Old Film Question (Page 2): Dummy!

1Feathercrest Loc: NEPA

Dummy!

Robert1 Loc: Davie, FL

Blues Dude wrote:

I recently found a stash of B&W and color slide film that's probably about 10+ years old. Is this film still viable? Or should I dump it and sell my Nikon DF?

Why would you want to sell your FM because of expired film?? You can buy film from so many vendors, unless you're not longer interested with film cameras anymore.

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

coolhanduke wrote:

p.s., I don't think you would find anywhere to get slide film developed. The last lab to do slides shutdown years ago.
Also, please do not just toss the film. It is hazardous waste because of its silver content. Try to find someone that refines silver or even if there is a lab that develops film. They can develop it to extract the silver content.

Deleted

ArcticTrails Loc: Valdez Alaska

Blues Dude wrote:

I recently found a stash of B&W and color slide film that's probably about 10+ years old. Is this film still viable? Or should I dump it and sell my Nikon DF?

I recently found four rolls of Ilford HP5+ that were exposed about 30 years ago (from 1993). I developed them in HC-110 dilution H for 12 minutes at 75 F. They came out great. Very little fog and the negatives were very printable. These films weren’t stored in cold storage, just in a box in my garage. I was pretty surprised with the results. As for color slide film—I would trash it.

Good luck,
Kai

JBuckley

I never realized that there were no labs available to process 35 mm slides, anymore.
Guess I'll stick with my new digital camera obscuras.

I have looked in my (stash) of old 35's and only found a few rolls of unprocessed films
still in the camera. I opened the camera up and probably ruined what was still on the
old rolls from (around 1975).

Now the problem.....finding dealers that still make the old projector bulbs for slide
projectors and 8mm movie projectors. Buying a new bulb can cost almost as much
as the projectors cost back in the 60's.

Looking on line for replacement projectors is not fun. Those that are selling their
projectors, list them as [Vintage] and ask 4 times what they are worth.

I guess it's just cheaper to send your slides and movies and hope that the labs
can do them justice in "digitizing" them for you.

I guess I'll have to ransom my house to pay to get 35 rolls of movie film put on
a disk or thumb drive.
The 1200 or more slides will have to wait until my kids want to run them thru
a processing lab.

AnotherBob

Quote:

Now the problem.....finding dealers that still make the old projector bulbs for slide
projectors and 8mm movie projectors. Buying a new bulb can cost almost as much
as the projectors cost back in the 60's.

Looking on line for replacement projectors is not fun. Those that are selling their
projectors, list them as [Vintage] and ask 4 times what they are worth.

I have purchased Kodak Carousel slide projectors, with working bulbs, for nearly nothing at yard sales. Often they have different length lenses than my original. Always good to keep your eyes open to yardsales and local "take my old stuff, please" sites.

RodeoMan Loc: St Joseph, Missouri

coolhanduke wrote:

p.s., I don't think you would find anywhere to get slide film developed. The last lab to do slides shutdown years ago.
Also, please do not just toss the film. It is hazardous waste because of its silver content. Try to find someone that refines silver or even if there is a lab that develops film. They can develop it to extract the silver content.

The last lab to develop Kodachrome was Dwights Photo in Parson's Kansas, but I believe other slide films such as Kodak Ektachrome is still being processed. Somewhere in my stuff, I have a bright Kodachrome Yellow T-Shirt commemorating Dwight's developing the last rolls of Kodachrome. There is an interesting Youtube video by Steve McCurry (the Afghan Girl) shooting his last rolls of Kodachrome. He flew into Kansas City and then drove to Parsons to hand deliver the film personally to Dwight.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

JBuckley wrote:

I never realized that there were no labs availabl... (show quote)

There's plenty of places processing slide film. You just likely have to send out via mail order. Just google: 35mm slide film processing

Many people use TheDarkRoom.com. I've changed to North Coast Phone in CA. Lots of other choices. Just check the total cost. Some have prepaid mailing vs processing and scanning costs. The total price tends to average out the same.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Blues Dude wrote:

I recently found a stash of B&W and color slide film that's probably about 10+ years old. Is this film still viable? Or should I dump it and sell my Nikon DF?

