Shooting Expired Kodak Elitechrome 100 with the Nikon F100
The magenta colour shifts really worked wonders for nighttime shots such as this one of the Shard. 1/13s 58mm F1.4.
When you think of Kodak slide film you probably think of the most iconic film of all, Kodachrome, or perhaps it’s younger sibling Ektachrome which was brought back to life in 2018. However, in the old days of film there were many more film stocks available. Today we mostly see professional line films for sale, the likes of Ektachrome, Portra etc. which offer the highest quality but also at the highest prices. This is even more true of medium and large format photography. However, in the past there was a much wider range of less expensive films for amateurs to use in their everyday shooting. Not everyone wanted to shoot their kid’s birthday party with a point-and-shoot on top dollar film. Come 2011 the likes of Fuji Sensia and Astia went the way of the dodo but there are still quite a few rolls of expired film knocking around.
During the day there was a more pronounced colour shift to green which worked well with plants and vegetation. 1/200s 58mm F1.4 with polariser.
This very life like sundial tortoise photo shows of well how the highlights shifted green and the shadows shifted magenta. 1/500s 58mm F1.4 with polariser.
In addition to different film stocks, pretty much every film also came in different speeds, something that is also not that common today. There wouldn’t just be ISO 100 variants like with Ektachrome today but also ISO 200 and ISO 400, no need to push a roll of film, you could simply buy what you needed. In this week’s blog I have a roll of Kodak Elitechrome 100 the slowest of the three speeds available pre-2011. This would have been Kodak’s consumer slide film and this particular roll expired in 2004. Expired slide film is notorious for its inconsistency in comparison to colour negative film and you can’t simply increase your exposure to compensate. With no knowledge of how this roll was stored during its life, it was time to give it a go. I shot it at box speed.
Quite literally the Rolls-Royce of ice cream vans. 1/400s 58mm F1.4 with polariser.
The MG RV8 was a strange blend of modern and old before the arrival of the brand new MGF. I actually used flash here to lift the shadows on the left hand side of the image. 1/160s 58mm F1.4 with polariser & flash.
Being about twenty years passed its expiry and clearly not being stored in a freezer all that time, the colours have shifted quite a bit from what we’d typically expect from a Koda. Gone is any sense of teal and orange with everything coming out strongly in green (highlights) and magenta (shadows). I tried my best to rein this in in post-production, but it simply wasn’t possible to correct everything. With proper exposures the contrast hasn’t come out too crunchy, though there is definitely a loss of shadow detail that wouldn’t have been there on fresh roll. However, there’s still enough exposure latitude to make those night shots work and the highlights held up well given the films age. It reminds me of a grainier version of Fuji Provia 100.
Out looking for bluebells. Unfortunately the focus ended up being on the tree and not the bike. 1/320s 35mm F1.4.
The green and magenta colour shifts worked well in the bluebell woods and gave a lovely soft colour palette. 1/100s 105mm F3.5.
At ISO 100 kept it is very usable for handholding during the day, especially with fast F1.4 glass and exposures at night never get anywhere near its 10s limit before reciprocity failure kicks in. In terms of subject matter, I think it worked best with the shots with flowers and colourful foliage and the nighttime images. I felt that the shift to green didn’t work so well with other images shot in natural daylight but the magenta really came out swinging at night.
Getting my large format camera setup for a shot of the city. I was politely told off for using a tripod but was informed I could use a tripod on the nearby grass. 1/200s 58mm F1.4.
Looking out to the Tower of London. The highlights in the sky are well controlled and there is still detail in the (very purple) shadows. 1/320s 58mm F1.4.
This later nighttime shot of the City of London has very crunchy contrast and perhaps could have done with a little more exposure (+1/3 stop) but it did have to contend with a wide dynamic range for slide film. 1/6s 58mm F1.4.
If you can pick up a roll for a few quid, then it’s worth having a go although I wouldn’t pay much more than that unless I had guarantees that the film had spent most of its life cold stored. Being as hit and miss as expired slide film is, it’s better to stick to the fresh stuff, even if it is costly, when you are doing more serious shooting. There’s less leeway here than colour negative and especially black and white film. For a fun day out though this can work wonders in creating something a little whacky, which is why a lot of people shoot expired film in the first place.
A London bus whizzes by in this long exposure out the new entrance to Bank station. 3s 58mm F8.0.
Well exposed, the shadow detail holds up well and the highlights are spot on. 1/60s 58mm F1.4 with polariser.
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