How many years can I keep exposed film before processing?

[Rayt]

How many years can I store b/w film before processing? I am shooting film again but intermittently and need to process in large batches to avoid keeping opened chemicals. I keep exposed 120 and 135 rolls in baggies in the fridge.

 

[Retro-Grouch]

How many years can I store b/w film before processing? I am shooting film again but intermittently and need to process in large batches to avoid keeping opened chemicals. I keep exposed 120 and 135 rolls in baggies in the fridge.

I can't say how long film can be kept, refrigerated or otherwise, before it degrades. But I would be leery of keeping exposed film in the fridge. Once the cannister or foil wrap (on 120) has been opened, your film has been exposed to moisture. That moisture will condense in the fridge, onto the film in the baggies, potentially causing reticulation and staining. Better to place the exposed film in a sealed container with desiccant silica gel, stored in a cool place. I've done this for months, even with color, with no harm to the film. If you're going for really long periods and want to use the fridge, the sealed container, with lots of desiccant, might be OK, but always allow the container to fully come up to room temperature before opening.

 

[Ronald M]

I have kept TMax 100 from a 100 foot roll in 24 and 36 exposure rolls 10 years now. Just tested one roll and it was fine.
Been doing this from 100 foot rolls for 60 years and never had a problem..

No experience with image degradation after 2 week. Every manufacturer says process promptly.

 

[Evergreen States]

How many years can I store b/w film before processing? I am shooting film again but intermittently and need to process in large batches to avoid keeping opened chemicals. I keep exposed 120 and 135 rolls in baggies in the fridge.

I'm in a similar boat, though I send all my film out for development. I will send it off in batches to save on shipping costs, but I'm on a fixed income and can usually only do a few rolls at a time. I keep my exposed film in the freezer and have never had a serious problem. Sometimes it's in there for years. I have rolls that are probably more than half a decade old that I hope to finally send off this year when I have the money, so we'll see.

Ilford Pan F+ I only shoot if I expect to send it off within a month. Two at most. I keep it in the freezer once it's shot.

 

[robertofollia]

Well, to be honest I'll explain my particular case. 2 rolls of APX100 120 format (Leverkusen) shot in 1996. Forgot about them. Stored loose inside a wooden cupboard in Barcelona (wet and warm climate).
Found them in the summer of 1991. Developed then. Guess what? Images came totally fresh, despite very very slight bleeding from backing paper.
In a recent conversation with on of the organizers of the 9,5mm (pathe baby) film festival in Spain, the organizer told me some tests he performed with his own Fuji Velvia stock. Had 20 yr old stocks in the freezer. Shot a couple of rolls One was developed and the other one re-froze it and waited 5 more years to develop. Came perfectly.
To sump up. The fridge and low temps slow down the degradation. But freezing stops time. E-6 colour film is much more sensible. So with B/W negative you won't have any problem.
Tomorrow I'm sending for developing a 6 month old batch of films. All kept in fridge after exposing. IF the turnaround is greater than 6 months-1 year after exposing I choose to freeze.
Best regards

 

[Rayt]

Very encouraging answers. Thanks very much.

 

[Calzone]

Ray,

I use to batch develope once a month, and at my peak it was like 150 rolls of mixed 120 and 135. Zip lock bags do well to prevent moisture damage, and I stored exposed film in my fridge.

The only film I had problems with was Pan F. I did not use a lot of this film and would wait to fill a tank. Pretty much the Pan F I lost the images as time passed/accumulated.

After September 11th I took some color shots of the memorials set up on the Brooklyn promenade, but I waited perhaps 7 years before developing this film. I used Dugal a pro lab and explained that there was a period of delay and if they could compensate.

The shots came out, but they suffered a mired shift. One image was the most powerful and it was of two massive lite candles that represented what was now missing. The mired shift made the photo dream like and haunting.

Currently I have 6 rolls of 135 films in my fridge that were exposed over 3 years ago. Oh-well I guess I will find out and it could be interesting.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Ray,

Another thought was my friend Jim uses old film that is way expired. There is some formula that calculates the loss of film speed, but I don’t remember.

I was surprised on how once you compensate for the loss of some film speed the results were good.

Don’t know how development would need to compensated to unwind any bad effect, but in the past I have developed film stored in my fridge in zip lock bags that likely were exposed a year earlier. The only bad result was the Pan F I mentioned.

