Expired & Exposed: Canon AE-1 with FujiColor 400NPH

If you’re following me, you already know I’m all about adventure and learning new things. Whether it’s experimenting with a rare film, First time mountain biking 🚵‍♀️ , or first time developing color negs - I jump right in!

This is another post adding to a larger series named Expired & Exposed. In this installment join me as I share my experiences with processing expired NPH 400 Fujifilm photographed using a Canon AE-1.

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Last month Amelia and I brought the dogs to my mom’s house (where they have their favorite couches) and took a short road trip from Knoxville to Nashville, Tennessee. She had some loose plans to bop around town, meanwhile I had my Canon fueled and ready for what the weekend had to offer.

We kept it low-key during the day before meeting friends in the evening - only driving the downtown strip with the windows open. Nevertheless, the photographic highlights of the trip were our visits to the Nashville Farmers Market and the Bicentennial Capital Mall. Outfitted with our big hats, we explored the various shops both indoor and outdoor. A-stones-throw from the market stretches a large monument/Park in the capitols shadow.

A bit overexposed, flat, and I’m not sure what’s going on with the bright spot under the basket in Amelia’s left hand. Bad scan? Feel free to comment below if you have any ideas. Pictured: Boo tang 🍓 outside of the Famer’s Market enjoying her sweet treat.

Ok, so this frame isn’t much, but I love it! This is why I shoot expired - you kinda never know what you’ll get. This gritty mess with deep red and twingy concrete, but beautiful skin tone...This effect (like above) seems to happen more with the aperture wide open. Pictured: Tang treat

I notice some range here... nice detail in the shadows, all the way thru those beautiful gold highlights. Pictured: under shaded areas of market live mostly, plant and landscape-tchatchki vendors.

There is an overall trend of film degradation and also poor temperature control - seen a bit here. Still happy with this frame - retained excellent sharpness and detail. Pictured: stadium seating at Capitol viewing end of Bicentennial Park.

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Alright, the excitement levels are pretty high here!

I’m proud of this first-time milestone of developing color using C41. Although easy, that box is checked.

Ok. Excitement over, time to be critical. I had issues in the lab. The Unicolor C41 powder kit has some disadvantages... one of which being that the Blix - bleach and fix in one solution. After some research, and testing I’ve decided its a bad idea. You wind up with a very unstable solution, one that will ultimately fail quickly.

I also learned these chemicals were originally designed for press photographers working in the field who had to get out a processed negative as fast as possible. Getting the best results was not important, nor were the keeping properties of the chemicals. Anyhow, I’d use the developer again, but find alternatives for bleach, fix, and final wash/rinse; however I might be better off exploring what Kodak and/or Fujicolor have to offer.

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This is another one of my favorite frames of the roll - catching a cyclist commuting to the out local Knoxville market. However, this photo like the next , almost look like they were taking with a different stock. I was hoping for more pop in street signs and her bike. Pictured: Biker Chic

On to the film!

I’ll keep it brief here, just a few notes on the film. NPH 400 was produced from 2002- 2004 labeled as Daylight balanced film, and lager renamed Pro 400H. I’ve had it freezer-kept for some time, but there’s no telling way it was stored before me. Expiration date unknown, by the production dates above, I’d guess ~5years.

Check out Fuji’s film info sheet here for technical data.

NPH is not as low contrast as I anticipated. so if 400H is the same emulsion, as most sources indicate, it is higher contrast than Portra 160S. Now that Agfa Optima is gone(I’ve got some hiding), the only true low-contrast 400 speed film is Portra 400NC. More on that in another post.

I’n very happy with the rich cream skin tones, and various deep hues of green that frankly, didn’t think were achievable with this expired stock. A few frames look rich and sharp, while one or two could have been a stop lower (or so).

Again, more muted than I would have liked to see, but overall even exposure with fine grain. Pictured: Honey 🍯 Truck

I’m happy with my results with this roll. I will better learn to handle the degradation of the expiry, but overall this was a mixed bag (results from other stocks coming soon). In addition most of my off-color results (IMO) are also due to the expiry.

Stay tuned for my next post on Konica Pro 160, Optima 100, and Portra 160!