Kodak 400Cn film and age

[herb]

I have the opportunity to buy some old 400cn in 120 size that expired date 2006. What is the likelihood of this working out? I can probably get a test roll to try, but I am not experienced in these C 41 process films. the film has been refrigerated, not frozen.

[A49]

Get the test roll. After development make a testprint and look if your satisfied with the film´s qualitites. You should know that these C41 b/w films print a little different than the coventional ones also if they are brand new. If you don´t know these C-41 b/w films by now, make yourself ready for the surprise how much finer the "grain" (in reality "colour clouds" as it is a C-41 film) is in comparison to an already fine grained 400 ASA film (Tmax or Delta).

After my experience I don´t think that the film has gone much worse due to the long keeping. Fridge keeps films healthy and with a C-41 b/w film there will not occur any colour changes . The only thing that could be a little worse than with a new film is fog. You will see it on your test roll negatives if there is too much of it. If you want to check everything the most exact way, buy one roll of new 400 CN and compare the same scene with the same exposure with the brand new roll and one of the 2006 rolls.

Andreas