If any of it is Kodachrome, it is impossible to process it as *color* film. A few labs will develop it as black-and-white. Kodak discontinued the film and processing over a decade ago. Personally, I wouldn't bother with Kodachrome at all, as there are better B&W alternatives.

If the film is process E6, then try it. If you have a lot of it, expose a test roll, bracketing exposures by +1/3 and +2/3 stop to see what you like. Film loses contrast and sensitivity as it ages. You might find a lab that will push E6 by a stop, if additional exposure isn't enough to compensate for age.

Black-and-white films generally store well if kept cool and well away from ionizing radiation sources. You may have to increase exposure and extend development time. Again, test if there is sufficient film to do so. Otherwise, overexpose it by a stop and see what happens. If you do your own processing, consider using Diafine developer to pull the most out of old film. Again, TEST.

If you don't do your own processing, look online for a lab nearest you that handles old and expired films.

BebuLamar

burkphoto wrote:

If any of it is Kodachrome, it is impossible to pr... (show quote)

Yeah. B&H wants $32 for a 36 exposure roll of Fujichrome Provia.

flathead27ford Loc: Colorado, North of Greeley

Blues Dude wrote:

I recently found a stash of B&W and color slide film that's probably about 10+ years old. Is this film still viable? Or should I dump it and sell my Nikon DF?

I know some of the film enthusiasts like old film because of the unknown results it might render. I try to buy it if cheap enough. :-)

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

JBuckley wrote:

I never realized that there were no labs availabl... (show quote)

You can still get most projector lamps online. For instance, the popular ELH and ENG lamps used in Kodak Carousel and Ektagraphic II projectors can be found at B&H for about eight bucks each. FHS 82 Volt 300W lamps used in Ektagraphic III projectors are about ten bucks on Amazon.

DEK/DFW 500 Watt lamps are about $65 each, but it will cost you more than that to have a Carousel 550 or 800 projector cleaned, lubed, and adjusted, IF you can find someone to do that.

It is possible to scan or photograph slides and negatives with great results. If you have a camera with a macro lens, read my white paper. The PDF is attached below.

Camera Scanning.pdf opens in your favorite PDF reader.
Attached file:
(Download)

Timmers Loc: San Antonio Texas.

Blues Dude wrote:

I recently found a stash of B&W and color slide film that's probably about 10+ years old. Is this film still viable? Or should I dump it and sell my Nikon DF?

I had a roll of 100 feet of Tri-X that was 12 years out of date that had been stored in a house at room temperature, I used every bit of it and had no problems with any of that film.

AnotherBob

burkphoto wrote:

You can still get most projector lamps online. For instance, the popular ELH and ENG lamps used in Kodak Carousel and Ektagraphic II projectors can be found at B&H for about eight bucks each. FHS 82 Volt 300W lamps used in Ektagraphic III projectors are about ten bucks on Amazon.
......

Good to know. Thank you.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

BebuLamar wrote:

Yeah. B&H wants $32 for a 36 exposure roll of Fujichrome Provia.

The barriers to entry into the world of serious digital photography are high:

Digital camera
Computer with powerful graphics processor
Monitor with accurate color
Color calibrator

If you already own film cameras, $32 for a roll of film is cheap, if you just want a few slides for a presentation now and then. If you need 1000 slides from a vacation or two, it starts to make digital camera gear look attractive.

But if you have a smartphone... It can do things few old SLRs can, in environments where we never would have made slides. And with a digital projector or a big screen TV, you can put any sort of content on a screen.

Decisions... Aw, heck, bits beat atoms a long time ago. Just ask the folks who worked at Kodak in Rochester, back in the day. (Ouch!)