Bad film

**-=JoN=-** · 11-19-2006, 05:53 PM

how can you tell if you have bad film or it's ur equipment...

last 3 rolls i've shot w/ my *ist has been severely underexposed (M, TV, AV, P)
all in broad daylight. I would say at least 2 stops. it's fixable in photoshop but just bothers me that it's doing that...

i'll post up pictures later...

film is Kodak HD ISO 400

clm · 11-19-2006, 07:22 PM

I've had the same problem with that film. Check the expiration date on the box the film came in. Mine had expired in 12/2004, but worked ok up til about 4 months ago.

**-=JoN=-** · 11-19-2006, 09:00 PM

Originally Posted by clm

I've had the same problem with that film. Check the expiration date on the box the film came in. Mine had expired in 12/2004, but worked ok up til about 4 months ago.

unfortunately I threw away the box already, but it is like about a year or so old...
I guess I can throw that away. I should've tried to get fresh film. i might tomorrow then...

thanks

JCSullivan · 11-20-2006, 03:59 AM

Why throw it away! Depending on how much film you have left, why not do some bracketing. Besides, you said it is "fixable".

As a photogrpher, imagine you were in the wilds of [replace with place name]. What would you do?

**-=JoN=-** · 11-23-2006, 07:23 AM

Originally Posted by JCSullivan

Why throw it away! Depending on how much film you have left, why not do some bracketing. Besides, you said it is "fixable".

As a photogrpher, imagine you were in the wilds of [replace with place name]. What would you do?

yeah your right..im gonna go shoot it sometime next week....

tnx for the tips..

jgredline · 08-09-2008, 12:40 AM

a friend of mine just gave me some rolls of kodak gold iso200 speed.they have been expired since 2004 and have not been in the fridge...Should I use it, toss it?
What are the tendencies of old film?

ChrisN · 08-09-2008, 02:01 AM

Originally Posted by -=JoN=-

how can you tell if you have bad film or it's ur equipment...

last 3 rolls i've shot w/ my *ist has been severely underexposed (M, TV, AV, P)
all in broad daylight. I would say at least 2 stops. it's fixable in photoshop but just bothers me that it's doing that...

i'll post up pictures later...

film is Kodak HD ISO 400

Shoot some transparency (slide) film. With e6 processing, there's no variation for operator error or preference, and the results will show the true exposure.

*Nesster* · 08-09-2008, 04:54 AM

Originally Posted by jgredline

a friend of mine just gave me some rolls of kodak gold iso200 speed.they have been expired since 2004 and have not been in the fridge...Should I use it, toss it?
What are the tendencies of old film?

I shoot expired 160S on my medium format cameras, with no problems at all. So use it! Film doesn't go that bad that fast.

jgredline · 08-09-2008, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by ChrisPlatt

Some film speed ratings are rather optimistic.
With color negative films slight overexposure is better than underexposure.
For best results I usually overexpose about one full stop.

Chris

This was my thought, except I was thinking 1/2 stop

*Clicker* · 08-09-2008, 03:43 PM

Pro film is at it's "optimal" balance; whereas "amateur" film has a longer shelf life, sometime beyond the expiry date because pros tend to shoot ASAP and amateurs leave film in their camera.

That said pro film as said is at it's optimal balance and ready to shoot but most labs can correct for any minimal shift in color temperature usually -3 >+3 stops. (The variance is dependent on subject matter, i'm suggesting skin tones here.)

So with pro film past it's expiration, you may have negligible colour shift which may or may not be correctable to "optimum" as say per colour chart.

If you already know the batch is -2stops, just have your lab "push" process it now if you're using a 1hr lab, add 1~2 stops ...then again, it could be your lab with poor processing habits as it bad setup.

*frank* · 08-09-2008, 04:20 PM

Originally Posted by jgredline

a friend of mine just gave me some rolls of kodak gold iso200 speed.they have been expired since 2004 and have not been in the fridge...Should I use it, toss it?
What are the tendencies of old film?

I got ten rolls of expired (three years ago) film from my friend, 4 rolls are Kodak Gold 100 while the other 6 are Fuji 100 or 200. Shot 3 rolls of Kodak Gold 100 already, all turned out to be okay. But the 2 rollls of Fuji film I shot had quite a bit color shifting, and the results look really bad

So I gave away the rest Fuji to a friend who wanted to test his camera and will finish up the last roll of expired Kodak 100 soon