Kodak Max Zoom (GT 800-4) Colour Film - Expired

After exposing this roll of film during the winter holidays, I was excited to get the negatives back from Boutique Film Lab. But when I scanned the negatives, my excitement turned to disappointment.

After exposing this roll of film during the winter holidays, I was excited to get the negatives back from Boutique Film Lab. But when I scanned the negatives, my excitement turned to disappointment. As you can see, my results were horrid. The scans were absent the fantastic colours, fine detail and photo clarity I had expected from this high-speed 35mm film. Kodak GT 800 Color Print 35mm film was touted as delivering fine grain and sharpness unmatched by other 800-speed 35mm films. I expected crisp, clear pictures beaming with vibrant colours across various lighting conditions.

What I got was "mud". I blamed myself. I had severely exposed this 35mm film or damaged it somehow.

But after I commented about the tedium of film scanning on a post on Fuji X Weekly, Ritchie Roesch responded with this comment.

That does sound tedious, but if it gets you the results you want, then it's worth it. Was the film expired? It's my understanding that Kodak stopped production on GT 800-4 a while ago. Unless they brought it back?

I quickly jumped on Google, and within seconds I learned. It was an expired film. I'm such a doofus. Unfortunately, I don't remember where I purchased it.

Yeah, expired can either be very interesting or very bad and unfortunately, you don't know how it will go until after it's been shot. Also, the development has to be changed. I forget the calculation, but the extra time has to be given for every so many year expired. ~ Ritchie Roesch

Ugh. Some photographers may enjoy unexpected results. I do not. I think I'll stay away from expired 35mm film. The frames were scanned using SilverFast 9 SE with my Epson Perfection V600 scanner and then processed with Negative Lab Pro.

Name Kodak Max Zoom (GT 800-4)
Type Colour (negative)
Native ISO 800
Format 35mm
Process C-41
Lab Boutique Film Labs
Scanner Epson Perfection V600
Software SilverFast 9 SE, Negative Lab Pro
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
18 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7