26 Years after Expiration Date (Old 126 Film)

Posted by on Dec 31 2012

I’ve recently bought a little Rollei SL26, its a gorgeous little camera. Trouble is that film is not available for it these days, and it hasn’t taken to 35mm to 126 kindly. So I bought some extremely expired film of Ebay and would give it go. I developed 29 year old film before here, and it turned out alright. This film was 3 years younger (1986 vs 1983) and was ISO 100 (previous film was ISO 1600). I thought that given it was younger and ISO 100 it would turn out better than my 29 year old. But my 29 year old film had one advantage, even at ISO 1600… it was frozen, I am certain that my Ebay film was probably stored in a garage somewhere. The film was Fujicolor HR100.
Noneless… here are the results. I have shot 2 rolls, and 2 rolls of film are unusable (the film jammed upon spooling). The best results came when I nearly double development time (instead of 3:15 for average C-41 development, I did 5 minutes. They are almost monochromatic and have a massive colour shift
Ok so these aren’t going win National Geographic awards, but there is a certain charm and artistic dreaminess to them. They are almost pastel and have a massive colour shift, but it was fun shooting the camera. I am not sure if the other film

 

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The Polaroid 600SE – I’m not selling it.

Posted by on Dec 31 2012

The Polaroid 600SE was my first really serious investment in a pack film camera. I had picked up several cheap pack film cameras in the past for less than $15NZ in the past. I did some research and the 600SE seemed like the way to go for getting some serious quality packfilm shots.

I am writing this because I nearly put this on to sell on Trademe.co.nz. The word is nearly. The camera is heavy. Its hard to lug around. Sometimes the viewfinder was bit tricky to use. In the end, as I was writing the ad, I actually convinced myself there is no way in hell I am selling (yet)! I am not sure if I am a good ad writer or just being sentimental but after looking at the shots I took with the 600SE, I am sure I can get alot more mileage out of the camera.

For a great review of the Polaroid 600SE, go here instead of reading this post.

My Almost Ad to Sell My Polaroid 600SE ————————-

 

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Ultimate Polaroid Camera Christmas Package 

This is the Polaroid 600SE. Its been my main Polaroid camera and great work horse. I’ve recently taken photos with it; a sample of pictures are here. This is a working camera.  These are harder to come by in NZ, I bought this one the USA.

Here’s what you get:

  1. Polaroid 600SE Body
  2. 127mm Lens with cap
  3. 3 Hoya Close Up Diopters for ultra close up shots: +1, +2, +4
  4. 3 Packs of FP-100C Fuji Film, expired 4/2012 but kept fresh in fridge and works.
  5. lens cloth

No fungus. The body has wear but its perfectly functional. This isn’t a dainty instax camera, this thing is built like a truck: its a heavy beast and built to last. If you are digital photographer and are curious about film, this is a any easy gateway into film.

The diopters – they take a bit of practice – but the you can take close ups up to 5.5″.  Here’s more info on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/groups/714967@N22/discuss/72157622480699051/. Just keep in mind, this is rangefinder, not SLR, so you’ll have to bring out the tape measure for accurate shots.

This takes Pack Film, and if you haven’t shot FP-100C before, it is gorgeous. This the type of film that you peel apart after an allotted time, not the type that slowly develops in front of you. FP100c is much larger than instax mini and bit larger than instax wide. Plus you get 3 packs of refridgerated (not frozen) packs.

What it doesn’t come with is light meter. You can also use an app called FotometerPro if you have an iPhone. Find it here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fotometerpro/id439913393, its .99 ¢.

Because I know you’ll ask, there is no buy now. And for god’s sake, no bidders who are going to put this on display, get out there and shoot!

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Flying Colours

Posted by on Nov 14 2012

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Shot on 600SE f5.6 @ 1/250 sec. Baylys Beach, Northland New Zealand on expired Studio 125i (9/2009)
Camera being held is a 600 OneStep, using an experimental colour ribbon film I concocted 😉
Here are some addition shots I did at Bayly’s Beach in Northland NZ.  These 2 shots where taken on Instax Wide Fuji Film. 
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