Expired film, dust, and light leaks – two mistakes that turned into something else
Lately I’ve been going deeper into film photography and, without really planning it, I found myself buying more and more expired rolls.
Some of them work perfectly fine, like the Ilford Pan F I wrote about before. Others… not so much.
Kodak T-Max 400 (expired 2001)
This time I picked up a roll of Kodak T-Max 400 expired in 2001 and shot it with my Minolta X-700.
When I first saw the scans, I thought something went wrong. The entire roll had a lot of dust on it. Not just a few spots here and there, but consistent marks across almost every frame.
At first it was frustrating. It felt like the images were somehow ruined. But the more I looked at them, the more I started to like what was happening.
The dust didn’t feel like a defect anymore. It gave the images a certain texture, something unpredictable that I didn’t have control over. And I think that’s what made it interesting.
It stopped being about getting a “clean” result and became more about accepting what the film gives you.
Canon A-1 and unexpected light leaks
Around the same time, I also got a Canon A-1.
I had been curious about it for a while, and I finally found one, but I didn’t really know how it had been stored or in what condition it was.
I loaded a fresh roll of Fomapan 400 and went out to shoot.
The camera feels heavier than the Minolta and definitely more complex. A lot more options. It’s not something that feels instantly intuitive, but I can tell that once I get used to it, it will be easy to work with.
What I didn’t expect were the light leaks.
The light seals were clearly worn out, and the leaks showed up randomly across the frames. Since it was black and white, they came out as bright white areas, sometimes subtle, sometimes quite strong.
Again, not ideal.
But also not entirely bad.
Some frames felt more alive because of it. Less controlled. Less perfect.
Fixing the camera
I didn’t feel like I ruined anything. If anything, it made the whole experience more interesting.
Still, I ordered a light seal replacement kit and I’m planning to fix it myself. I’ve never done it before, but from what I’ve seen it’s a pretty straightforward process.
Hopefully I don’t mess it up.
What I’m starting to realise
What I’m starting to realise is that these “mistakes” are part of the process.
Expired film, dust, light leaks, none of them are things you would normally aim for, but they can shift the way an image feels.
Not better, not worse. Just different.
And I think I’m okay with that.
What’s next
I’ll keep experimenting and see where this goes.
Next, I want to try a few color stocks, Ektar 100 and some Kodak Vision rolls. I’m curious to see how they translate, especially since Vision is used in cinema.
I’ll share more once I have something.
