# Expired Film Shots



## Authentic Southerner

New to the forum but long time amateur photographer... looking for some feedback/critique on some of my film shots...  I usually shoot expired film and shoot both 35mm and 645... b&w and color... 

Here are a couple ...  the first is the Grand Canyon (in very muted light) shot with a Pentax 645n camera and expired 220 Kodak Portra 160vc.... the second shot with a Nikon F3 and expired Kodak Elite Chrome 100.... both scanned with very little if any editing


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## limr

It's interesting to see the color shift in the first shot. We're so used to such vivid colors in a shot of the Grand Canyon. I think this works nicely. And I love the sense of depth and colors in the second one, though I wish the focus were a bit sharper.


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## dxqcanada

The OOF actually adds to the nostalgic look to the faded colour.


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## Authentic Southerner

Yeah... I hear you on the out of focus... one reason I don't shoot the F3 much is because my eyesight is not what it once was... I wear reading glasses so I can see the speedometer in my car...(I won't say how old I am.. but I saved $ from a summer job to buy a Pioneer SX-1050... I passed the F3 off to a son and shoot mostly a F5 and a little Minolta CLE for 35mm these days... the auto focus on the F5 helps .. a lot


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## Authentic Southerner

Here is one that I like... expired tmax-100 in a Minolta CLE 35mm... I developed and scanned the film


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## Authentic Southerner

and another.. same film same camera... tmax-100 Minolta CLE 35mm.... this one went a little yellow in the editing... but given the cemetery context I thought it wasn't too bad...


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## dxqcanada

I prefer the expired colour film better ... I prefer B&W images to have good blacks and whites, this one looks flat to me.


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## limr

Nice. Great tones.

Edit - that was for the first b&w.


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## Authentic Southerner

Yes...by processing myself I have probably introduced another variable to the mix...as if there weren't enough already... old cameras, expired film, home processing, old far sighted guy, etc etc.....  Good to hear what others think though in a considerate and constructive context... appreciate the input


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## dxqcanada

No probs ... you will get many different opinions here ... and if you get tired of your Minolta CLE (cause who really likes cool rangefinder m-mount cameras anyway), I can take it off your hands.


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## Authentic Southerner

Ok I will post one last one for the night and see what folks have to say about this .... this I shot on the Big Sur coast last summer... Pentax 645n... expired Kodak txp 320? I think it was.... probably underexposed but I thought it was nice


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## Authentic Southerner

dxqcanada said:


> No probs ... you will get many different opinions here ... and if you get tired of your Minolta CLE (cause who really likes cool rangefinder m-mount cameras anyway), I can take it off your hands.



Yes the CLE is a nice camera....if only I wasn't so damn far sighted...  I cannot afford Leica glass but I have been jonesing for the Voigtlander 15mm.... not sure I can justify it though... unless I sell something else...


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## smithdan

Authentic Southerner said:


> Yes...by processing myself I have probably introduced another variable to the mix...as if there weren't enough already... old cameras, expired film, home processing, old far sighted guy, etc etc.....  Good to hear what others think though in a considerate and constructive context... appreciate the input



Nice.  Like the colour shift on the Grand Canyon shot and the look of the street scene.
I can match your list except I'm nearsighted so focus is challenged as well.  Did you home process the colour?  What chemistry did you use on the Elite Chrome?


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## Authentic Southerner

I only process black and white myself....I haven't even considered doing any c-41 or e-6....I know some will cringe but I take all 645 film to Walmart....they send out to a big Fuji lab.... C-41 120-220 film is very cheap...most recently paid about $3.20 for a 220 roll of Portra 160...I have had quite a lot of e-6 done there as well....great results but not as cheap as c41...I usually send c41 35mm to mpix and scan the negatives....Walmart is slow...about 3 weeks but they have only lost one roll out of dozens...and refunded full retail value for the film cost....I've had same sorts of film developed at Dwayne's and personally I saw zero difference in quality.....my two cents fwiw


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## smithdan

Thanks for the info.


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## bribrius

walmart, least one in my vicinity, doesn't send back the negatives. Just a low res cd. so don't drop off unless you are willing to give up the negatives.


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## Authentic Southerner

I can only speak to my experience with local WM... but this is how it goes for me....

I ask the ladies who work there.. Will I get my negatives back ? (35mm or 645) and they say... NO !  Only a cd with scans...

I tell them I will take a chance..... and this is what happens... for going on 2 years now...

35mm c-41..... no negatives returned.. crappy prints & crappy cd scans
35mm e-6....... takes about 3 weeks and the slides come back exactly as expected albeit not much cheaper than other alternatives... but there is no postage..

120/220 c-41  I always get back both negatives and prints for what seems to be about 10 cents per exposure.... same slow turnaround... about 3 weeks... prints are crappy but I think of it as if I am paying for processing...

120/220 e-6 ......  transparencies come back uncut, sleeved, rolled around a little red cardboard tube piece (just like the ones I have sent off to Dwayne's) and the quality is great.... same slow turnaround about 3 weeks....

120/220 B&W ...... comes back with negatives and prints (which aren't bad) but it is rather costly imho... not worth it given a local "real" photography store still processes B&W 35/120 for $5 per roll processing...  

I always cross out the generic instructions... Write SEND OUT across that area and below in the area of special instructions put something like... Kodak Portra 160 / 220 c-41 Thanks.... and they always come back just fine.. well one roll didn't make it back but they gave me almost $20 for the expired roll of Kodak Portra 220 they lost and apologized profusely.....

