Monday, August 9, 2010

"Will This Work??" Ektar 25 edition.

I remember shooting Ektar 25, long ago, in the before times. It was an ultra-fine-grained, saturated film with a vanishingly low ISO of 25- so you'd shoot it outdoors, on a sunny day, or you wouldn't shoot it at all. But if you had a lot of light, or if you were used to shooting Kodachrome anyway, Ektar 25 was the way to go. Kodak's new Ektar 100 (available in store) is a spiritual successor, but I still mourn Ektar 25's brief run.


That's why I was pleased to see this old roll walk through the door, squashed into the bottom corner of a neglected camera bag. It's been a while, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to load it up see if it would still capture a decent picture.


Why the question? Well first of all, it's obviously not had an easy life: the box is smashed and watermarked, and it had apparently been stored in a hot attic for at least the last few years. And second of all, this film is older than some of you:
Still worth a try, though. And the results?



They're excellent:
You can see more (including full-res scans) on Flickr right here.


So, the lesson here is that the next time you see a good deal on expired film- even if it's really, really expired- don't be afraid to give it a try.


Also, someone needs to manufacture an ultra-slow colour film again.

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