Should I shoot expired film?

The advantages of shooting expired film is obvious - its cheap. As we move towards digital workflow many film labs and professional studios have been throwing out their expired film or letting them go for cheap - but is it worth the trouble?

All undeveloped film will eventually change over time, losing contrast and colour balance. Storing it in hot and humid conditions accelerate this process, while refrigerating it slows it down and freezing stops it.

Storing your films in an old fridge from a thrift store is a good way to protect your investments.

The reason for film manufacturers to indicate an expiry date or more accurately a "process before" date is that most film sold in retail stores are stored in room temperature. This date is often 2 years from manufacture and is a conservative number as film manufacturers would have to assume a large variation of storage conditions by the retailers. However, in most cases, the process before date is usually months before visible degradation is seen. The fact is you still can get excellent images from expired films unless they are stored warmer than room temperature for an extended time.

So, to answer the age old question - how old is too old? Well, to be honest, there is no definite answer to that, but if you have film that has just expired for a week or two, don't toss it as it should be good as new. If you have anything older, colour shifts and increased grain may be evident, but go ahead and do a test roll and see if you like the results. In fact, some photographers are looking for expired films for its dreamy and surreal effects.

Call me lucky as I have been constantly getting good results with expired films, but luck isn't the main reason that has contributed to my success in using them. Most of the expired film that I have used were been bought fresh and kept in a freezer or fridge. These were the old Kodak Portra, Kodak Ektachrome and Fuji Reala which were bought just before production stopped.

Occasionally, I would be presented with an opportunity to acquire a lot of expired film for close to nothing. While its tempting to snag the deal immediately, I would try to get to know the seller better and check on how the film was stored before buying it.

A shot from expired but cold stored Fuji Superia 200. 

More than often, expired films from professional photographers and major photographic suppliers are refrigerated and tend to be more consistent. So if you have to buy expired film either for cost savings or for a particular discontinued emulsion, your best bet is to check out B&H and Adorama where they sell 'short-date' specials or check out my store for some hard to find emulsions.

Some tips of shooting expired film:

• Always shoot a test roll before shooting anything significant.
• Overexpose the film to compensate for lower sensitivity.
• Keep them in cold and dry conditions to reduce further deterioration. 
• Don't research on the effects of a particular expired film. Unless they are acquired from the same batch and stored in the same condition, they are likely to be different.

From the same roll - also looking good.

Well, to answer if its worth the time and money to shoot expired film, my answer would really depend on your needs and taste. If consistency is of utmost importance to you, your safest bet is definitely buying fresh film from the major retailers. But if you are looking for a particular discontinued emulsion, take my advice above and check on the history of where the film is stored. This will give you a good indication if the film is still good for use.

Cheers and enjoy shooting film.

Camera Review: Voigtlander Vitessa

Voigtlander Vitessa - A beautiful 35mm compact folder.

The Vitessa is an interesting 35mm folding rangefinder produced by Voigtlander in the 1950s. With its underlying design principle "built into your hands", the camera introduced several innovations unusual for its time and genre to help photographers be more efficient at photo taking.

One of the most striking feature you will realise in the Vitessa is the lack of a film advance lever or winder. In its place, a long rod that looked like an antenna of an early 80s cellphone which Voigtlander calls "Combi-Plunger". By fully depressing the Combi-Plunger, you would advance the film and ready the shutter. To stow for transportation or storage, press the Combi-Plunger 90% of its way down.

Voigtlander Vitessa with rear cover removed. Focusing knob is seen just below the shutter release.

Focusing a Vitessa is made very easy by the focusing knob located at the right side of the top plate and is in easy reach the user's right thumb. It takes about 3 to 4 swipes to go across the whole focus range, allowing quick focus between 1m and infinity.

The DOF scale with a round rotating focus scale. 

Accompanying the focus knob is a rather unique DOF scale. As one turns the focusing tab, a round disc rotates with the corresponding focus distance. I find this much more useful than the traditional DOF scale on the lens barrel if you are planning to shoot by the hip. If shooting by the hip is not your cup of tea, you will be pleased to know that the viewfinder is parallax corrected, allowing precise framing.

The Color Skopar 50/3.5 lens and the EV scale. Other variations include: Color Skopar 50/2.8 and Ultron 50/2.8

The Vitessa uses EV or Exposure Value settings, a system popular in the late 1950's. Once an exposure combination is set, that combination of equivalent f/stops and shutter speeds remains set until the user pushes down the combination EV lock/aperture lever to select another setting. In other words, if you set f/16 at 1/125, moving the shutter speed to 1/250th automatically moves the f/stop to f/11. This allows quick change of aperture and shutter speeds if shooting under the same lighting.

Size comparison of the Vitessa.

As for size, the Vitessa is fairly compact. When its lens recessed, the Vitessa is just slightly smaller in size as compared to the Leica Ms. In a pinch, you might be able to fit it into the pocket of your coat, if you don't mind the weight (approx 670g).

The Vitessa shows a superb, almost Leica quality fit and finish as seen here in detail.

I''m sure you already know that Voigtlander makes awesome modern rangefinder lens (though manufactured by Cosina) and I'm curious how the vintage Color Skopar would perform, but unfortunately, this copy came with a misaligned rangefinder and requires attention. 

I guess I'll have to wait to have some pictures from this camera. In the meantime, here's a video I made to showcase the workings of the Vitessa: