I recently bought a Mamiya RB67 with a Mamiya Sekor C 50mm f4.5 and a 90mm f3.8. After a month away for a CLA I got it back, where a few expired rolls were waiting for it. I was eager to shoot a lot, since I’m used to shooting a lot of 35mm and half frame. However, I was also looking forward for the quality and rhythm of medium format. The Mamiya RB67 excites me a lot because of its fully mechanical spirit, that I like a lot in film cameras.
Taking advantage that I home-develop everything but E-6 and that I like to get different, expired and fresh emulsion, I bought a couple of expired 120 lots on eBay. It was a big mix. Among the lot of 16 rolls of which more articles are coming, there were two that were not protected by the plastic bag. They were only wraped. I decided to shoot those first just to get used to the camera and just begin with medium format.
The first roll I shot was a Kodak PPF Pro 400 expired in 1999, reviewed recently. The other roll was slide film color Ektachrome 160T expired I don’t know when but I guess that late 90s also.
I decided to try this one first because it was the one in the worst age and storage condition. That way I could have an idea about the batch and the emulsion, of which I have other two completely sealed rolls. I decided to expose it at ASA 160 since slide film is recomended to be exposed at box speed and home-developed it in ECN-2 (just because I was working on a bunch of ECN-2 film).
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After I saw the negatives coming out from the bleach I jumped with excitement, since I could see a very contrasty negative. However, when I hung them, I realized the strong veil of time. My aim with this roll was to play a little bit more with the Mamiya Sekor C 50mm f/4.5. The photos I upload have that idea, to show the power of the lens.
I didn’t like the result. Now you can decide to buy (or not), poorly stored expired Ektachrome 160T.
~ Pablo
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