film used but not developed.

[Amanda]

I recently moved and came across a bag full of APS film.
They are 1-3 years old. Do you think that they are still good to develope? I took 4 rolls to CVS and they said that the film was damaged and exposed but APS film comes in those cartridges, so how can that be true? Should I take the rest of my film elsewhere?
Thanks for any advice!
A.M.

[Donald Brewster]

You really got the wrong forum for this question. This crowd generally uses negatives that are larger than the prints from CVS. The film is probably still OK to develop, absent other issues, even after sitting 1-3 years in the can. Can't say for sure about condition reported by CVS, but I'd suggest taking to another location to be sure. And what may have happened to a few isn't necessarily the same for the rest of the rolls. Good luck.

[MIke Sherck]

Hmm... APS. I have a hunch that many of the folks in this large format photography forum are going to be of the opinion that APS film was never worth developing in the first place. I could be wrong, it's just a hunch. My own personal opinion is that unless you have reason to suspect that what's on the film might be unusually interesting or valuable, why spend money on it? Probably some old vacation snapshots of people's feet standing next to a generic out of focus "I'm not at work" background. Unless you retrieved the film from, say, an old Paris Hilton haunt, in which case you may have a real money-maker on hand. :)

Out of curiosity, did the photo person you spoke with try to develop a roll, or mention why they thought the film was damaged? Unless the cartridges are cracked it's difficult for me to see how they could tell just by looking at them, but then I've seen stranger things before. I was hallucinating, but hey, I saw what I saw!

[Neal Wydra]

Dear Amanda,

If these were kept in the house and they are only 3 years old you should get some decent images. If they were kept in your glove compartment, don't expect much. As noted above, take them (and all your film from now on) to a different store.