By Nicholas Teo
Once in a while you may see those expired film on eBay or in a garage sale (it happens in Brunei!) but how to shoot them? Read on
What's an Expired Film?
Go check the box of your film, somewhere on the box you will see a date. Usually it's just month followed by year. Found it? Great but why would anyone want to shoot expired film? Some of the reason is that it is way cheaper than its fresh counterpart and not to mention you may find some rare discontinued film that you want to shoot.
Shooting Expired Film
If it is expired then you will need a few pointers on shooting expired film!
The first rule of thumb is that for every 10 years your film is expired, you will need to shoot it one stop over so that means if you have an ISO 400 film then you will need to set your camera to meter the film at ISO 200, 20 years expired then ISO 100 and etc. This is essential because as the film expires it will lose some of it's sensitivity to light.
Another thing to keep in mind is to shoot expired film that as been cold stored over the years it has expired. Cold stored meaning in the fridge, not in a cold room. I cannot stress this enough as I have once shot a film that was expired but was stored on a shelf. The roll came out clear as glass but don't let that stop you, I may have just been unlucky...
When in doubt, over expose. This is useful particularly if you have lost the box and only have the film canister. Film can handle over exposure well so give it plenty of light!
Expect some loss in saturation, details and tonality. Keep this in mind as it may not be a very good idea to cover an important event with such an unpredictable film. With that said do expect some crazy colour shifts!
Buying Expired Film
Feeling lucky or want to save a few bucks? Then keep an eye out for expired film. The best place to buy expired film for us Bruneians are well *cough* TheFilmPool *cough* jokes aside it is quite rare to find a properly stored expired film in this region. I saw a few in Miri but that was the one that gave me clear negative.
The best option is, of course in the modern interwebs. eBay sellers stocks a few expired film but do keep an eye out on the magic word cold stored. Facebook groups is another lead but do keep in mind there's scammers and do ask on the condition of the film and picture of the film with written timestamp. Always use PayPal (no I don't get endorsed) as they have a good refund policy, just workout the 3% charge between you and the seller. Forums such as Photrio, RFF or any other forums out there can also be a lead, exercise same caution as before and you should be fine.
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