How important is storage temperature after exposure?

[awalkinthestreet]

I'm going to be travelling for many months and shooting film on the way. I won't have access to fridges and won't be staying in AC rooms so the film will be stored at normal room temperatures. The countries I will visit are 30oC+ daily.

How will my exposed Tri-X cope? I normally push 2 stops and won't be able to develop the film for up to 6 months. Am I likely to get fogging or any other negative effects?

Thank you for your advice!

 

[steverett]

Storage before or after exposure will have the same effect. B+W films are generally more resilient than color, and Tri-X especially (it was the go-to film for most photojournalists after all). If you buy fresh film right before the trip, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Are you going to be moving around a lot? You could bring a small tank and some concentrated developer/fixer with you, or mail the film home to someone who can store them in a freezer for you.

 

[awalkinthestreet]

Storage before or after exposure will have the same effect. B+W films are generally more resilient than color, and Tri-X especially (it was the go-to film for most photojournalists after all). If you buy fresh film right before the trip, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Are you going to be moving around a lot? You could bring a small tank and some concentrated developer/fixer with you, or mail the film home to someone who can store them in a freezer for you.

Thanks. Yes for most of the trip I will be carrying a tank and dev/fix, but during the second half of the trip it won't be possible as we are travelling by bicycle in the Indian himalayas... it wouldn't be possible to dev on the road then. Also it won't be possible to post film home very often as we will be in the middle of nowhere most of the time.

Glad to hear that Tri-X can hold up to higher storage temps... I will buy the film a few weeks before the trip from a company who always freeze stores them.

 

[blue4130]

I did six months around the world with over 100 rolls of Arista premium 400 (Tri-x rebranded) a few years back. Half of the trip was South East Asia in the hot and dry season. I didn't worry about trying to keep things cool or try to avoid x-rays. I came back and developed everything without issue. Samples are on my website and flickr.

(also, my film was slightly expired - no issues at all)

 

[x-ray]

You're not likely to see fog but may experience some latent image fading especially in shadow areas. Different films have better latent image properties than others. If you have time shoot two identical rolls. Freeze one in a sealed container and throw the other in a drawer. After several months process both together and compare. This is the only way to know. Pushing sacrifices shadow information and shadows fade first.

 

[sevo]

It really depends on the film. But there are not that many films with a weak latent image any more - Pan F and Velvia may be the only currently available films left where half a year at 35°C is critical to destructive. I'd expect Tri-X to be quite unaffected - you probably would be able to spot a difference between cold and hot stored rolls with the same subject, but you will not be able to tell if there also are differences in lighting or subject...

 

[jschrader]

I think the issue (if any) is mostly in color film. If the three layers do not behave equally you would expect color shifts.

 

[Fotohuis]

For professional color film it can be a problem. Hence indicated on the film box. For B&W I won't see any problem unless it will be a much longer time period on extreme temperatures above 30C-35C.

 

[sevo]

For professional color film it can be a problem. Hence indicated on the film box. For B&W I won't see any problem unless it will be a much longer time period on extreme temperatures above 30C-35C.

Pan F might be one (quite possibly the last) exception - I've seen that lose critical amounts of latent image after a mere four weeks in the tropics. Hard to tell whether that extends to current batches, it will have had formula changes since the nineties, but people still complain about poor latent image storage.

 

[Fotohuis]

PAN F+, maybe a problem for over 6 months. However I do not use this film anymore. It (35mm) has a very high base fog even when it is new.