E6 from the 1990s

[Ben Syverson]

Following my success with Vericolor from the 80s (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?p=604113), I bought a gigundo lot of expired film, mostly E6:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1096/4733759040_7244c50eef.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bensyverson/4733759040/)

Well, it turns out that an opened box of Ektachrome with a 1994 expiration date is probably a tad past its prime! On the positive side, it's refreshing to get a picture of a snowstorm in the summer.

Next, I'm trying a more recent open box of Velvia 50 (exp 1998) and an unopened box of EPP (exp 2000).

[Denis Pleic]

Bummer!
But I guess that at least the Ilford FP4 will be quite usable :)

[BetterSense]

This mirrors my experience; I had some Kodak E-6 from 1999-2004 expirys, stored in the fridge at least some of its life, but it wasn't much good anymore. Colors were all faded and it seemed slower, with higher dmax that is, duller whites. TMX from the same time period is absolutely as-new however. Also, I learned something about very old B&W film...I had a 100-sheet box of FP4 from the '80s, and I tested it and found it fogged in a certain pattern around the edges, but when I opened the box in daylight, I could visually see that the outer 10 sheets or so on each side were fogged in that pattern, but the inner sheets looked fine. I'm sure that I could have saved the inner 50 sheets if I had thought to to test the center of the stack.

[BennehBoy]

I've had pretty good results with 2003 EPY

[boswald]

Have you tried a restrainer with the reversal films? Fog, like pre-exposure, will lower
both density and contrast. I'd experiment with KBr first, then benzotriazole(Edwal
Orthazite). Start with a third as much as you would use with a slow B&W; up to maybe
twice that, as the E6 first developer is sensitive to additions. Fresh while experimenting
but don't discard- unexhausted E6 first is a great B&W developer, & a little restrainer
won't hurt in B&W.
Good luck, and have fun.
David

[patrickjames]

Unless you develop the film yourself it isn't worth shooting old film. The money for developing and the time spent making images is all wasted when the film comes out useless. It is false economy.

I should add for color. Black and white usually has quite a life.

[Ben Syverson]

Not true at all... I've shot extremely old E6 with absolutely no problem before... However, this particular film seems to have been really treated poorly (never refrigerated, etc).

C41 seems even safer. I consider C41 5 years past date "still fresh," and wouldn't hesitate to shoot 10+ year old C41.