Quote:
Originally Posted by doreenjoy
I had a roll of film turn blurry with odd blue shadows, but I was never sure if it was the X-ray machine or just ancient film that had been sitting on the shelf for far too long in the Mexican store I bought it from.
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X-rays, if having any effect, wouldn't cause color changes, so no blue from them. That was a common problem with out-of-date film though. Sounds as if your film was past it's 'use by' date. That causes a lot of color distortion. Blurring
was thought to be a problem caused by the X-rays, but it would be in thin strips only, rather than across the entire photo. Just the edge of the canister facing the scanner and receiving the rays would be affected, so only thin lines spaced along the length of the film. Or at least, so went the prevailing theory.
'Pro film' is always stored in a refrigerator and is sold 'green,' (i.e. not 'ripe' yet) with the idea that it will be at the perfect point of chemical 'readiness' by the time the pro shoots it. We even carried our film in cooler boxes when shooting in tropical climates. It was the only way to get correct color when shooting slide film. Consumer film sold in tourist shops may or may not be 'fresh,' depending upon where you find it. I saw some film being sold in Bali that was four years past expiration date! These days, buying film is getting more and more difficult as fewer places stock it and shops try to get rid of what they have stored, so for people still shooting with it, it's important to check the dates on the boxes.
Stitchawl