Cal

 

[markjwyatt]

...2 rolls of APX100 120 format (Leverkusen) shot in 1996. Forgot about them. Stored loose inside a wooden cupboard in Barcelona (wet and warm climate).
Found them in the summer of 1991...

What model time machine did you use? 😎

 

[armadsen]

I recently developed a roll of (Fuji something or other) C41 film I found in a camera that I had forgotten I had. It was in a box in my basement, probably there from when I moved into this house 10 years ago. It turned out I had shot the pictures on it in spring of 2005, 18 years ago. The photos came out perfectly fine.

I also recently developed a roll of Verichrome Pan I found in a box at a camera store. The photos have some light leaks around the edges, but are not terrible. They seem to have been shot in the 60s judging by the clothes.

My point is that for most films a few months really isn’t a big deal.

 

[enasniearth]

The undeveloped image
Is called a latent image

You can research latent image stability online

It’s best to develope within a couple months
There are examples of very old exposed film - discovered & processed - one famous example is from an artic balloon expedition where old film 30+ years old revealed photographs

 

[Freakscene]

How many years can I store b/w film before processing? I am shooting film again but intermittently and need to process in large batches to avoid keeping opened chemicals. I keep exposed 120 and 135 rolls in baggies in the fridge.

The sooner the better, but: Found Film – Page 1 If you leave Ilford Pan F+ or Kodak T-Max 3200 for more than a few weeks, you may have no images. At the link above, on the other hand, are fairly technically adequate photos from films that sat around for 50+ years. Storage conditions matter a lot.

 

[Malcolm M]

FP4 in ID-11, exposed 6 years ago, developed last week. Looks prima facie OK to me.

 

[titrisol]

It depends on the film, but keeping them for a few months should be fine.
We all have stories of film we have found, exposed 5-10-20 yrs ago which still produces good images
BUT it is better to have periodic development sessions so that you dont forget what the image was and have a good time learning.

 

[markjwyatt]

I understand that Ilford Pan F does not retain latent image for long (maybe 6 mo to a year?).

 

[Freakscene]

I understand that Ilford Pan F does not retain latent image for long (maybe 6 mo to a year?).

https://www.ilfordphoto.com/amfile/file/download/file/1905/product/699/

Important Note: Once exposed, process PAN F Plus as soon as practical – we recommend within 3 months.

In practice, you may see a loss of density after as little as a few weeks. Developing immediately is the best approach for all film, but particularly for Pan F+ or superspeed films. With Pan F+ after a year there will be substantial loss of density in developed films.

Marty

 

[skahde]

I noticed loss of contrast after more than a few weeks with several kinds of b&w film. Maybe an illusion, maybe not. Negatives are still usable after many years but start lookin quite murky after about a year or so. The train-picture above exemplifies it quite nicely. Don't be lazy, process promptly.

 

[raydm6]

It may depend on the film's speed. It appears faster films (unexposed or exposed and not processed) are more subject to the 3K Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation background effects than slower films.

Background Radiation

I've written about background radiation more than once in this forum. I ran across an image that demonstrates it far better than my words. The bottom part of this picture is taken from a first generation 800 speed film that was fresh. The top half is what you would get if you kept the same film i...

www.photo.net

NASA Study but on slower speed films:

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20010004099/downloads/20010004099.pdf

The Effect of Radiation on Selected Photographic Film​

The level of radiation encountered in space is greater than that found at the surface of the Earth. High background levels of radiation damage unprocessed photographic materials, which are typically somewhat sensitive to nonvisible portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The absorption of radiation by photographic films causes photographic fog.

