Advice on how to shoot the remainder of this film!

[TarterTurtle]

Hello! I have several rolls of Kodak Vericolor 400 120 size. I shot two rolls on my Yashica A using sunny 16, which is what I always use on that camera and have had good results. All of the rolls that I exposed had very low contrast when I got the scans back from the lab. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to shoot the remainder of this film? Thanks!

 

[dxqcanada]

Hmm, under exposed.
So this just happened recently (last two rolls out of x)?
I wonder if there is a mechanical failure of shutter (I do not think that the aperture would be stuck).

 

[TarterTurtle]

Hmm, under exposed.
So this just happened recently (last two rolls out of x)?
I wonder if there is a mechanical failure of shutter (I do not think that the aperture would be stuck).

Maybe. But this is also expired film..

 

[dxqcanada]

Ah, I haven't experienced that yet ... I have some rolls of BW that are about 10+ yrs expired in the freezer.

You can look through the shutter while the back is opened and kinda guessimate how the shutter is working.

 

[mrca]

Since you are having a lab process, you are paying about $3 a click. Get a meter. I have a gossen the size of 2 small match boxes for incident readings and the $12 meter is dead on with my huge and $700 sekonic. Or you can pick up the viewfinder app for i phones that has a built in meter, shows the crop for each camera./lens combination and emulates color and black and white film stocks. If you were getting good exposures before it's possible you guessing with the sunny 16 rules was off. I develop my own so my cost is about a buck a shot and I still meter. It's our measuring tape. A carpenter could build a house without a measuring tape, but would it be a good idea?

 

[limr]

If it's expired, shoot it at half box speed.

I'd say it's more about the film being expired and less about your use of Sunny 16. If you want a little more information or reassurance about tricky lighting situations, I would just use a light meter app on your phone. I use Light Meter, available on both Android and iPhone.

 

[RAZKY]

Hello! I have several rolls of Kodak Vericolor 400 120 size. I shot two rolls on my Yashica A using sunny 16, which is what I always use on that camera and have had good results. All of the rolls that I exposed had very low contrast when I got the scans back from the lab. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to shoot the remainder of this film? Thanks!View attachment 257704View attachment 257705

How do the negatives look?

 

[webestang64]

Looks like your Sunny 16 was 2 stops off, those are very unexposed. Use a meter.

On outdated film good luck. I've seen film come into the lab only 10 years old and it looks like sunglasses.

 

[TarterTurtle]

Thanks for all the replies! For now I think this is what I will do. I'll use a meter for one roll, see if that fixes it. Limr suggested shooting at half box speed, maybe I should do that too? I doubt that my sunny 16 was two stops off, I have never used a meter with that camera and I have had great results. Then again, Black and white film has more latitude.

 

[limr]

Thanks for all the replies! For now I think this is what I will do. I'll use a meter for one roll, see if that fixes it. Limr suggested shooting at half box speed, maybe I should do that too? I doubt that my sunny 16 was two stops off, I have never used a meter with that camera and I have had great results. Then again, Black and white film has more latitude.

Black and white often has more wiggle room, yes, but it also depends on the film. Also, not all expired film will necessarily react the same way. It depends a lot on how expired the film is, and how it was stored. If you really want to test out the half-box speed method, you could devote one roll to experimenting: take one shot metered for 400 and then take the same shot again, this time metered at 200. Then you could compare and really see if the half-speed works in that camera. It's pretty much my go-to method for dealing with expired film, but everyone works a little differently and of course, different cameras and lenses will produce different results.

Both of these were taken on expired film - neither are particularly interesting shots, but they're just to illustrate the range.

Doubtful that this roll was going to produce good results no matter what:

Woodpile by limrodrigues, on Flickr

This film was in much better condition:

Old Port by limrodrigues, on Flickr

 

[cgw]

Using expired materials is always a crap shoot--sometimes quite literally! For me, it's an unwelcome and uncontrollable variable no amount of guesswork or magical thinking can overcome. Using an accurate meter ups the odds but won't compensate for chemical decay. limr clearly laid out the problems and workarounds. Everyone knows film ain't cheap now but neither is processing, much less printing. Sorta begs the question: why shoot expired film at all?

BTW, this from someone with too much 35mm/MF gear and a film/beer fridge full of exp Kodak/Fuji stuff. Cheers

 

[TarterTurtle]

Using expired materials is always a crap shoot--sometimes quite literally! For me, it's an unwelcome and uncontrollable variable no amount of guesswork or magical thinking can overcome. Using an accurate meter ups the odds but won't compensate for chemical decay. limr clearly laid out the problems and workarounds. Everyone knows film ain't cheap now but neither is processing, much less printing. Sorta begs the question: why shoot expired film at all?

BTW, this from someone with too much 35mm/MF gear and a film/beer fridge full of exp Kodak/Fuji stuff. Cheers

I've had great luck shooting expired black and white film, and even some color slides! two of my three bulk loaders have film that my dad loaded in when he was my age! I got a ton of stuff from my grandparents and my great-grandfather, and I'd rather not let it go to waste, it's free film!

 

[cgw]

I've had great luck shooting expired black and white film, and even some color slides! two of my three bulk loaders have film that my dad loaded in when he was my age! I got a ton of stuff from my grandparents and my great-grandfather, and I'd rather not let it go to waste, it's free film!

It's your party!

 

[limr]

Using expired materials is always a crap shoot--sometimes quite literally! For me, it's an unwelcome and uncontrollable variable no amount of guesswork or magical thinking can overcome. Using an accurate meter ups the odds but won't compensate for chemical decay. limr clearly laid out the problems and workarounds. Everyone knows film ain't cheap now but neither is processing, much less printing. Sorta begs the question: why shoot expired film at all?

BTW, this from someone with too much 35mm/MF gear and a film/beer fridge full of exp Kodak/Fuji stuff. Cheers

Some of us like the uncertainty Not all the time, but sometimes, it can just be fun to play around and experiment a little.

@TarterTurtle You said you develop your own black and white, right? Sometimes I've gotten more mileage out of expired color stock by developing it as black and white. I find it easier to adjust contrast levels (that's just me - color post processing is a bit of a mind**** for me) and it eliminates the problem of color shift.

 

[TarterTurtle]

Some of us like the uncertainty Not all the time, but sometimes, it can just be fun to play around and experiment a little.

@TarterTurtle You said you develop your own black and white, right? Sometimes I've gotten more mileage out of expired color stock by developing it as black and white. I find it easier to adjust contrast levels (that's just me - color post processing is a bit of a mind**** for me) and it eliminates the problem of color shift.

I've never tried that, and I'm not sure if I would want to to be honest. I'm already starting to get low on the color film, however do you know if you can develop Kodachrome as black and white? Ive got about 20 rolls of it sitting in my great grandfathers fridge.