dave.speeking Loc: Brooklyn OH

I don't know about old film, but I have some so maybe.....

Try : https://cinestillfilm.com

They offer Df96 monobath for B&W.

User ID

Waaaaaaaay too much stuffshirt advice gone by. Old stuff usually works rather decently and obviously you’re not using it to shoot your daughter’s wedding!

It’s old so common sense says it might be weaker and need some extra exposure and development.

If initial testing looks promising, fine tune it. Otherwise trash it. If unopened dry chemicals look ok then they are ok. If not, trash them.

It’s reeeeeally that simple. I could have shot, mixed, and tested all your materials in less time than it took to read all the crap about step tablets, hydoscopics, etc etc JUST DO IT !

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

If you use old film and old developer and it doesn't work you can't be sure which one to blame.

Dry chemicals last a long time but why risk it. D76 is inexpensive.

The fixer is probably OK so long as you wash the developed film well.

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

Ahh, you get it! One of the more rewarding replies.

I got a lot more than I bargained for with this topic. Nonjudgemental, common sense, willingness to just see what happens wins out!

I think this topic is done.

Edward_Steward

You obviously didn't need the shots after 20 years. Take a little risk
and develop, see what you get. May very well turn out OK.
You may get some very good artistic results.

Live a little,
Ed

User ID

You might try slowly reading the OP.

User ID

Excellent point. If there’s any fresh film on hand shoot and process a few inches of the good stuff to test your chemistry.

At the same stroke you can identically shoot a few inches of old film and process both films together.

Assuming the fresh film result looks good you can judge any lesser density and or contrast in the old film’s result and apply a little “windage” for future use.

We got students routinely using ancient film of unknown provenance and disappointing results are quite rare. All too often they don’t hook up the film properly in the camera, or they’ll fix first and develop second ... so why waste good fresh film anywho !!!

MrPhotog

As film ages the unexposed emulsion slowly loses sensitivity and at the same time develops an increase in ‘fog’ level.

This fogging shows up as increased density in areas which have no exposure, so what should be a clear area on the negative has a slight tint.

At one time Kodak produced an anti-fog chemical which could be added to developing chemicals to reduce the effect. It was hard to find years ago and probably impossible to get now. I tried some in the early 1970’s and didn’t notice any difference, but I was pretty casual with my photo experiments in those days and didn’t have great controls to compare with—so I can’t recommend it, but I won’t knock it, either. Should you find some, try it.

Think of old film this way: as the emulsion ages some of the sensitized silver in the emulsion slowly reacts as if it had received a very tiny exposure. Maybe traces of chemicals in the emulsion cause the silver halides to partially decompose into a state where they react with developer to form an image even if not exposed. As those particles change they leave behind fewer particles to capture photons when the film is finally exposed. With less ability to capture light the film acts as if it has a lower ISO number. It appears less sensitive to light. Now, this may not be the actual scientific way things work, but metaphorically it may help explain why the fog level goes up as the sensitivity goes down.

Specifically: Use the D-76 diluted 1:1 with water and dump it after one use. A pint of mixed solution (8 ounces of stock D-76 to 8 ounces of water) should develop about 160 square inches of film. That would be 2 rolls of 120, or two 36 exposure rolls of 35 mm. You could do 4 rolls of 20 exposure. The package should have time and temp charts for that combination. Reusing the stock solution without using a replenisher is not advised.

You might increase the developing time by 10 percent to increase contrast and overall density. This might compensate a little for the effects of age in your film. Over development by 50% of the listed time was commonly used to ‘push’ the film’s sensitivity about a stop. It gave higher contrast at the same time. The fog level on older film is going to slightly lower contrast, so a small increase in development time may be the only means you have to control the image and bring up the contrast. On the other hand, the fog may increase sensitivity in shadow areas, which, depending on your style, may be a desirable outcome.

Shoot two or three shots of each image with the first at ‘normal’ exposure based on the original exposure index of the film, the next at one stop more exposure ( either twice the shutter speed or one full stop more on the aperture) and the third at twice more light.

This is not exactly bracketing your exposure, as that term applies to shooting under and over the predicted exposure. This method just goes toward overexposure.

You may get negatives which do not have the density you normally see. However, even if they are darker (or lighter) overall than what you are used to, try scanning or printing them and see if they contain a usable tonal range.

Have fun with your old film. I have some which is well over 50 years old that I may play with still.

Edward_Steward

Give it a shot, rate it at iso 100.
I wouldn't expect great results, 20 years unfrozen is a long time.

BebuLamar

For me I would certainly develop exposed old film and see what's on them but would not shoot expired film. Processing is expensive and the saving on expired film is not worth it. I worked hard to make film shooting predictable I would not do something to make it unpredictable.

flyboy61 Loc: The Great American Desert

When I was in the Military, we used chemicals from the Korean unpleasantness and some from World War II, but the above is necessary advice!