On eBay recently I picked up a bundle of Fujifilm NPH400 expired in 2004 in 120 format. The intention is to shoot it in the Lake District this summer, but being over 20 years out of date, needed to test a roll first.

The camera of choice is the Fujica G690BL which I will be shooting in the Lakes, so makes sense to use it for the test roll too.

Having the urge to see the sea, as occasionally happens - the feeling of just needing to be on a beach listening to the waves. With high tide and weather both playing ball, I headed for a quiet little bay on the Bristol Channel called Layde Bay. Being a weekday morning at 8am, I expected only the odd dog walker, but no - I had the whole place to myself.

With the exception of a few small light anomalies which didn’t appear on the rest of the roll, it seems the batch was stored well since it’s expiration date - the seller did state it had been refrigerated, and it looks to have been the case. The colours are accurate, and true to life.

This first shot is looking south towards the Victorian Pier at Clevedon (which is a great subject in itself).

In terms of metering, I was using the TTArtisan Lightmeter S2, which has done a pretty good job, although I do find my analogue Leningrad 4 to hit the spot better. The second shot below is ever so slightly over exposed, and could have been slightly darker in my opinion to bring back a little more in the sky. I know this could be done in editing, but I tend to not touch anything other than straightening horizons in Photoshop.

After spending a few week on beaches of the Mediterranean, you forget how different the colour of the water is in the Severn Estuary. With a bed of mud, the water is always brown! On the plus side, the NPH400 has capture this brown perfectly!

With high tide fast approaching, and the steps back up the cliff on the verve of being cut off by the water, I made a hasty retreat, and heading a couple of miles north to Battery Point.

The point juts out into the estuary with a small old light house on the end that, built in 1931 warns the passing ships of the jagged rocks on their approach to the Ports of Bristol. This point sees massive cargo ships regularly pass a couple of hundred meters off the coast through the deep channel - it is a truly impressive sight.

A very successful test then! The film performed spot-on, and the camera too - even though I am still zone focussing because I haven’t fixed the rangefinder yet! I will be taking the Leningrad 4 light meter instead of the TTArtisan though, as I trust it fully and find it easier to read.

So on to the English Lake District with full confidence in my setup to (hopefully) capture some amazing wild landscapes with mountains and lakes.

Batch testing expired Fuji NPH400

Four new cameras…