OT: Unused film stock

mel58i wrote on 8/14/2005, 7:51 AM

Been routing in my attic and come across my old cine cam (Canon 518SV) in excellant nick. Also two, brand new in a box, Kodak super 8 films with a "process before Oct 76" label.
Wonder what would happen if I sent them to Kodak for processing?
Maybe they'll be worth a few bob if I keep them long enough!

Mel.

Comments

GlennChan wrote on 8/14/2005, 9:46 AM

Maybe it'll be like cross processing... what about shooting it and seeing what happens?

riredale wrote on 8/14/2005, 10:13 AM

I once found a 35mm can of Kodachrome film that had been exposed and then left in a drawer for years. After processing, the images looked very faded and off-color.

In your case, the images haven't been shot yet, but the film is very old. I would imagine a lot would depend on many factors such as storage temperature and humidity. I wouldn't expect much.

JJKizak wrote on 8/14/2005, 1:30 PM

If they use their million dollar processor to develope the film and color correct on the fly there should be no problem "maybe".

JJK

Coursedesign wrote on 8/14/2005, 2:45 PM

If you want to shoot this film just for fun, be sure to tell Kodak about the date.

The Kodachrome process was changed dramatically around that time (in the mid 1970s I think), because the chemicals used (since the 1930s) were very toxic.

There could be some concern about old stock messing up their new chemistry.

Note that you can buy fresh S8 stock quite easily today.

Still, with the 518SV I think you could only shoot at 18fps?

johnmeyer wrote on 8/14/2005, 3:20 PM

You might go over to http://www.photo.net/ to see if you can find some answers there.

Serena wrote on 8/14/2005, 4:35 PM

Your film stock, while being of the newer Kodachrome formulation, is too old to be worth using at all. Even if it had been stored under ideal conditions (in the fridge) it would not produce quality images. There will be a real risk of the emulsion sliding off in the processor and this will cause problems with other film going through the processor (as well as needing the system to be shut down and cleaned). B&W film of that age stored well can be processed safely but again the images wouldn't be good enough to be worth the trouble.