Well out of date Velvia 50

[gari beet]

I have just got some Velvia 50 that was in a box of LF gear I recently bought, that is dated as 2004!! Now, colour shifts aside, I thought I would ask someone here who is familiar with this film how the sensitivity would have suffered after such along time?
It hasn't been stored in extremes of temp, just a spare room, so, well room temp I guess.
What sort of ISO should I try? or do we think it is beyond trying?
I process my own film and was going to put it through some used chemicals so the cost of process isn't an issue.

Thanks

Gari

[Filmnut]

I have used Velvia even further out of date than this, although it has usually, but not always been cool stored, and I have only had a minor colour shift on ocassion. Usually though it has been just fine.
I have not had any issues with speed when I have had a colour shift.
I would try three sheets, one normal, one about half under, and then half over, with good daylight illumination so that you can be confident that any colour change is due to the film, not the light, process normally, then see if its' good.
If you're scanning, a minor to moderate colour shift isn't necessarily the kiss of death, like it used to be. Try scanning, if it is a bit off, and see if it will colour correct to your satisfaction.
Good Luck!
Keith

[Jon Wilson]

Like Keith, I have used Velvia which is 12+ years old which has been stored in my frig/freezer since I purchased it and only had minor, if any, color shift. I would purchase it and use it. Jon

[gari beet]

Just finished processing the Velvia, I shot a sheet when I was on Rannoch moor yesterday. Yowzer on the Magenta front!! I remember reading that you can add something to the color dev stage to rebalance a magenta cast, anyone know what it is? I am away from home for the summer and don't have my E6 data sheet handy.

Talk about rose tinted spectacles!! the file here is a little dark so looks even more magenta.

Gari

[mrladewig]

Gari,

I've had a similar problem with some 2004 dated Provia, but not nearly this pronounced. The Provia I have takes on a slightly green tint rather than magenta. It doesn't seem that the sensitivity of the film was affected though.

[Jiri Vasina]

I have also experienced magenta shift (but not so pronounced), both with out of date Velvia 50 and Agfa RSX II 100 (the Agfa was much less than the Velvia, although it was older).

In most shots it's relatively easily removed in digital workflow. If you want more acceptable slides, you could try some color correcting filters (CC), but I don't have precise idea which ones.

As to the sensitivity - I'd assume the film would be rated one stop (half to two stops) - during the storage time, base fog would have risen. It would also lower the contrast of the film - it's a bit equivalent to preflashing the film to bring out the shadows. But (obviously) you don't have any control of the amount of preflashing, you can not tell if it is uniform, and you don't know if it will not introduce any color casts. For some type of shots, I'd deem this feature a positive one...

[gari beet]

Yeh, contrasts ok and I rated it at 64iso and it seems fine. I thought of CC filters but as I only have about 40 sheets I am not sure it is worth the expense. As for the photoshop route I had a quick go with this small file and it was a bit of a trainwreck!

I shall have a proper attempt when I have some more time on my hands, also I thought I might shoot a grey card and see if I can get that to "even out" a little.

Gari

[QT Luong]

Strange that there would be that much color shift. I have 1999 Astia (cold-stored) and so far, the color has been OK.

[Jiri Vasina]

gari,

there are some (automated) Photoshop scripts for correcting white balance (possibly intended for digital photography) and this problem of yours is similar to wrong color balance. So I think you could try to locate one and try it.

In fact, that is the route I use. The script I use is called something like "Digital greycard" or alike.
(I usually copy the original image, shrink it to something around 1600x1200 size (for faster work), run the script, create an adjustment layer which I finetune and then copy to the original image. Works well).

Jiri

[gari beet]

Hi Jiri, thats pretty much what I was gonna do with the grey card image. I have an Mpeg somewhere showing how to do it, its been so long since I tried it that I probably need to watch it again.

Nice work you are uploading in the other threads by the way, I have a Half Plate that I have just started shooting with, early days at the moment but its fun so far.

Gari

[Jiri Vasina]

Gari,

this is off topic, but where are you getting your half plate film? And what film are you using? I have some half plate holders that I want to fill with something (Efke 25?)... (If you don't want to steer this thread away, please use my PM for answer. Thanks)

And thanks a lot for your kind words.

[gari beet]

Hi Jiri, I got my film from retrophotographic here in the UK.

http://www.retrophotographic.com/

gari