Old color film in black and white processing.

[Grandpa Ron]

It seems volumes have been written about the effects of age on film. The tone seems to be if it is less than a decade old, just use it.

It seems the biggest change over time is color shift and/or grain.

One article that caught my attention said, if you find that decades old roll of film in grandma attic and you just want to know what is on it. Simply develop it in black and white developer, to see what is on it.

The argument was, a lot of old films used processing methods and materials that are no longer available and b&w processing is as easy as anything to see what was on the film.

Interesting, but I wonder if anyone had tried it and what the results were.

 

[480sparky]

If you took B&W film and ran it through a C-41 process and it comes up totally blank (even the rebate), I would think reversing it and running C-41 film through a B&W developer would most likely yield the same results. The only exception I know of is Kodachrome, given it's really a black & white film at heart.

 

[webestang64]

I've been developing all processes of film for over 35 years.....here is my take on old film.

C-22 and C-41 films have to be developed as colors negs, although you can cross process C-41 in E-6.

Film has a curve. The month it expires is the month it should be shot as it's at it's peak curve. After that the base will start to "developed itself" and turns the base dark over time....even it is frozen.
We here at the lab develop old film just about everyday. Some are so old....20 years or older and they look like a pair of sunglasses they are so dark.

Black-n-White will hold up better than color print film. I process many rolls of 30-50 year old Verichrome and gotten acceptable images. Old E-6?....forget about it, just cross process in C-41. Kodachrome, have done as BW.

 

[jcdeboever]

I accidentally developed a roll of c41 color in HC110. It actually worked and there was images. They had to bumped around in post to get them to yield a good result.