start, but was curious what the gang here had to say.

PS -- I don't think I have the patience or the time for doing clip tests with these films . It's a good idea, but I don't have enough of these rolls to make it worth the effort.

Hi Svend,

Unfortunately I don't use Perceptol or D76 so can't advise on times etc. You could take a stab in the dark, or use a recommended time, but with the variables involved you would need some luck to get it right straight away.

Neil.
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Old 28th November 2021, 05:42 PM
Molli Molli is offline
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A great deal of my film is getting a tad long in the tooth, Neopan and Acros both refrigerated since purchased and expired in 2010 and 2014 respectively. I use both at box speed and develop them in D76 1:1 for Fuji's listed times without incident.

I used some Shanghai GP3 100 which expired back in 2012 and decided to give one roll another stop of light. It was a stop overexposed, according to my proof sheet. Developed as per datasheet.

When I've developed very old, previously exposed film (1950s-1970s) my go to is D76 1:1 for 10 minutes - but I've not been invested in the outcome of any of those films. It's always resulted in images, though!
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Old 28th November 2021, 11:54 PM
JulioF JulioF is offline
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Fog may be a bigger issue than development time, especially with more sensitive films. I have developed 10-yr-expired film with standard times in D76 1:1, obtaining acceptable images.
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Old 29th November 2021, 01:13 AM
Svend Svend is offline
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Thanks everyone for sharing their experiences here. Not knowing how old the film is, it sounds like the best course of action is simply to develop for the iso that I shot it at (200) and just see how it looks. I may bump up the time a wee bit as the light was flat in most scenes, but otherwise I won't alter anything else.

Hoping for the best, as I now have some interesting scenes captured on this roll, and I'd be happy to get some good clean negs.

The confirmation that D76/ID11 at 1+1 is the go-to developer for several of you is good to hear. Seems like the best choice.

I'll develop next weekend, and will let you know how it turns out.
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