Kodachrome expired in mid 80's

guest · Post by **guest** » Fri Jan 30, 2004 9:18 pm

Will I get acceptable results with Kodachrome 40 film from the mid 80's that is still sealed in the foil wrapper?

thanx

Alex · Post by **Alex** » Fri Jan 30, 2004 9:27 pm

Probably not. Shoot one cartridge in the conditions you plan on using the rest of the film and be creative. I'd also overexpose the film by at least one stop to make up for lost sensitivity.

Post by **robbie** » Fri Jan 30, 2004 9:36 pm

im still shooting k40 expired 1987. loooks good or as good as fresh and that is good. it has been freezer or fridged since mid90s. kodachrome is durable stuff. heavy duty film.

Alex · Post by **Alex** » Fri Jan 30, 2004 10:11 pm

It can be quite a headache to a film to tape transfer facility if you send them film that has been developed well past the due date unless you are there to approve the job scene by scene.

I wonder what the cost is to keep film in the freezer for 8 years? I guess one could do a total area of the freezer divided by the area the film takes up then multiply that number by the monthly cost.

I bet it adds up.

Robbie, do you expose it normally or do you overexpose by a stop just to be safe because of the age of the film?

Post by **Angus** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 1:03 pm

50/50

K40 is a fairly stable stock with time, though it does depend on storage conditions.

I have exposed Kodachrome dated 1977 and got very good results, albeit about 1/2 stop less sensitive than in-date film. I've exposed film that expired in 1988 and found it shifted to the pink/magenta so much that the best I could do was transfer the film to video and make it B&W.

Depends on where it's been stored, and you simply don't know that. Heat and humidity kill film...but you probably don't know how your film has been stored.

If you have several cartridges from the same source the best thing to do is expose one, get it processed and see what the results are like....then you can perhaps adjust your shooting (aperture, filter) for the other rolls to obtain a satisfactory result.

Bottom line is don't use significantly out of date film for an important project.

I sometimes buy up outdated film (especially std 8mm) just to have a cheap play with my cameras.

Post by **S8 Booster** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 1:06 pm

agree with angus 50/50 - my experience.

r

Post by **robbie** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 8:35 pm

no i dont really compensate for any sensitivity loss w/ outdated stocks. but is my method when shooting reversal to underexpose by 1/3-1/2. but i agree as well to test before shooting important subjecs, etc. to bad snip test are not possible with k40 s8.

Post by **vudeja** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 2:19 am

i bought up 10 rolls of kodachrome 64 expired in '88. interesting results to say the least. I never asked the seller but obviously the film was not frozen or refrigerated all those years. If you want to take a look I posted one of them on my site http://www.vudeja.com/blog/ permlink here http://www.vudeja.com/blog/archives/2004_03.html#000571

Post by BK » Tue Mar 02, 2004 4:13 am

vudeja wrote:i bought up 10 rolls of kodachrome 64 expired in '88. interesting results to say the least.

Majority of music videos have that look, colour cast of the outdated K64. Hey, some nice images you have on your page!

Bill

Post by **John_Pytlak** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 4:23 pm

Unexposed film is a perishable item. Cold storage will slow the changes that can degrade the image. For fast films, ambient radiation (e.g., cosmic rays, x-ray security inspection) may cause a buildup of fog and increased graininess. Here is information about film storage:

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/suppo ... care.shtml

Post by **Mikael** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 9:23 pm

I have shot K40 from 1982, 86 and 99. The cart from 82' had been stored in room temperature. It came out all pink. However, in the areas of high illumination [in the frame] there were other colors than pink aswell.

If the results will be acceptable all depends on how the films has been stored. If it has been stored cold it might be ok. If stored in room temperature you better overexpose it a stop.

Post by **camera8mm** » Wed Mar 03, 2004 6:32 am

I have a lot of ektachrome 160 sound film. Some came out green. I'm trying to use a magenta color corecting filter for that.

Post by **John_Pytlak** » Wed Mar 03, 2004 2:03 pm

I have a lot of ektachrome 160 sound film. Some came out green. I'm trying to use a magenta color corecting filter for that.

Unless film that old was stored frozen in its original sealed packaging, color shifts like that are possible.

Post by **camera8mm** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:40 pm

I bought a lot of k40 8mm film about a year ago. I shot one roll, put the rest in a freezer. The first roll was fine. The rest have been tunring out purple. I'm begining to wonder if the freezer did the purple damage.

Post by **John_Pytlak** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:47 pm

I can only speak from my personal experience. I keep all my still film frozen, and I've never encountered a severe color shift because of it. Did you warm up (equilibrate) the film completely before you opened the sealed packaging? Opening very cold film in humid air can cause condensation.

Most Kodak films are shipped and stored (in Kodak warehouses) at 50-55 F.

Filmshooting

Kodachrome expired in mid 80's

Kodachrome expired in mid 80's

Old Film

Old Film

Frozen Film