Can film shot in 1989 still be developed after being stored unprocessed?
Asked 1/5/2018
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I have multiple rolls of both black-and-white and color film shot in 1989 that have been stored unprocessed ever since, just kept around the house. The images are personally and historically important, so I’m wondering whether it’s still worth trying to have the film professionally developed after all this time.
Would black-and-white and color film still have a reasonable chance of producing usable images after decades of storage? Is the best approach to send a few test rolls to a specialist lab first before committing to the rest?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
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In 1924, 29 years before Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary summited Mount Everest, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine made an attempt to climb the mountain. They were last seen high on Everest making their final push for the summit. Nobody knows for sure if they made it, because they were never seen alive again. But they carried a camera with them, and it is speculated that if the camera is ever found, it will contain a photo of any successful summit. Mallory's body was found in 1999, but no camera. Presumably Irvine then had the camera, but his body remains undiscovered.
To quote Wikipedia: "Experts from Kodak have said that if a camera is ever found, there is some chance that its film could be developed to produce printable images if extraordinary measures are taken, and have provided guidance as to handling of such a camera and the film inside".
The advantage in that case though is that the film has remained in cold conditions since exposure. Your big disadvantage is that you left your film to the vagaries of room temperature at home.
If I had undeveloped photos from Checkpoint Charlie from the night the Berlin Wall fell, I would most certainly make an effort to have them developed. (I would additionally be asking myself why I waited 28 years to do so!!) I would probably use the services of someone like Film Rescue International or The Rescued Film Project, to give myself the best possible chance of getting useful images back. I'm not in any way affiliated with them, nor have I used their services, but see their samples online for what is possible.
Originally by user38159. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user38159
8y ago
0
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Yes—it is still worth trying, especially because the images are important and there is at least a real chance of recovering something.
Old latent images can fade over time, and storage conditions matter a lot. Since the film was simply stored around the house, results may range from usable to faint or poor, with color film generally being more vulnerable than black-and-white. But decades-old film has been successfully developed before, and even much older film may sometimes yield images with careful handling.
The safest approach is to use a professional lab, ideally one experienced with old or expired film. Don’t experiment with all the rolls at once: send one roll of each film type first as a test. That will show whether the remaining rolls are likely to be worth processing and may help the lab choose the best handling.
In short: it’s not too late to try, and the historical value makes a test development well worth doing.
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