Just a casual peruse of eBay and found this Agfa XRS 100 for a few quid. so I took a punt, loaded it onto my Fuji GSWiii and took it for a whirl one summer afternoon.
Agfa are a little less well known film brand but as I would find out a very reliable one nonetheless. This Agfa XRS Colour Negative film was set at ISO100 Agfa XRS and expired in 1990. 30 years would mean that I would probably need to push it 3 stops to see what I could get with it, if anything were to come from it at all.
This particular film is rated at ISO 100 so I shot some side streets in central London to see what I could capture. I remember just picking a random road and got shooting.
I saw this old car and thought that would be a perfect fit for this film, an old Mercedes classic. Decided to focus on taking a shot of the tail light rather than a wider angle of the whole car. The devil was in the details, just like how the old school radio antenna had been bent for maximum efficiency for old AM and FM stations and then the black plastic bit hanging off in a sorry state of the taillight. It didn't look like this car got much of an outing at all, although I wonder with a little service and repaint what potential it may have!
Next shot taken down this side road, I saw this person hurriedly walk past and thought he would make a good subject. Working out the distance would be a bit tricky so I think I decided for him to walk beyond ten metres before committing to the shot itself. I like how the shadows are falling off of the lines converging in at the end where he is walking off. Perhaps capturing a shot of him as he had walked into the light would have worked out even better but something to think about for next time.
As I was walking along I found an old church which has been retrofitted to be a food market. It was a bit strange at first to see an old place of worship being turned into an upmarket canteen but I guess there you have it.
Side note here, when shooting an old film, even if it is expired try to work with it as if it is a new film.The change in mindset will help you to shoot with it with more faith [no pun intended] and if it does come out you will be even more pleased with the shot itself.
This shot facing to where the old altar [portrait shot- last shot would have been came out dark but it fits the mood of the gothic feel to the image.The way the light is falling through the stained glass along with the internal lights adds a deeply sombre and moody feel.
Found this lovely balcony near the front of the church and had to squeeze up into position to be able to take this shot. The subdued colours from the clouds to the buildings truly gives it a vintage feel so pleased with this outcome. This picture could have been taken decades ago and would not have shown much difference, beside a little ageing of the film!
As I was coming back down this tiny stairwell and saw a little window which looked like a good snapshot view of the entrance. It was a bit of risk but hey you lose all the shots you don't take! In Fact the film has done quite well here as I whacked the camera to f5.6 15/secShow your support, end ugly instas The floor is visible, just about and you can clearly see the entrance and lights in the entrance area too.
I took another shot this time with a landscape view from the ground floor looking up. I think it's a little ironic in a way that you have the food stalls in the floor illuminated with the stained glass windows of saints illuminated looking down on them. It’s like going back to biblical times, I wonder if there is a deeper meaning in this image.
Outdoors in bright sunlight the film perform remarkable well, this shot has a real 60s feel to it. I finished up with this image of this extremely narrow street which is my favourite shot from this set of images.
Overall I was really pleased with how these images turned out and I would definitely shoot some old stock Agfa again. You can never go wrong with some trusted german engineering.
A couple of key tips when shooting with old film, remember to shoot it as if you have new film, albeit factor in how old the film is and push process it one or two stops if necessary in post. If your film is only a few years old and you know has been stored well you will be fine shooting it as is.
If you are going to shoot indoors try and shoot with a leaf shutter camera which will allow you to bring those shutter speeds way down and along with a super wide aperture you should be able to capture something classic and unique forsure.
Expired film isn’t for shoots which you know you definitely need images for such as portrait shoots but certainly will get you out and about and give you some joy for just being to have go out and shoot. You never know what you’ll see or who you’ll meet!
If you have shot with old or recent Agfa film stocks, thinking about it or have film photography gems to share then let me know in the comments below, punch the subscribe button.