I have only ever known Polaroid for their instant film but when I picked up my new-to-me Canon Sure Shot Z90W, I was also given two rolls of questionably dated Polaroid High Definition 35mm film at ISO 100.
I was skeptical. I was hesitant to shoot it; the seller didn’t look like he was too interested in film photography and was simply trying to get rid of old junk. Don’t get me wrong, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with shooting expired film. I purchased and shot the original ACROS film stock and the results were beautiful.
It’s simply that the film must have been stored properly to minimize the degradation of the emulsion which means cool temperatures, no blasts from x-rays, away from direct sunlight and in a dry place. I assumed the rolls were stored in the same storage box as the camera, put into an unused closet next to heat vents with fluctuating temperatures and pictures taken on these rolls will be nothing like the sample images I was seeing floating on the Internet. I was not wrong.
Heavy grain and light trails galore.
I can see the potential in the film. The colours look like they might be very nice. The reds still look good and the greens look like they lean towards cyan.
I wouldn’t say that I gave the film the best chance of performing well. I was mostly interested in shooting it through the camera and trying to develop something.
If I wanted to have given it a fair change I should have shot it during a sunny day but it’s winter here and I’m impatient.
The images are interesting; nothing to gush about but fun nevertheless.
I still have a roll of 36 exposures left I could shoot during a brighter day to test out the film stock in more favourable conditions but I think I’ll just keep it in my office as a decorative piece. There’s a lot of other rolls I’d like to shoot at the moment.
Thank you so much for reading.
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