Tell me about freezing film

wintoid

wintoid

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I just bought a load of colour negative film from www.choose-film.com, which is past its expiry date (Jan 2007), but has apparently been kept properly. I'm a bit gung-ho, and quite happy to keep it in a box under the bed if someone tells me that I can ignore Jan2007 and that even 130 year old film is fine. On the other hand, if I should freeze it, how should I do it, and how should I defrost it?
 
I have not stored film in the freezer by have considered it. My thought was to put in a zip lock bag in a tupperware container.

I am with wintoid, how do you guys do it?
 
To freeze it, just put it in the freezer.

To defrost it, I like to put my film in the fridge for a a day, and also before using it it is a good idea to let it come to ambient temperature (about 2 hours or so) before opening it it to avoid condensation.

Never had any problems.
 
Haha, well NPH was one of them, but also Press 400 and Reala. I've never really done colour film before, so looking forward to a change 😀
 
Just spent 20 mins on a long reply only to have it rejected.

To repeat ; I did my films up into useful size bundles like single cans or 6 or 8 cassettes or 9 x 110s.

Took them to a butcher friend who put them in sealed cryovac envelopes so I can freeze them and not have to worry about water if the freezer fails or on thawing at room temperature.

The cryovac sucks all the air out it can after filling it with nitrogen first. One can not in a box had wrinkles in the tin lid. The only warning he gave was that the sharp corners of the 35mm boxes might perf. the envelops so I flattened them with a whack on the counter, first.

If the envelope does get puctured the air rushes in and it is quite obviuos to the eye what has happened.

Just a tip for those with access to that cryovac machine.

Murray
 
For those who've done this for a while, at what point have you seen noticeable deterioration in the film? I gather that the evil cosmic rays eventually will fog a film, frozen or not, and that faster films decay more quickly than slower.

Most of my frozen stuff is ISO 50 so not terribly worried, but curious nonetheless.
 
I'm using out of date Reala (couple of years past 'Use by') and Sensia (ten years past 'Use by') and never bother with freezing or fridging - it just sits on my office shelf.

Mind you the Sensia is always cross-processed in C41 anyway which introduces it's own color shifts that I like. I don't know how much the age contributes to the look. But the Reala is producing good results, and I don't see any need to give it any special treatment.
 
Defintely chill film to susped deterioration. Do whatever you need to to make sure moisture can't condense on it when you remove it. If it has never been opened, the foil inner wrap or canister will do fine. If it has been opened, like a partially used bulk roll, repackage the entire thing in a plastic bag before chilling.
 
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As with some others experience, I have kept film in the freezer for years and had great results.
I keep it in the cans. Always let it warm to ambient before opening to avoid condensation. My Brother learned the hard way many years ago. He needed a roll quickly and only allowed about 15 minutes to warm up, and this was on a hot muggy day. Results were streaking from the moist film being dragged through the camera.
If I have bulk film in my Watson loader, I put the whole thing in a Zip-Loc bag, pressing out as much air as I can. Have never had any problems with this either. 😎
 
I have 3 bulk rolls of APX100 in the freezer. I kept them in the original bulk cans and then put all three in a ziplock bag. I guess this is the general concensus on how to store it. I'll let you know 10 years from now if this storage method affected the film.

They have out of date Reala, huh?
 
I have a pretty simple method that works great. Film in the original, un-opened box goes into Ziplock freezer bags- usually 10 rolls per bag, though my Agfa Ultra is in 2 gallon bags, 50 rolls per. I also include a large piece of paper with the exp. date of the film and the date frozen. This makes it easier to sort through the bags. I find the bags keep the carboard from getting all wet/deformed when I then defrost. I'll pull out a bag to defrost and just drop it on the darkroom counter overnight- films are ready to go in the morning.
 
I've been keeping film in the freezer for the past 30 years - as long as you haven't opened the container, there is no atmospheric moisture around the film that can condense on it, and no problems to be expected.

What I do is keep the bulk of my film in the freezer, with 10 or 20 rolls or so in the fridge, and 5 to 10 rolls at room temperature, and I progress them as I use them.

Once films have been opened (and/or exposed), I don't put them back in the freezer or fridge, because they have been exposed to moisture that may condense on them.
 
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