As anyone who has been hanging out and shooting with me has probably noticed I've been shooting a lot of slide film (E-6) this year and processing it as negative film (C-41). This is called cross-processing, or xpro if you're going for the cool factor, and has pretty crazy results. The photos turn out super contrasty and saturated and grainy and you get all sorts of unexpected artifacts and apparitions. 
The amount of film I've been shooting has been getting expensive and considering that I'm just experimenting and testing things out and having fun I've gone down the path of tracking down as much expired slide film as I can get my hands on. Usually buying film after its expiry date means you can get it for half price or less... and usually without being able to notice any difference between it and non-expired film since you're essentially using the 'wrong' chemicals to process it anyway. Sometimes, at places like a flea market or a camera swap you can find really old stuff for even cheaper. Last week in SF I hit the mother lode. I found a Brooks camera store just off market street with tons and tons of rolls of expired Fuji Provia 100, Fuji Provia 400, and Fuji Tungsten 64T for 1 dollar or $2.95 a piece. These are generally the most expensive types of film I buy and retail here in Vancouver for more than 10 dollars per roll. I bought a dozen of each. 
A few weeks back I paid 5 bucks for a big zip lock bag full of ancient slide film that who knows what will happen with when I shoot it. I didn't recognize any of the labels or names and don't even think they make most of it anymore. The results will be unpredictable and I'm kinda excited.
Expired Slide Film and Cross Processing
Posted Oct 14, 2005 by kk
I realized this is super old
I realized this is super old and I don't know if you're still checking comments or not but if you are I'd love some advice on getting these processed. I've shot 3 rolls of slide film so far and all 3 have come out in shades of one colour, 2 were red and one was blue. While it's kind of neat, it's also incredibly disappointing as this is not what I want at all. There's only one place in this city that deals with 120 film at all so I have no other local options and am now searching for somewhere I can send it away to have it x-pro'd to, hopefully, achieve different results.
If you're still checking this and have any advice, I'd really really appreciate it.
hi, i wonder, which slide
hi, i wonder, which slide film do you suggest? i bought kodak elitechrome and 5 or 6 photo looks like cross process. others are bad. what i must to do?
Have you ever seen c41 film
Have you ever seen c41 film cross processed as E6?
And don't you think the look on the face of the kid behind the counter at the camera store is funny when you come in asking to "develop my film wrong please"?
Hi. I would like to have a
Hi. I would like to have a go at this. Do you think my local film processing shop would have a problem with this. ie would it damage they C-41 chemicals?.
Kim Freeman - UK
I'm always thrilled when you
I'm always thrilled when you score on film cause I somehow manage to benefit from it. (Thanks!) Part of the reason I got my digital camera was to save on the cost of film and so far, I haven't been very good at that! Oops. But finding deals like you have been lately is definitely the way to go.
I shot one roll of the super old flea market film the other day but haven't yet seen the results. It's a crazy feeling not knowing what you're gonna get and it's always cool to see the reaction of the people at the developing lab when you hand them old-school film that they haven't seen for years. I'll keep you posted on the results!
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