Brace yourselves, this won’t be pleasant. Stored at the top of the fridge in my London flat I found several rolls of Delta 3200 now eight years past the expiry date. I’m used to developing expired 100 asa or slower film which has been stored cool – not even necessarily refrigerated – developing normally, expecting and getting perfectly developed images as if it was fresh film. There was one exception – a roll of ORWO 100(?)asa film, albeit possibly 30 years old, stored in the same place as this 3200 film, which was heavily fogged. My hopes were not high.
I took the film, along with others, to Brussels – did I ask for it to be hand checked? Honestly I can’t remember. The baggage scanners are the old x-ray machines film safe up to 1600, so even if it got scanned I wouldn’t expect much fogging.
I stand developed in Rodinal 100:1 for one hour; the automatic compensating effect of weak developer and no agitation after the initial 20 seconds handles most films well in my experience. The results did not look encouraging (featured image). Heavily fogged film and little image immediately visible. I decided to take a look at the preview on the scanner and lo and behold some images were recoverable. So I scanned.
Images shown are straight scans, un-manipulated apart from minor cropping and straightening.
Yes, heavily fogged and the grain is on steroids. I had been photographing in very low light conditions, generally at 1/30 second f2.8 hand held, occasionally 1/15 second. Some images are fuzzy from miss-focusing in the dark. I’m used to playing that game with 400asa film and getting nice images of the lights and well lit areas with pretty much everything else buried, but here – as you would expect from a high speed film – the contrast range captured was much wider.
Some of the images I find attractive partly because of the faults and the unclear rendition of the subject matter. A little tone curve adjustment, maximum noise reduction (sadly making little difference) and, given the graininess and vague rendition of the subject, sepia toning rendered the first image as this:
Lesson learned? I need a new fridge. Fast film, and very long-term storage, is best done by freezing the film (remember to allow it to warm up completely before breaking the sealed package).
Photographs taken on Rolleiflex 2.8GX.
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Thorsten Wulff on Ilford Delta 3200 – 2016 Expired
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
Daniel Emerson on Ilford Delta 3200 – 2016 Expired
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
interesting takeaway. I had no idea that film can be frozen.
Regards
Daniel
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
Ibraar Hussain on Ilford Delta 3200 – 2016 Expired
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
Pleasing results
I always deep freeze my film - I’ve some precious rolls of E100vs frozen for over 10 years now dwindling - 2 left for that next trip
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
Jeff Neale on Ilford Delta 3200 – 2016 Expired
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
You are correct sir. I’ve been hoarding ultra fast film for years and having good results storing in the freezer. T-Max 3200, Ilford 3200 and even a bulk roll of Fuji’s Neopan 1600 ! They still look fresh post processing after 15-20 years after expiry. My trick: keep them frozen in an x-ray bag. Those lead lined ones for airport security scans that can still be found used at random flea markets & op-shops.
Stay Cool !!!
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
Gary Smith on Ilford Delta 3200 – 2016 Expired
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
I'm optimistic!
Thanks Geoff
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
Jeffery Luhn on Ilford Delta 3200 – 2016 Expired
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
Out of date ISO 3200 in Rodinal. Yes, big grain! But...the images are readable. Useable in court, as my mentor used to say. I wonder how much of the grain is due to age and fogging? One thing about Rodinal: The grain is big, but the sharpness is there. It's remarkable in that way.
Jeffery
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
Comment posted: 15/02/2025
Alexander Seidler on Ilford Delta 3200 – 2016 Expired
Comment posted: 17/02/2025
I find it a funny conclusion that if you film is expired, you need a new fridge.
My first idea would be to buy some film :-)
Comment posted: 17/02/2025
Paul Quellin on Ilford Delta 3200 – 2016 Expired
Comment posted: 18/02/2025