From: dannmann@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Daniel Harley Wagner)
Newsgroups: rec.photo
Subject: How to develop older (exposed) film?
Date: 11 Jan 1993 03:35:09 GMT
Organization: Computing Services Division, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: 129.89.7.4
Summary: I found this film that's 10 years old, and, well.  Can it be
Originator: dannmann@csd4.csd.uwm.edu

  After losing my last camera, I started to rummage around in my parent's
house for spare cameras, and that sort of thing..  I found an old Zeiss IKon
Contessamat SBE..  Non-functional..  (the focusing lens is absent, and the
viewfinder is kind of out-of-alignment, amoungst other problems I can't
really describe) However, it had some film in it!  I'm judging this film to
be approximately 10 years old, at the least.  It's in a RATHER old Kodak
tin.  It's a black tin, and the endcap appears to be removable, but there is
a label on it that sez "..scochrome 500" and "Kodak Coporation" beneath
that..  However, in black permanent marker, someone wrote "Plus X 36" over
the label.  I'm assuming that it's Plus X, for simplicity's sake.  I'm also
assuming that there is a latent image in the emulsion, somewhere.
  So.  Can it be developed?  The leader is rolled back into the can, so
until I get into a darkroom, I can't fiddle with any of the time formulas
for developing, and I'm not sure if those formulas will work with my
developer, anyway.  (My developer is kind of..  Well.  To say old would be
being nice about it.)  I have a spare film tank to store it in whilst I
play, though, so I'm not really limited to popping the can open, loading it,
and developing it as normal, and praying.  Also:  If it only needs standard
developing @ 68 F, how long is that?  (I've been using ilford for longer
than I can remember..)

  Also.. I'm in the market for a new (used?) camera..  I'm currently looking
at somethign in a Cannon Rebel line.  (Rebel, Rebel S, Rebel II, or rebel II
S, I'm not really sure what I want..)  The way I see it, I'm looking at
buying a Rebel II.. I don't need the built in flash, and the extra shutter
speed doesn't thrill me.  (If I'm going to ever get CLOSE to shooting either
the sun's corona, or a speeding bullet, I'll be doing things differently.)
  But what's the difference between a Rebel and a Rebel II? Assuming I can
find one, I'd think that I could pick up a Rebel a little bit cheaper than a
II.  All that I want is Auto Exposure, Auto Focus if it's reasonably fast
(fast enough that I can, say, snap a surprise sports action shot..  Unlike
my carryover camera, which has about a 2-3 second delay between when I hit
the button and when it actually clicks.  Or that's what it seems like when
you're shooting basketball..) and manual override for anything else.  A
built in spotmeter is nice, but as I have been led to believe, you have to
get pretty far down the line to not get any sort of exposure indicator..  I
used to use a Canon T-50, if any of you can remember that thing..  It was
nice enough, but now that they don't sell anything like that on the market
anymore, I guess I have to spend the $$$ on a semi-automatic camera.  So,
the wish list is:
   Auto-focus (not fuzzy, please!),
   Auto-Exposure
   Manual override on f-stop, shutter speed, film speed, etc.
(throw-back-ability.  I want to actually KNOW what the camera is doing, when
I decide to sit down and try some of the camera tricks they discuss in some
of the camera encyclopedias that I've gotten.  They're all from the mid
70's.)
   A semi-decent Hotfoot.  (First curtain synch, second curtain, etc.)

 So what is it?  A camera that I can use stupidly when taking family photos,
but also able to be thrown into artiste' mode for when I'm doing
portraiture, landscapes, interesting scenes, etc.  If it can automatically
BLH, (bracket like hell) that'd be a plus, but I can handle it manually, if
not.  In other words, a camera like the Rebel II s, but without the flash or
super-shutter speed.  Or should I break down and spend the $350+ on a Rebel
IIs?  If you've got a used camera like what I described, and it's working,
and you want to sell it, leave me e-mail at the address below..  I'm open to
suggestions.
   Dann
dannmann@csd4.csd.uwm.edu

-- 
  Daniel Wagner             | Standard disclaimer <here>
  dannmann@csd4.csd.uwm.edu 
Newsgroups: rec.photo