Using Expired Film

I just won an auction on feebay for 15 rolls of Fujifilm Reala Superia 100, let's just say that the price was right. I placed my bid even though I saw that this film had expired in 2007.

If you are a film shooter, how has your experience been shooting with expired film?

Barry to be honest if it has been kept cold it should be OK to use but if not your guess is as good as mine

Well I do like surprises, lol. I decided to get some film and have a little fun while I save up for another DSLR. I guess I'll shoot one roll and then pixel-peep when it comes back from the lab.

Well I haven't bought much expired film, just an occasional roll that was recently expired, but have used film that I had on hand that was past the expiration date, probably within a year. Didn't notice any difference from fresh film with that.

I don't know about color film but I found B&W film in an old family camera and got it developed, turned out fine and boy were my relatives young in the pictures!! - probably had been in the camera 30 years at least. It's supposed to be possible to use old B&W film if you do a long exposure.

Just got some expired Polaroid film packs fairly recently and stuck them in the fridge, haven't tried them yet. If you store it in the fridge I think you'd need to get the film out before you use it and let it come to room temperature. I haven't stored film in the fridge in a long time but I'm pretty sure I let it warm up to room temperature before I put it in a camera.

I was thinking the same thing, since you bought a good number of rolls I'd go shoot a roll and see how it turns out.

And if you get really wild and crazy Barry and want to try things like changing film mid-roll or anything, let us know! LOL

icepics wrote: Well I haven't bought much expired film, just an occasional roll that was recently expired, but have used film that I had on hand that was past the expiration date, probably within a year. Didn't notice any difference from fresh film with that.

I don't know about color film but I found B&W film in an old family camera and got it developed, turned out fine and boy were my relatives young in the pictures!! - probably had been in the camera 30 years at least. It's supposed to be possible to use old B&W film if you do a long exposure.

Just got some expired Polaroid film packs fairly recently and stuck them in the fridge, haven't tried them yet. If you store it in the fridge I think you'd need to get the film out before you use it and let it come to room temperature. I haven't stored film in the fridge in a long time but I'm pretty sure I let it warm up to room temperature before I put it in a camera.

I was thinking the same thing, since you bought a good number of rolls I'd go shoot a roll and see how it turns out.

Talk about a cool surprise! Finding a family camera with new-old pics in it would be pretty cool!

My mom asked me recently to help a bit with their kitchen remodel. When we were cleaning out a few drawers in the kitchen I found 5 or 6 used (but not developed) rolls of film. I talked Mom into sending out a couple of rolls to see if they would develop ok and when they came back they were fine. Pics were of my Dad's boat, a boat that he had sold 20 years ago. You just never know!

icepics wrote: And if you get really wild and crazy Barry and want to try things like changing film mid-roll or anything, let us know! LOL

We'll do! lol. I don't think that you can change rolls until they're finished, you just change the ASA/ISO.

With film you have to set the ISO/ASA on the camera the same as the film. It's not like a digital camera where you can reset it as you're shooting.

It is actually possible to change film mid-roll; I sometimes do with a manual/mechanical SLR camera. I can feel when the film releases from the spool and stop then so I leave a 'tail'. (I usually advance the film beyond 1 when I first put in the roll, so when I rewind it later I won't lose images at the beginning of the roll.) Then when I put the roll back in I advance it with a lens cap on, til I'm back to the point where I stopped shooting.

Not sure if it's possible with an autofocus camera since the camera automatically powers the film rewind. Guess it could be if you used a film leader retriever to pull out the end of the roll after you rewind it. (I suppose that's why they make those!)

This is starting to sound like more trouble than it might be worth! LOL - for me it's second nature so it's quick and easy, but I suppose it may not be for people who haven't used film cameras.

icepics wrote: With film you have to set the ISO/ASA on the camera the same as the film. It's not like a digital camera where you can reset it as you're shooting.

It is actually possible to change film mid-roll; I sometimes do with a manual/mechanical SLR camera. I can feel when the film releases from the spool and stop then so I leave a 'tail'. (I usually advance the film beyond 1 when I first put in the roll, so when I rewind it later I won't lose images at the beginning of the roll.) Then when I put the roll back in I advance it with a lens cap on, til I'm back to the point where I stopped shooting.

Not sure if it's possible with an autofocus camera since the camera automatically powers the film rewind. Guess it could be if you used a film leader retriever to pull out the end of the roll after you rewind it. (I suppose that's why they make those!)

This is starting to sound like more trouble than it might be worth! LOL - for me it's second nature so it's quick and easy, but I suppose it may not be for people who haven't used film cameras.

Lol, note to self... *finish the roll before changing it* !

I was just kidding about changing the ASA/ISO, I do appreciate your insight and experience Sharon. I have realized that I'll probably be shooting with my F3HP for about the next six months or at least until I finish night school, to be honest, this doesn't disappoint me at all and it is really nice that all my lenses just got wider because of the crop factor that I was used to with the D70.

Sooooooo, goodbye autofocus and matrix metering for a little while until I get into another digital body.

Well, you know how sarcasm and humor don't come thru so well on the boards...! LOL I don't know what it's like for people who started out with digital and haven't used film, it's the opposite for me. Especially since I've hardly used autofocus film cameras, luckily I got a digital camera that stops short of reaching out and bonking me on the head to say things like go charge the battery! Have fun with the adventure (or experiment), it doesn't matter that much which kind of camera you use as long as you're enjoying it.

In my estimation, color film dated 2007 may not be all that good.
Color film is more susceptible to color fading unless the film
was stored in a cold environment ... ie: frozen.

Color film (over B&W) has a lower latitude and depletes with age.

Yes, shoot a roll but if the contrast is missing and the color is the
least bit off (shifted) I wouldn't waist a lot of time exposing the rest.
Fujifilm Reala Superia 100 was never a fav of mine for starters
because of it's over-all "green" tinge.
Good luck !

Gary Trent photography wrote: In my estimation, color film dated 2007 may not be all that good.
Color film is more susceptible to color fading unless the film
was stored in a cold environment ... ie: frozen.

Color film (over B&W) has a lower latitude and depletes with age.

Yes, shoot a roll but if the contrast is missing and the color is the
least bit off (shifted) I wouldn't waist a lot of time exposing the rest.
Fujifilm Reala Superia 100 was never a fav of mine for starters
because of it's over-all "green" tinge.
Good luck !

Thanks for the input Gary, the ebay seller said it had been stored in the cooler but, who knows?
I have heard about the green color tinge but for the price I paid, it is worth a roll of the dice.

I have found by polling a few film shooters that they either love Fujifilm Reala Superia 100 or hated it.....no one sits on the fence on this one. For me it's all about having a good time and getting a nice image once in a while so for me it's a good deal either way.

I`ve been shooting film since 1975, and I`ve found that unless its been sitting in a sauna, it should be fine!!!!! I just picked up some expired film at a camera show, and I shot a couple of rolls and they turned out fine!!!!!! I love film!!!!!!!!

A sauna... good one Bob!

But that made me think, one thing I don't do with film is keep it in a hot car - usually toss the film in my pocket/purse or bring the camera with me.

I haven't really used Fuji much, either get Kodak or Ilford, or at a couple of now defunct camera shops used to get Agfa or Konica. With processing now I don't think it makes as much difference. One thing that's nice is that they'll scan it on a CD for you, I sometimes do that instead of prints.

Barry if the film turns out not to be any good, you could start another thread on '1001 Things To Do with Expired Film'... #1 Hang it from the ceiling as fly paper...

This thread makes me feel like it's 1995.