More expired color film developed in black & white chemistry, the experiment continues

As I wrote in my initial post about developing expired color film in black & white chemistry the negatives were a bit dark and in hindsight felt underdeveloped. They were usable (in fact I rather liked them) but very grainy when scanned. 

The film

I tried a new batch from the same Etos Kleurenfilm 100/24 color negative film that expired in 05/2003, essentially rebranded Ferrania Imation Color HP100 film. The fact that this film only has 24 exposures is beneficial for these kinds of experiments where I don't need a 36 exposures roll.

The shoot

This time I brought two cameras along. I went for Pentaxes again, my MZ-S fitted with a Helios 44-2 58mm f/2 and my K1000 fitted with a Helios 44M 58mm f/2. As these lenses have the M42 mount I used Pentax-built M42 - K mount adapters. The MZ-S is a solid performer, I really like the design of this camera and love to use it. In fact, I wish Pentax would have continued this style when they designed their production digital cameras. It was also a joy to use my K1000 again, a completely different beast but I like the Spotmatic design that this camera has. I wanted similar results from both cameras hence the Helios lenses. I know that the 44-2 and the 44M are different from each other but for my purposes this was good enough. It was overcast for most of the day so I used both lenses wide open most of the time. I shot the film at box speed and finished both rolls.

Developing

This time, I used Adonal developer diluted 1:50 but extended the developing time to 15:30 minutes at 20 degrees Celsius. Much like my first attempt the negatives came out quite dark. I now wonder if I should have shot this as ISO 50 rather than ISO 100 film given that this film expired 18 years ago. One to try when shooting the next batch.

The results

Well, the grain is still there...

Very dark, yet you can still see some faint traces of the red of the traffic sign in the shot.

Again rather dark.

These images were only resized, no further post-processing was done. My first reaction is that they are rather dark, but those scenes were not very bright to begin with. Certainly the grain is still there. I need to scan a few more examples but for now I'm not as thrilled with the results as last time... I gather Adonal is a very weak color developer as these images are no monochromes, that gives these shots an interesting look. 

So what are your thoughts on developing old C41 film in B&W chemistry? Drop me a line below.

Experimenting with expired film

Recently I've been given a bag full of expired 35mm color negative film. It contains film from a myriad of brands with different ISO values. As I have no knowledge on how these films were stored I really have no way what to expect. 

Experiment

I decided to do a little experiment with some of the film stock. As the colors would be unpredictable I decided to shoot one of these film brands and develop it with black and white developer. I selected two rolls of Etos Kleurenfilm 100/24 that expired in 05/2003 and loaded a roll into my Pentax LX. I grabbed an SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/1.4 lens as the day was rather overcast. 

Film

Etos Kleurenfilm 100/24 color negative film is a film branded for the Etos line of shops and has a DX code of 013613. When running this number through the Big Film Database I found that it was actually rebranded Ferrania Imation Color HP100 film. This film is now discontinued and I can't recall shooting with it before. Certainly not as Ferrania, possibly as a rebranded film early in my photography years.

The shoot

With my trusty Pentax LX loaded off I went to the Fortress City of Naarden. Pentax 50mm f/1.4 lenses have always been a joy to use and I had not used my copy for a while so I decided that I would try to get some wide open shots from this lens. I shot at box speed and finished both rolls.

The results

After reading up online I decided to use Adonal developer diluted 1:50 for 10:30 minutes at 20 degrees Celsius. Straight out of the tank the negatives looked very dark, however that might have to do with the orange tint to the base where my usual black and white film has a clear base.

After scanning sepia-like images appeared. Nice dreamy shots thanks to that 50mm f/1.4 wide open but oh boy, these shots are grainy! I'd love to hear from you if you've done this as well, have tips/tricks etc. Let me know what you think in the comment section below.