Unusual film in the hands of a beginner. Should I shoot it?

[TheMarbleMan]

Hey all, first post here inspired from an odd find I found today in an old junk shop on the backroads of Tennessee. This place I frequently get odds and ends from, including a couple cameras. This is one of those places where you dig through piles of junk and occasionally fight a raccoon, so it's not the best. The place is heated by a wood stove (mentioned because this film was found relatively close to it), and decently cooled. So this film may or may not be too bad off.

Anyways, what I found was two unused rolls of 35MM film made by RGB of Hollywood California. From what I can gather, this is ECN2 process film that is movie film spooled into a 35mm can. One roll is 200 speed, another is 400.

So, I am new to film. Not a diehard enthusiast, just a guy who has an old family Argus c3 and an army of various low-mid tier cameras. On the bench I have a Yashica electro 35 that prognosis is poor, Bell and Howell auto 35, and some old point and shoots. All this being said, when/if I try these, is there anything I should know/do for best results? I am mostly just experimenting at this stage and am waiting to get some negatives back to see if my skills have improved, so this is just the beginning of the line here.

Any info or help would be great. Thanks!

 

[webestang64]

That movie film takes a special process which very few labs do these days. Film Rescue is one of them. I myself would not bother with that film and buy some fresh to run through those cams.

 

[cgw]

Here's the deal in late-game 2024. Fresh film and proper processing cost money. "Mystery" film is a dis-economy--crap film processing costs the same as fresh. Relic cameras are iffy at best, often because their light metering is inoperable or off enough to doom the likelihood of printable negs. Upshot? Why bother?
Rethink it all. Fresh film, reliable processing and last gen film cameras might put you in a happy place for film photography. It all still works but has costs and limitations you may not have considered.

 

[snowbear]

Sounds like stuff my father shot, back in the 80s or early 90s I think. I think it was "Seattle Filmworks"; the film was fairly cheap and they included processing. I found a roll when we moved in - I just tossed it.

 

[cgw]

Sounds like stuff my father shot, back in the 80s or early 90s I think. I think it was "Seattle Filmworks"; the film was fairly cheap and they included processing. I found a roll when we moved in - I just tossed it.

Ugh, that stuff! Karma at work. A particularly horrid inlaw swore by that film, calling the rest of us chumps for buying Fuji and Kodak. In time most shots of his equally horrid family became unrecognizable thanks to his cheapskate ways.

 

[webestang64]

Seattle FilmWorks..........YACK!!!!!!

 

[snowbear]

Yeah. I guess he thought it was worth shooting. Maybe, by then, Kodak had stopped with the mailer packs he used to use for the Ektachrome.

 

[cgw]

Yeah. I guess he thought it was worth shooting. Maybe, by then, Kodak had stopped with the mailer packs he used to use for the Ektachrome.

Kodak Canada sold Kodachrome to the bloody end with mailers--first for the Canadian lab then for the last one(?) in NJ. Cross my heart, I never shot the stuff.

 

[Rickbb]

In my experience old film that has not been in the refrigerator or frozen will be useless. Heat and big swings in temp and humidity will kill it.

Put it on the shelve with the other old stuff as a collector item.

 

[webestang64]

In my experience old film that has not been in the refrigerator or frozen will be useless. Heat and big swings in temp and humidity will kill it.

Put it on the shelve with the other old stuff as a collector item.

2 or 3 times a week my lab process's old C-41 and 98% of the time they look like sunglasses as with age the film develops itself to create heavy base fog. Makes it impossible to scan as color. Sometimes converting to BW makes for a better detailed scan.
Old BW can have the same base fog but if you use Kodak X-Tol at 1:1 it will reduce some of the fog.
The only "old" film I shoot is outdated E-6 and cross process by pushing the film +2 stops in C-41.

 

[cgw]

2 or 3 times a week my lab process's old C-41 and 98% of the time they look like sunglasses as with age the film develops itself to create heavy base fog. Makes it impossible to scan as color. Sometimes converting to BW makes for a better detailed scan.
Old BW can have the same base fog but if you use Kodak X-Tol at 1:1 it will reduce some of the fog.
The only "old" film I shoot is outdated E-6 and cross process by pushing the film +2 stops in C-41.

Our Toronto street shooter crew did "Crap Shoots" whenever we met for Sunday morning downtown prowls--extra cameras loaded with sketchy, stale 35mm C41/b&w/E-6. Often utter junk resulted but sometimes a few jewels surfaced after scanning and processing. Maybe the beer goggles at subsequent evening view meet-ups unduly influenced opinion--hah!

 

[Rickbb]

I’m still have the setup to do BnW at home, but I’ve never been good with color. Extachrome was ok, but I preferred Kodachrome 25 but always sent that out. Never tried to process it, was told it was really difficult.

My brother and I would buy recently outdated film in bulk and stick it in the freezer. It surprisingly lasts many years like that.

 

[cgw]

I’m still have the setup to do BnW at home, but I’ve never been good with color. Extachrome was ok, but I preferred Kodachrome 25 but always sent that out. Never tried to process it, was told it was really difficult.

My brother and I would buy recently outdated film in bulk and stick it in the freezer. It surprisingly lasts many years like that.

Nobody ever processed Kodachrome at home...

 

[terri]

So, I am new to film. Not a diehard enthusiast, just a guy who has an old family Argus c3 and an army of various low-mid tier cameras. On the bench I have a Yashica electro 35 that prognosis is poor, Bell and Howell auto 35, and some old point and shoots. All this being said, when/if I try these, is there anything I should know/do for best results? I am mostly just experimenting at this stage and am waiting to get some negatives back to see if my skills have improved, so this is just the beginning of the line here.

Any info or help would be great. Thanks!

Welcome to TPF!

I guess you can consider yourself "schooled" on that film you came across. But it sounds like you have some decent enough old cameras to run some fresh film through.

That Bell and Howell might be fun - my husband has one with the famous electric eye, and the darn thing still works! Crazy. His particular model takes 127 film, but he's one of those geeks that likes seeing what these old cams can give you. You shouldn't have any problems finding good film for your 35.

General advice would be to always use fresh film, only deal with a lab you can trust, and if you like what you're getting, don't let anyone talk you out of it. It's a hobby, and should be fun!

 

[webestang64]

Nobody ever processed Kodachrome at home...

One of my old bosses who worked on the K-14 line in the late 70's for Kodak told me you had to have a 4 year degree in chemistry to run the $250,000.00 processor.