While I might have moved completely away from film photography (so it seems), and turned my attention, instead, back to visual storytelling with vintage and legacy lenses, and interest in the resurgence of CCD photography, I do relish the quaint moments and memorable instances I have with the media, especially the fore and the after of the genre. The fore is all about planning and preparing for the shoot, while the after is anticipating the images from the lab, a process workflow almost redundant in the digital era.
In the digital era, while you still need to plan and prepare the groundwork for the shoot, images are instantly ready for viewing and publishing straight-out-of-camera (SOOC) if you wish it to be so, or post-processed with tweaks or other creatives to add to the image done on the desktop.
When it comes to using film for film, or analog photography, enthusiasts have the choice of either using fresh film stock, which is generally more reliable and consistent, or going for the unexpected by using expired film, or film that has surpassed its manufacturer's expiration date. The date, typically indicated on the packaging, is crucial because it marks the period during which the film's chemical components are expected to perform optimally.
Once this date is exceeded, the film, while still usable, will start to degrade, and its characteristics will change significantly with variations in the film's sensitivity, contrast, and color fidelity. This is further accentuated by the individualistic difference between each roll of film used, its age, and how the film was stored.
When using expired film, images will tend to be underexposed. To compensate for the loss of sensitivity, the general rule of thumb is to overexpose the film by one stop for every decade the film has expired. For example, if the expiry date was 20 years ago, set your camera to expose the film at two stops slower than its rated ISO. You can also refrigerate or freeze exposed film if it is not processed immediately after the shoot. Beyond that, there's not much you can do except anticipate the unexpected.
Exposed expired film can be developed like a normal film at your regular lab. You need to inform the lab, though, that the film has expired if you think it might affect the outcome of the process. In terms of cost, while it is generally accepted that expired film is the lower-cost option, using expired film can be more expensive if you are going for a specific or scarce film stock, and having the film developed, beyond the normal, at specialized labs.
The images for this visual were shot with a Konica II B on a roll of expired Fujifilm Superia X-tra 400, a versatile color negative film known for its high speed and excellent image quality. The film stock, a popular choice among both amateur and professional photographers, was discontinued as of April 5, 2024. Post-processing includes exposure tweaks and cropping the images to the 4:5 (for the masthead) and 5:4 image aspect ratios.
The Konica II B, an exquisitely ornate photographic jewelry, is a 35mm rangefinder film camera released by Konica in 1951. The model is part of a series of well-built fixed-lens and leaf-shuttered 35mm rangefinder cameras that started with the Konica (later known as the Konica I or Konica Standard) in 1950 and ended with the Konica IIIM in 1959. The Konica II B, a follow-up to the Konica II, is said to be a lower-priced version of the predecessor and comes fitted with a Konirapid-S shutter and a Konishiroku Hexar 50mm 1:3.5 (from May 1955) or f/2.8 (from June 1955).
