Streets with expired Konica VX100

I had a few Konica VX100 rolls gifted from a friend and mostly used them randomly. This was the last roll, so this time I intentionally tried to capture some colorful scenes, to see how it turns out. I usually use expired film for pinhole photos or random shots, so this was (probably) a first. The expiration date was, I think, 2002 or 2004, but I shot it at 100 ASA. I used this roll in mid 2020, so yes, I probably should’ve added a stop or two. In the end I still think it turned out nice – I almost always do some post processing (contrast and color adjustments) because, why not? Especially if the negative has low contrast like this one. I tend to leave it simple – mostly just auto levels in PS and sometimes I add just a little vibrance and/or saturation. Long expired film usually has big color shifts and this really helps the image to get some “life” back.

I loaded the roll in my Contax T2 and went with my daughter to the first Pride Ride in Zagreb (Croatia), held 4. july 2020 – the best way to see how the negative captures colorful attendants! The rest was shot basically on the same street (Savska) but a few months later. As you can see the colors are pretty funky, a straight scan from my Nikon Coolscan 4000 shows mostly a pink and green cast which was still retained a bit in post processing. I love how the processed photos still look somehow “off”.

Two examples of a straight scan vs. processed:

Please don’t assume the same color shift will happen on other expired VX100, it probably depends on the storage conditions and of course the expiration date. But don’t be afraid to use those expired negatives for “serious” work. There’s a degree of unpredictability which sometimes helps me get the motivation for photography that I lost a little bit in the early 2020’s. That’s why this film was left in the fridge undeveloped until last year. Maybe this is also the reason for the funky color shift? I don’t know, but I am pleasantly surprised how it turned out. Enjoy the full gallery, I’ll be glad to hear your thought in the comments.

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