Cross-Processing Expired Velvia on Canada Day

I have had a few rolls of long-ago-expired Velvia 50 in the freezer for, oh, about four years now. I purchased it from a local seller for a good price knowing that it met its date somewhere around 2010. When expired, this film often has a fairly heavy red or magenta cast that I don’t find entirely pleasing.

Originally, I was going to use one as a sacrificial roll in my first attempt to develop slide film. Since I haven’t purchased an E-6 kit yet, I decided that it would be fun use this Canada Day holiday to see what would happen if I cross-processed one of the rolls instead!

So out we went, Kathleen and I, for a very slow walk in the dank and humid – but not yet entirely hot – weather in search of plants and flowers to make photos of. After a quick toodle, and we were back home into the air conditioning, which is quite necessary for summer and for standing over the warm water of C-41 development.

When I pulled the film out of the tank, it was a little disappointing. I don’t really know what I was expecting, but the negatives were dark. A sort of deep purple that, in the dim light of its drying area (the shower’s curtain rod), the frames weren’t even entirely apparent at a glance. I just hoped that they would come out in scanning.

And they did! A definite pull toward the greens was (and is) apparent, but I am generally happy with the results.