5 Frames With Ilford Delta 100 (expired 2006) – by Simon King

There were so many things that could have gone wrong with the rolls of Delta 100 I shot in April. ISO 100 films in general I tend to avoid, instead I prefer anything around 400 which I find the be the most versatile for everyday use. The last time I shot with expired film it turned out terribly, and the setting I was planning on shooting was a very dynamic one, in multiple locations, and requiring my attention throughout the day.

I had decided to dedicate my time to shooting a short series at the Extinction Rebellion protests, which occurred worldwide starting from the 15th of April but had one of the largest gatherings in the UK. London was the epicentre and I was deciding what I was going to record it with. Ilford films have always given me great results, but I was wary of these expired rolls, which I only owned because I had gone halves with another photographer on a very cheap ebay find.

However the weather had been lovely, and I had a backup camera loaded with 3200 which I was intending to push via stand development to 8000, so if the light changed drastically I could fall back on that. I ended up with light to spare, meaning I was able to overexpose the film, which is often how I prefer to shoot.

I was actually surprised by the rendering the film gave me – not only was there no evidence that the film was a decade and a bit out of date, but it was actually incredibly clear. I would have put this down to the overexposure, except that even in images that had very mixed lighting, or ones I know were dead-on-exposed, or just under came out with that same clarity.I’m very used to the results from Delta 400 which is one of my favourite films, and these were similar enough to remain consistent whilst different enough that they are distinct, and leaving me wondering whether it’s worth exploring this specific “look” any further. Especially over the summer investing in more 100 speed film makes sense, so I’ll definitely be shooting some fresher rolls over the coming months.

I’m really happy with many of the images produced on this film, and making a selection of only 5 for this article was a struggle. I’m glad that everything was developed alright in the end, and that I have images I’m proud of as a result.

Thanks for taking the time to have a look at my work! If you’ve enjoyed these images then you might enjoy more of my photography, which can be seen over on my Instagram.

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