Shooting with A 9-year-expired Kodak Ultramax 400 /ppp’s film review
Go on an experimental adventure on a sunny day!
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I shot several rolls of the expired Kodak Ultramax 400 in past few years. This roll was taken in 2017 using my Nikon fm2 camera and it already expired 9 years ago at that moment!
When the film passes its expiry date, some unpredictable things can pop up. The film loses its sensitivity. Colour becomes less vibrant, contrast fades and grain increases. But it sounds perfect to me!
Expired films usually work best under strong sunlight
I brought this Kodak Ultramax with me when I went on a boat tour in Hong Kong Global Geopark, enjoying the sunshine and the views of the various geosites by staying comfortably on board.
Loading your expired film in a fully manual camera allows you to control the exposure of your shots. I used the Nikon FM2 so I could control the amount of light for reaching the expired film.
I usually increase one more stop of light when I shoot with expired films. I came across with this roll of Ultramax in a camera store randomly when I exchanged a few casual words with the staff. It was expired for nearly 10 years and the staff couldn’t tell if it has been stored properly. Therefore, I dropped the ISO to 100 when I used this film which rated ISO 400 to give it some extra light.
However, its sensitivity worked as well as fresh film and most of the photos were finally overexposed.
Anyway, I’m glad about the result and they looked better than I expected!
On another sunny day, we went for a picnic in the afternoon. The decreased sensitivity and contrast of the Ultramax film balanced with the strong sunshine. The lighting looked soft and flattering in the photos.
The expired film will always differ and it makes using expired film so exciting!
