Earlier this year I shot a roll of expired Fuji Sensia 100 and cross processed it in C41 chemistry. The results certainly inspired me enough to want to experiment more with cross processing. This time I had a roll of expired Fuji Provia 400. I decided to shot it at ISO 100 as it was old, dated 2002. Not knowing if the ISO roll-back rule applied to expired transparency film, something that I always do with old negative films, it was a bit of a risk, but so what, it’s experimental after all.

I shot Natasha on a cloudy afternoon with some broken sunlight using my CONTAX RTS III and Vario-Sonnar 35-70mm, spot metering straight of her red coat, exposure was straightforward. The film was developed with Fuji Hunt X-Press C41 chemistry. Rather than the deep green of Sensia 100 the Provia 400 came off the reel a rich violet colour.

What surprised me though was unlike the Sensia that once scanned and inverted had a strong bias to red/yellow and required some post-processing to get the scans to look more natural, this Provia gave pleasant and accurate colours directly from the scanner. I was amazed at the skin tones and beautiful red and blues. The film grain is present but it's not disagreeable. In addition where there was more exposure the colours even started to give a pleasing pastel look. Based on this roll I will be keeping an eye out for more Fuji Provia 400.

Model: Natasha Bush