I was cleaning out my desk and discovered 5 rolls of Agfacolor Vista 200 print film in the drawer. If memory serves, I bought this film overseas toward the end of a trip in March last year. I know there are caveats about the temperature at which the film is stored, etc., but these rolls haven’t been exposed to anything unduly harsh. Is the film likely to still be usable, or should I just toss it?
Assuming it’s still in the box, there is usually an expiration date stamped on the packaging. This is a general guideline provided by the manufacturer to give you an idea of how long you can expect the film to perform normally.
The most common problem with older film is color rendition. As the film ages, it loses the ability to reproduce colors accurately. Heat will speed this aging process.
However, given that it’s only a year and a half old (consumer film has a fairly long shelf life) and wasn’t subjected to extreme heat, you shouldn’t have a problem. Another factor working in your favor is that it’s neg film. Most color problems can be corrected in the printing process anyway.
Another concern for you though may be the fact that you purchased the film overseas. Assuming you traveled by air, there is the possibility that the film has been “fogged” (partially exposed) by the x-ray machines at the airport(s). The chances of this are higher if the film traveled in your checked baggage rather than your carry-on (x-ray used to scan checked baggage is much stronger and therefore more damaging to film).
I’d say, as long as you’re not shooting anything critical, go ahead and use it.
"there is usually an expiration date stamped on the packaging. "
Actually, I learned from several photography classes along time ago that is the ripening date. At that date your film is ripe & at its best to use. Thats why professional film is kept in the fridge at the camera store because its already ripe. Yep, you can buy film that is ripe rather than pre-ripe.
On the subject of security x-rays: the machines they’re now using to screen your checked luggage will kill your film instantly, in one pass, so always take your film in your carry-on bag.
The x-ray machines at the carry-on security checkpoints are generally OK for your film for a few passes, but they say that after 5 passes or so, you’re getting into danger territory (and it’s worse, the faster the film is, so ISO 200 film is less subject to damage than ISO 800 film).
So, if you’re going on a trip that involves two security checkpoints on the way, and two coming home, you’re fine, but any unused film should probably just be tossed out before your next trip. Film is cheap, but shots from your vacation are irreplaceable.
If your travel involves more security checkpoints than that, you can get your film hand-inspected, but be prepared for a longer wait at the security station. Showing up 15 minutes before your flight and expecting them to hand-inspect your film is a losing combination!
Okay…at the risk of being whooshed here…
No, the date on the packaging is not a “ripening date”. It is an expiration date. Film does not “ripen”.
Professional film is kept in the fridge or freezer because it is manufactured to much tighter tolerances than consumer film. As a professional photographer, I must know exactly how a particular film will behave - exactly how it will reproduce colors - and exactly how sensitive it is to light. Refrigeration helps slow the aging process and better insure that the film will do exactly what I expect it to do.
If someone is selling you professional film that is already “ripe”, they are selling you film that has expired - film that no professional photrographer is going to buy.
In practical terms, the one “bad” roll of film I’ve had lately had gone through three or four international flight’s worth of x-rays, AND was 3 years old. (Stopped taking pictures after digital camera.) It was fogged and very grainy. While other film from the same batch, that had not travelled with me but was the same age, developed just fine.
This was Kodak Max 800, I believe.
Photog is mostly right (and Handy is mostly incorrect). This is what Kodak has to say about it: http://wwwno.kodak.com/cluster/global/en/service/faqs/faq0059.shtml .
As (color) film ages, the dyes or emulsions change sensitivity slightly. If you take pictures with a roll of film from a production run and develop them, and then shoot exactly the same scene with another roll from that production run several months later, the color balance will be different. Film manufacturers know how the color balance changes over time, so they bias the chemistry of the film to compensate. So when new, a film might be very slightly bluish and then become somewhat yellowish in tone as it ages towards expiration. (This is a simplified example – don’t hit me.)
For amateurs, this difference in color over the lifetime of the film is not particularly significant – as Photog said, color biases can be corrected during processing, mass-market photo-processing quality control is usually a crap shoot, and the average consumer isn’t very sensitive to color variations anyway.
So film does go through an aging process, and there is a theoretical point in its lifetime where the color balance is close to spot on, but that point is not at the expiration date. The expiration date is the point at which the manufacturer is unwilling to guarantee that either the color balance or the sensitivity of the film is going to be up to snuff. Like most expiration dates, this is pretty conservative, so you can usually get good pictures from a roll of film well past its sell date. I’d be more cautious with slide film because you can’t correct color balance during processing, and I certainly wouldn’t use it to photograph anyone’s wedding.
Professional film, again as Photog noted, is different because is intended to be used immediately with very consistent results. (Professional photographers care intensely about color reproduction and exposure.) So there’s no built-in bias to the film.