Expired, loaded film still good?

[htswv]

Hi everyone.

I've had some 5x7 TXP 320 loaded in my film holders for over a year now that expired 02/2007....the loaded film as well as the rest of the film have been stored at temps around 70F but have not been refrigerated.

I also have a box that expires 08/2009 and four new boxes that expire 09/2010.

I'm going to Yosemite in May and wanted to run some Zone system/personal EI tests before I go.

Do you think the expired 02/2007 film is still good? Would you use it for these tests or use the freshest film?

Thanks for your help!

Christian

[rippo]

it's probably fine. i buy expired 4x5 film all the time from Brooks students, and have yet to run into problems. as long as your film holders are really light tight, you should be fine. but hey, if you've got to to do tests, might as well do it on the pre-loaded stuff.

[BarryS]

At only 1 year out of date, almost any black and white film should be be perfectly fine. I doubt you could even measure a difference between it and fresh film in testing.

[Hiro]

"Probably fine" means "maybe not." Introducing an unknown parameter into controlled tests defeats the purpose; the trip to Yosemite sounds like a special occasion you don't want to screw up; you already have fresh films; and you can save the outdated films for casual weekend shoots. BTW, I think it's probably fine, too.