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Originally Posted by wrwhite
Ok, I am looking at getting some film finally, thanks for all the help. Is it worth getting sweet deals on expired film all still in the box, or is it better to just spend the money and buy new? I am so looking forward to the square pictures I cant sit still!
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It depends upon how the film was stored. All professional color films should be kept refrigerated until used. Doing so keeps the color dyes stable. Color dyes decay over time. How quickly and by how much depends largely on time and temperature. Film stored in a warm environment deteriorates more quickly than film that is stored in a cool environment. Old film may also exhibit decay, though not necessarily. Deteriorated color dyes manifest themselves as weird color shifts or uneven colors.
In general, I wouldn't recommend buying expired film, especially the first time out. You're only saving a few dollars, and if you get funky colors you'll never know if it's something you did or if it was the film. But if you can verify that the expired film you're buying has been kept under refrigeration, then you're most likely going to be ok, especially if it's only a couple of months out of date.
Most B&W film doesn't really expire, though it may fog after a while. You just need to make sure that the minimum density (Film base + fog) doesn't get too high. I have some B&W 4"x5" sheet film (refrigerated) that's about a decade out of date and it still performs reliably. The exceptions are B&W film designed to be processed in C-41 chemistry (Ilford XP2 and Kodak BW400CN). The resulting negative is ultimately formed by dyes instead of silver halide crystals. Infrared film is especially susceptible to heat because of dyes that are used to make the emulsion sensitive to the infrared part of the spectrum and thus needs refrigeration.
-Chip