Expired C41 Developer - Greece 2022

I posted earlier about taking the family to Greece this past summer for my cousin's wedding. I took well over 1000 photos on that trip with my digital camera, and am still sorting through some of those... though I did also bring 2 film cameras; My Nikon F4 35mm, and Yashica 635 medium format TLR.  Unfortunately, when I arrived, my F4 refused to turn on, so - with regard to film - I was down to shooting exclusively with my TLR that I had picked up 2 days before flying to Greece, via an impulse purchase during a trip to B&H Photo for some film.

I'm really happy that salesman at B&H convinced me of the unbelievable deal I had in my hands (heh) - I had a lot of fun learning how to use the TLR! I had never shot with one before. Shooting with a 120mm 6x6 waist-level camera is a very different experience than a traditional SLR or Rangefinder 35mm camera - for one thing, you're framing your shots in a square rather than in a 3:2 ratio. And more confusingly, you're looking at a horizontally inverted image - so when you pan left, the image goes right, and visa-versa; it definitely takes some getting used to.

In addition, there is no light meter on the Yashica 635 - so you're relegated to using an external probe, or in my case, a light meter app (myLightMeter Pro) on my iPhone - which, was remarkably accurate. There is no automatic film advance or shutter cocking... no autofocus, or aperture settings, etc. You're working everything completely manual. In summary, getting a picture with this old TLR from the 60s is not a fast process by any means, but it is as fun as it is involved.

However, those of you with a keen eye right now may be thinking, "but, Milton, these photos look like shit." - and from a technical perspective, you wouldn't be mistaken 😂. There's scratches, dust marks, horrendous vignetting, faded colors, etc. While it was my first time shooting with a TLR, it was also my first time developing 120mm film. As such, I had tremendous difficulty in getting the film wound onto the holster for my development tank. With my small changing / darkroom bag, my hands were getting sweaty, I'm certain light was leaking in from the worn out arm elastic, I was scratching and destroying the undeveloped film... It was a nightmare.  

Once I did successfully get the film into the development canister (after about an hour of fumbling around), I found that the C41 color developer, which had been sitting in my basement for weeks, degraded to the point where it had expired, and all the negatives I had developed with it came out dramatically underexposed. I had to drastically compensate during the scanning process, which led to the images that you're seeing here. Needless to say, I was completely gutted at first - So much so, in fact, that it put me off from shooting film for months after the trip. Literally - I didn't want to have to develop another roll of film with my existing set up, so I stayed off shooting film entirely. Here were the pictures of Greece that I had been anxiously looking forward to seeing, and they came out looking so wrong.

But - after I acquired the proper gear to scan the 120mm negatives (medium format film holsters, DSLR mounts, 5000k LED tablets, etc), I sat with the images for a bit... and they started to grow on me. A lot, in fact. I really started to appreciate the vintage vibe that resulted from my mishaps in developing and scanning. It's true, these images are not at all indicative of the wonderful color and detail that you would get from a film like Kodak Ektar 100; but there's the same type of appeal that I'm sure most vinyl enthusiasts would attest to, in comparison to a modern HiFi sound system. I wouldn't be able to recreate the feel of these pictures via editing a digital picture, even if I tried hard to do so. The pictures are what they are - no backsies, no edits - and there's a bit of magic in that.

These pictures went from being something I considered a wasted opportunity - (my first trip with a medium format film camera through the historic Greek villages on the mastic island of Chios, and the hidden prize of the Aegean, Samos!) - to becoming some of my favorite pictures that I've ever taken. It could be that I'm biased, with most of the subject matter being my family, and with all of the good memories associated with these images, but that's fine. I think the digital pictures that I have are great, and all, but they don't have the same charm that these sloppily developed and poorly scanned images do. Perhaps you feel differently... perhaps you agree - either way, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

So, that's my first post with 120mm film in the books. I've shot many more rolls through my Yashica 635 since this trip, and I'm excited to share them soon. Thankfully, the subsequent shots were developed properly - in a new LARGE changing bag - and they are a good demonstration of what can be achieved with these very old (yet capable!) cameras. I'll leave you with just a few more that are the most special to me. Cheers: