I think the advice to always shoot expired film is wrong

I was at a camera swap meet in Portland last weekend and saw a lot of people selling old film. They kept saying it's fine to use and gives cool colors. I bought a roll of Kodak Gold from 2005 to test it. After I got my photos back, half of them were flat and grainy, and two shots were just blank. I wasted about $15 on developing for pictures I can't use. I know some people like the look, but telling new folks it's always okay feels like bad advice. Have you had a roll that just didn't work at all?

2 comments

2 Comments

grantthomas23d ago

That Portland swap meet sounds like a gamble. I've had a few rolls from 2010 turn out fine, so maybe it's just luck of the draw with storage.

sam_anderson23d ago

Yeah that Portland story is exactly why I'm careful now. Grabbed some old Fuji Superia from a flea market once and it looked like someone smeared vaseline on the lens, just total mush. Like @grantthomas said, it's a total gamble unless you know it was stored in a fridge forever.