I have a confession to make. I like to gamble… With expired film emulsions. What follows is the largest gamble I’ve made so far, and the images it delivered. This latest expired roll was made in 1963/64 by East Germany’s former Kodak factory, which was renamed to VEB Fotochemische Werke Berlin. The film expired in […]

Author Archives: Tim Stephens
Obsessed with classic film cameras of the 1930's-60's, I'll never miss an opportunity for trying new developers and using classic expired emulsions.
Performance-to-value: A quick look at some vintage East German Carl Zeiss Jena lenses
When I grew up during the Cold War, every product from the Eastern Bloc was considered junk. Take the Trabant and its 2-stroke engine. While it’s gone on to cult status, it remains a laughably horrible vehicle. You might think lenses from East Germany’s Carl Zeiss Jena (CZJ) are in the same camp — trendy […]
5 Frames… Of ~30 years expired ORWO NP22 (EI 80 / 120 Format / Hasselblad 500CM)
Sometimes technical perfection counts less than the artistic adventure of trying new things, and I recently decided to join the growing number of photogs shooting expired film. This was a tough departure for me – I almost always shoot Fujifilm NEOPAN 100 ACROS or sometimes ILFORD Delta 100 Professional and carefully develop it with an […]