Last summer, a box filled with rolls of expired 35mm film arrived unexpectedly at my doorstep. The sender was unknown, with only a return address from Lewes, Delaware, written on the box. I was intrigued by the contents. There was no note of explanation inside the box, just cartridges and boxes of expired 35mm film. I couldn't help but wonder why someone would send me a box of unexposed 35mm film and who the sender could be.
I know only one person in Delaware; she was never into film photography. I used Google to get information about the shipping address on the shipping label. According to my search, the box was shipped from a post office in Lewes, Delaware. I didn’t recognise the person's name on the box, and I didn’t know anyone in Lewes except for our friends Matt and Jean, who had only recently moved there. We spent a weekend in Lewes with them last summer.
I put the box out of my mind for several months. But then I decided to use one of the expired rolls of Kodak BW400CN. The mystery of who sent the box annoyed me. I went back to Google, but my search proved fruitful this time. I focused on the name of the person on the box and found a court article that mentioned a name with which I was familiar; Bhavna’s college roommate, Traci!
Then it all made sense. Months earlier, I contacted her about the camera equipment she used at our wedding. We didn't have money for a photographer, and Traci stepped in and offered her skills. I told her I was reshooting the film, and she mentioned that her mom had some expired rolls of 35mm film that she would send me. I had utterly forgotten that conversation and expected something coming from Peapack, New Jersey, where I thought her mom still resided. The mystery was solved.
All of the rolls of 35mm film expired more than three decades ago. Even though they were expired, I was still delighted and couldn't wait to see what I could do with them. I took each roll out of the box, admiring the vintage packaging and feeling thankful for the unexpected gift. I catalogued the items in the box.
I catalogued my unexpected gift. Is it worth exposing any of these expired 35mm films?
| Brand | Film Stock | ASA | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agfa | Scala 200 | 200 | 1 |
| Fujifilm | Fujichrome Provia 400F | 400 | 6 |
| Fujifilm | Fujicolor 200 | 200 | 4 |
| Fujifilm | Fujicolor Super HG | 1600 | 1 |
| Fujifilm | Fujicolor Super HQ | 200 | 4 |
| Fujifilm | Velvia 100F | 100 | 6 |
| Ilford | HP5 | 400 | 2 |
| Kodak | 400 UC | 400 | 1 |
| Kodak | BW400CN | 400 | 2 |
| Kodak | Ektachrome E100G | 100 | 1 |
| Kodak | Ektachrome E100VS | 100 | 1 |
| Kodak | Ektachrome Infrared E1R | - | 1 |
| Kodak | Ektar 100 | 100 | 1 |
| Kodak | Kodachrome 25 | 25 | 8 |
| Kodak | Kodak 200 | 200 | 7 |
| Kodak | Max 800 | 800 | 8 |
| Kodak | Tri-X Pan 400 | 400 | 4 |
7 Comments
Fujichrome PROVIA 400F - Expired - Island in the Net
16th May 2023 at 12:58 PM[…] of the first rolls of film I exposed from the box of expired 35mm film I received last year is a 36-exposure cartridge of Fujichrome PROVIA 400F Professional […]
Kodachrome 25 - Expired by Khürt Williams
7th May 2023 at 9:29 AM[…] received a few rolls of expired 35mm film cartridges in a box from a stranger in Lewes, Delaware. In the box were a few 35mm cartridges of Kodachrome 25 that had […]
fishyfisharcade
21st March 2023 at 2:04 PMGo for it!
Don't use any of it for once-in-a-lifetime events or anything, but shooting expired film can be fun.
I've shot lots of expired film and my results have mostly been good. B&W is generally more reliable and I usually overexpose it by half-a-stop per decade of expiry. Colour negative film can be a bit more fussy and the tones can shift, but I've had mostly good results (again overexposing, but this time by a stop per decade when I don't know how it's been stored).
I've also been quite lucky with my results with old slide film, although I shoot that at box speed.
If you're interested, here are some posts I've made about an occasional series of expired film shoots:
https://steelcitysnapper.wordpress.com/2022/05/14/expiriment-1-ilford-hp5-expired-1982/
https://steelcitysnapper.wordpress.com/2022/06/19/expiriment-2-kodacolor-vr-400-expired-1989/
https://steelcitysnapper.wordpress.com/2022/11/12/expiriment-3-truprint-fg-expired-2003/
Khürt Williams
26th March 2023 at 6:36 PMI was so excited when my first roll of expired 35mm film, a roll of Fujichrome Provia 400F, turned out better than expected. I've since exposed a few rolls of expired black and white, and the results were just as exciting. I do feel more confident with black and white. Thanks for the links. I'll check them out.
I do have questions. I send my film off to a lab for development. When I expose an expired roll of ASA 400 film at ASA 50, do I need to tell the lab to pull the film, or do I have them develop it at the native ISO?
fishyfisharcade
27th March 2023 at 6:11 AMAsk them to develop at the native ISO. You're basically overexposing the film when you shoot it to compensate for it's expiry.
Khürt Williams
27th March 2023 at 7:34 AMOk. Thank you so much. Your responses have been quite helpful.