berlinerfotografie
Hi,
I recently found a few ORWO NP 20 SL film cartridges (12 exposures, black and white, expired in 1992) at a friend’s house. They’re still in their original packaging and have been stored in a fairly cool place.
Does anyone know if I could still take photos with them, and if so, where or how I could get them developed?
I’d also be interested to know the value of the cartridges (as they’re no longer manufactured).
I haven’t been able to find anything about this online.
It would be really nice to know! :D
Best regards,
Adrian
landpfarrer
Hello Adrian,
The SL cartridge was the (Eastern) counterpart to the Agfa Rapid cartridge, but unlike the latter, it did not transmit any film information to the camera. The film inside is identical to ORWO NP 35mm film, so it can be developed in the same way. If you do it yourself, you have a chance of saving the cartridge; if you have it developed (by the usual providers – our friendly host would certainly be happy to do this too), there is a very high chance that the cartridge will be destroyed.
To take photos, you need a camera built for these systems (there were various types, such as the Beirette SL or Agfa Rapid) and an empty cartridge. As these cameras were in the low-price sector, they tend to be rather basic. Have a look at what you can find on auction sites. There you can also find out what prices such films are trading at; from what I’ve observed, supply clearly exceeds demand.
Best regards, Jörg