In the process Ive gotten to know "Shirley" the one lady who works in that department with a lick of sense.. and she finally asked one day... If you don't mind me asking... What kind of pictures do you have on those ROLL things they send back ? When I explained they were transparencies, like large slides she had a very puzzled look on her face and then asked... What do you do with those things ?  She is with the program now and usually calls to tell me my film is back and ready for pickup.... Honestly the other 4 or 5 girls who work back there are rude, insolent and lazy.... but hey, where else can you get a 32 exp roll of 220 c-41 for $3.20 ?

No guarantee it will work at your local WM.. but this has been my experience... I say shoot a roll and give it a shot.... But don't drop off 35mm c41... you will be disappointed !


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## bribrius

Authentic Southerner said:


> I can only speak to my experience with local WM... but this is how it goes for me....
> 
> I ask the ladies who work there.. Will I get my negatives back ? (35mm or 645) and they say... NO !  Only a cd with scans...
> 
> I tell them I will take a chance..... and this is what happens... for going on 2 years now...
> 
> 35mm c-41..... no negatives returned.. crappy prints & crappy cd scans
> 35mm e-6....... takes about 3 weeks and the slides come back exactly as expected albeit not much cheaper than other alternatives... but there is no postage..
> 
> 120/220 c-41  I always get back both negatives and prints for what seems to be about 10 cents per exposure.... same slow turnaround... about 3 weeks... prints are crappy but I think of it as if I am paying for processing...
> 
> 120/220 e-6 ......  transparencies come back uncut, sleeved, rolled around a little red cardboard tube piece (just like the ones I have sent off to Dwayne's) and the quality is great.... same slow turnaround about 3 weeks....
> 
> 120/220 B&W ...... comes back with negatives and prints (which aren't bad) but it is rather costly imho... not worth it given a local "real" photography store still processes B&W 35/120 for $5 per roll processing...
> 
> I always cross out the generic instructions... Write SEND OUT across that area and below in the area of special instructions put something like... Kodak Portra 160 / 220 c-41 Thanks.... and they always come back just fine.. well one roll didn't make it back but they gave me almost $20 for the expired roll of Kodak Portra 220 they lost and apologized profusely.....
> 
> In the process Ive gotten to know "Shirley" the one lady who works in that department with a lick of sense.. and she finally asked one day... If you don't mind me asking... What kind of pictures do you have on those ROLL things they send back ? When I explained they were transparencies, like large slides she had a very puzzled look on her face and then asked... What do you do with those things ?  She is with the program now and usually calls to tell me my film is back and ready for pickup.... Honestly the other 4 or 5 girls who work back there are rude, insolent and lazy.... but hey, where else can you get a 32 exp roll of 220 c-41 for $3.20 ?
> 
> No guarantee it will work at your local WM.. but this has been my experience... I say shoot a roll and give it a shot.... But don't drop off 35mm c41... you will be disappointed !


Informative. I think you said in another thread you send out your 35mm c41 to mpix. I punched it up and it says 19 cents per exposure.  I have a couple local labs within a hour of me, but figuring time and fuel it almost makes more sense to just send it out. Thought of dwaynes too with another member heres recommendation. Seems the best way to deal with dwaynes is send a lot of rolls at once to save shipping costs???. mpix seems to have shipping costs figured in the price at 19 cents per exposure.


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## bribrius

here is my most local developer. But it costs me 20 bucks just to drive there...

Store Services - Photosmith Imaging Dover NH. Photo printing services from Digital and Film.


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## Authentic Southerner

Absolutely as to MPix... they will send you free mailers...and although the scans you see when you unlock (code for PAY $) to view the images aren't very good... I don't really care about that.. in a very short time (literally a few days later) the sleeved negatives appear in my mailbox and I've not had a problem yet with them... If you scan your own negatives then for 35mm c41 they are the best deal going that I have found....

My wife and I took a 6500 mile to the Northwest and back trip last summer and on the same logic ( I had about 40 rolls) thinking I would save on the shipping I sent them all to Dwaynes....mix of 35mm and 120/220 B&W, C41 and E6.... the thing that most impressed me was that with their order form I successfully calculated to the penny the exact costs for that many different types of rolls of film...and the shipping was reasonable given how many rolls I shipped.... The downside for me was that it ended up not being much faster...I received essentially no feedback from them as to anything...ie We have your film and are working on it...or it is processed and will ship tomorrow etc (which can be reassuring when you ship off 40+ rolls of film to an unknown (to me) entity....and I have to say, particularly on the B&W 35mm I noticed a number of scratched negatives (these ran the entire length and clearly came from machine induced scratches) and splotchy development on some of the 220 rolls of black and white film...One might say well that is the old expired film, but I have developed rolls of that film from the same batch myself without the same problem..so logic says what it says on that ....

As to the "quality" of Dwayne's processing, it seems to me in my limited experience to be about the same as WM honestly... on the c-41 rolls I requested prints from they were of similar/very poor quality..comparable to WM...and the 120/220 transparency rolls came on the same red cardboard tube rolls that the WM stuff comes back on... only difference is the Dwayne's rolls have their sticker on the red tube...  

Essentially I send all 35mm c41 to Mpix.... develop most B&W at home or occasionally drop it at the local photo "real" photo store that develops B&W every morning for $5 a roll.....I take all 120/220 c41; 120/220 e-6 and all 35mm e-6 to WM.....

So far I have had positive experiences with WM except for the 4 out of 5 employees who occasionally argue with me ..and proclaim I won't get my negatives back (120/220) so I simply avoid interacting with them except to make a pick up...


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