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I have a confession to make. I like to play… With expired film emulsions. What follows is the biggest bet I’ve made so far, and the images it has delivered.
This last expired roll was made in 1963/64 by East Germany ancient Kodak factory, renamed VEB Fotochemische Werke Berlin. The film expired in August 1966 and sat in hiding for nearly 60 years, waiting to fulfill its purpose.
Why Gamble?
The older the emulsion, the higher the stakes. And, when you have little to no idea about the movie’s previous storage, things get exciting. It all combines to give extreme satisfaction when things happen in a way that is, well, satisfying.
That said, satisfaction is relative. There is no right or wrong. For some, satisfaction results from color changes or unforeseen effects. Personally, I’m thrilled when the image is still technically good enough, giving a taste of the original flavor of the emulsion.
The blemishes and imperfections in the image invite questions and discussion about how a 60-year-old emulsion traveled through time, the conditions and places in which it was stored, and the people who had the movie before me.
Aren’t debate and discussion the purpose of art?
Why Dekopan?
The story behind Dekopan is crazy.
It started as Glanzfilm, becoming Kodak Germany (Ofutsche KBdak, panchromatic film = De-Ko-Pan), and was later seized and assigned to the German World War II effort, becoming a state-owned GDR company called VEB Fotochemische Werke Berlin. In 1991 he income to Kodak property to close in 2010. The facilities were abandoned until recently and are now being converted into living quarters.
This is a super cool story that I encourage you to read here And here.
Film reception
The original film boxes were yellowed with age but in good condition with only a few signs of wear. Someone had taken care of them or put them somewhere and forgotten about them for over 50 years.
The expiry date of AUGUST1966 was stamped on the box. Each carton included the film’s original information leaflet outlining its recommended development times – between 7 and 9 minutes in 1:40 Rodinal (R09) at 20c.
The film was wrapped in foil, but was not airtight. Moisture had entered the packaging, as I could see rust on the metal ends of the film reel. There were tiny traces of rust in the packaging when I removed the film as well, suggesting that the chances of successful development may be low.
Absolutely not what I expected.
The camera
There was never a question about which camera to pair. Obviously a Praktisix IIa produced around the same time is a perfect match (which preceded the Pentacon Six). The Flektogon is a vintage from the 1980s.
Scoring and development
Loading film that has been wrapped for 60 years in a film developing reel is a huge pain. It took several attempts to load it onto a Patterson reel. Not funny.
There are many tips on the Internet regarding the development of expired films. I generally do two things:
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- Expose the film 1-2 stops below its box speed, and
- extend development times very slightly.
While many authors recommend adding an exposure stop for every expired decade, I never found it really necessary. And in this case, it would have been 5-6 more stops on an already ASA40 film.
I decided to rate Dekopan F17 at 25 (2 stops).
For the development, I followed the information sheet recommendation of 9 minutes in 1h40 Rodinal at 20c. I used steady gentle inversions for the first minute and 5 seconds every remaining minute thereafter and fixed for 7 minutes.
During washing – about 10 minutes – an aquamarine/blue dye emerges. It’s beautiful and subtle. It’s a nice change from the usual purple dye I see in modern emulsions.
The negatives were slightly thin. I’ll do 9:30 next time.
The moment of truth
Pulling it off the reel, the film surprised me. I was fully prepared to have no pictures, and if there were, I was sure they would be heavily fogged, even unusable. Maybe even stained with rust.
What I got were high contrast, fog free and technically beautiful negatives.
My bet paid off.
The loop !
A few hours of drying and the film rolled up into a vertical cylinder like a broomstick (yikes). After being cut out and put under a heavy book for 48 hours, the negatives were no worse than modern film. The loop flattened out and the scan went well.
Images
Images shown are unadjusted for contrast and uncorrected. They are taken directly from the Epson Perfection Pro v850 and sized for website use. No fancy presets, no tweaks.
Look at the integrity of the images. They reflect a well-made quality film and suggest favorable storage conditions, albeit with some humidity along the way.
Conclusion
The images speak for themselves, so this conclusion takes on a slightly different tone than you might expect: reconsider the role and story your film plays in your storytelling and artistry.
In other words, go ahead, use expired film. Let the viewer enjoy the film’s unique and parallel narrative.
Don’t be afraid to try an emulsion you’ve never used, especially one that’s older than you! This movie may have waited this long for you to find out just how awesome it can be.
Thanks for reading,
~Tim
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