35mm Film......

[SilentZero]

I have a question for you all. I found about 20 rolls of film from 1998 that I never had developed packed away in a box.
I have randomly heard that undeveloped film has an experation date...but does anyone have any clue if this film would still be
good??? Please give me good news!

Thanks!

 

[Linux23]

so what is the expiration date?

i know the chemical in that film doesn't last forever.

 

[HappyPuppy]

Have one roll developed at WalMart and see how it comes out.

 

[brigden]

It depends on the environment the rolls were left in. If left in a dark box in a cool location you might be OK, but I wouldn't count on it. You could see some colour shift.

 

[Sid59]

film likes cool dark places. I'd just shoot a roll of it and then a roll of newer film (same speed) and check out they look.,

 

[SilentZero]

They have already been used, i just forgot to get them developed.

I think ill try one roll out at walmart or k-mart and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice.

 

[oog]

i wouldn't have high hopes

 

[lowtech1]

The contrast & saturation should be a bit high if they were keep in a dry cool place. They would be usless if were keep under the sun. Try processing them and then use photoshop to adjust the conrast & colour saturation if needed.

 

[ScottMac]

It'll depend somewhat on what type of film it is (Kodacolor/Kodachrome-like or Ektacolor/Ektachrome-like). Generally speaking as the film gets old, the colors are washed out and very red, and the contrast is very low (no blacks).

If you take it to a good color lab, they may be able to compensate for some of the effect.

Good Luck

Scott

 

[FrustratedUser]

They will be OK I think.

 

[lowtech1]

Originally posted by: ScottMac
It'll depend somewhat on what type of film it is (Kodacolor/Kodachrome-like or Ektacolor/Ektachrome-like). Generally speaking as the film gets old, the colors are washed out and very red, and the contrast is very low (no blacks).

If you take it to a good color lab, they may be able to compensate for some of the effect.

Good Luck

Scott

Not necessarily in that order.

Kodacolor tend to shift over to yellow/orange/red with age, and the same go to Kodachrome (but the chrome doesn?t shift to such a red color). And, the chrome contrast & colour saturation is much higher than that of the pastel like Kodacolor with age. Ektacolor/Ektachrome family inherited the tradition colour shift of Kodak emotion, but the chemistry formulation has been change from the traditional red to a softer hue therefore it doesn?t shift to such an orangey/red colour. However, the old Kodacolor/chrome contrast & saturation level tend to age a bit better than the Ekta family. Kodak tends to have a slight colour shift over to red which is best for reproduce human skin tone.

Fuji film doesn?t age as well as Kodak (studies have shown that the old Kodak last 1/3 longer, and the new Kodak last about the same as Fuji), and tend to shift to more of a softer pastel colour (saturation lost, and tend to shift over to yellow/green) & contrast lost much quicker than Kodak. Fuji film is the best film to reproduce tropical greens, and have a slight shift to green (most amateur film tend to reproduce Asian skin tone to a almost jaundice/sickly green like tone).

Agfa shelf life is almost as long as Fuji film, and tend to shift to a slightly bluer hue when compare to Fuji. However, Agfa is the most accurate film for reproduction violet/purple colour.

As for all portrait films & some of the well balanced pro film?.they all reproduces great human skin tone.

 

[ScottMac]

I suppose the point I was trying to make is that different kinds of film age in different ways.

Dye sublimation style films will age (and display the age) differently than a color "process" film.

In addition to the age, the environment that the film aged in will afect it some as well; if it was a hot / humid environment, the degradation will happen quicker and to a more severe level than if it is in a cool, dry environment.

Either way, the pictures may come out funky, and if the film is not too funky, a good color lab (for usually an additional fee) can compensate for the color / contrast shift in the printing ... chances are it still won't be perfect, but the overall quality of the image may be made improved. A good camera store can usually (used to) point you to a place that'll do custom / pro color work.

I haven't played in a photo lab for decades, I'm sure some things have changed ...

FWIW

Scott