From Kodak:

Motion Picture Film Storage & Protection Information

A leading global manufacturer focused on commercial print and advanced materials & chemicals. We believe in the power of technology and science to enhance…

www.kodak.com

Ambient Background Radiation (Effects on Raw Stock)​

Ambient gamma radiation is composed of two sources: a low energy component which arises from the decay of radionuclides and a high energy component which is the product of the interaction of cosmic rays with the earth's upper atmosphere. The radionuclides responsible for the low-energy photons exist in soil and rock and are carried into earth derived building materials such as concrete. Lead shielding or storage deep underground may be helpful, but for long-term raw stock storage, radiation will still be a factor. Upon exposure to ambient-background radiation, photographic materials can exhibit an increase in minimum density, a loss in contrast and speed in the toe, and an increase in granularity.
The change in film performance is determined by several factors, such as the film speed and length of time exposed to the radiation before the film is processed. A film with an Exposure Index (El) of 500 can exhibit about three times the change in performance as a film with an El of 125. While this effect on a film product isn't immediate, we still suggest exposing and processing the film soon after purchase. We recommend a period of no more than six months from the time of film purchase before exposure and processing, provided it has been kept under specified conditions. Films kept for extended periods beyond six months may be affected, especially the faster films, even if they have been frozen. The only way to determine the specific effect of ambient-background radiation is to make actual tests or measurements by placing a detector in the location where the film is stored. The most obvious clue is the observance of increased granularity, especially in the light areas of the scene.

 

[Freakscene]

It may depend on the film's speed. It appears faster films (unexposed or exposed and not processed) are more subject to the 3K Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation background effects than slower films.

Background Radiation

I've written about background radiation more than once in this forum. I ran across an image that demonstrates it far better than my words. The bottom part of this picture is taken from a first generation 800 speed film that was fresh. The top half is what you would get if you kept the same film i...

www.photo.net

NASA Study but on slower speed films:

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20010004099/downloads/20010004099.pdf

The Effect of Radiation on Selected Photographic Film​

The level of radiation encountered in space is greater than that found at the surface of the Earth. High background levels of radiation damage unprocessed photographic materials, which are typically somewhat sensitive to nonvisible portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The absorption of radiation by photographic films causes photographic fog.

From Kodak:

Motion Picture Film Storage & Protection Information

A leading global manufacturer focused on commercial print and advanced materials & chemicals. We believe in the power of technology and science to enhance…

www.kodak.com

Ambient Background Radiation (Effects on Raw Stock)​

Ambient gamma radiation is composed of two sources: a low energy component which arises from the decay of radionuclides and a high energy component which is the product of the interaction of cosmic rays with the earth's upper atmosphere. The radionuclides responsible for the low-energy photons exist in soil and rock and are carried into earth derived building materials such as concrete. Lead shielding or storage deep underground may be helpful, but for long-term raw stock storage, radiation will still be a factor. Upon exposure to ambient-background radiation, photographic materials can exhibit an increase in minimum density, a loss in contrast and speed in the toe, and an increase in granularity.
The change in film performance is determined by several factors, such as the film speed and length of time exposed to the radiation before the film is processed. A film with an Exposure Index (El) of 500 can exhibit about three times the change in performance as a film with an El of 125. While this effect on a film product isn't immediate, we still suggest exposing and processing the film soon after purchase. We recommend a period of no more than six months from the time of film purchase before exposure and processing, provided it has been kept under specified conditions. Films kept for extended periods beyond six months may be affected, especially the faster films, even if they have been frozen. The only way to determine the specific effect of ambient-background radiation is to make actual tests or measurements by placing a detector in the location where the film is stored. The most obvious clue is the observance of increased granularity, especially in the light areas of the scene.

These effects cause fogging; degradation and loss of the latent image is chemically different and depends on specific characteristics of the light sensitive components of the emulsion. This is why Pan F+, an EI 50 film, has terrible latency.

 

[Godfrey]

How many years can I store b/w film before processing? I am shooting film again but intermittently and need to process in large batches to avoid keeping opened chemicals. I keep exposed 120 and 135 rolls in baggies in the fridge.

Given the fragility of latent images on film, I would recommend changing your workflow to use chemistry that you can mix fresh in small batches to process film regularly, as soon after exposure as is convenient. I've been doing this with HC-110 and other developer concentrates for twenty years or so ... in fact, my 16 ounce bottle of HC-110 concentrate is only half consumed after at least 13-15 years of processing activity, and is still perfectly good, produces excellent negatives.

It is not only much better to do this for the reason of minimizing age degradation of your photographs but also because it is far far better for you to see what you've captured on film as soon after capture as possible in order that you can see:

• if the equipment is working properly
• if you've gotten what you expected
• what you can learn from that shooting session

Of course, an exposed roll of film can be processed many years after exposure, as we see from people finding a never touched roll of film from WWII or grandma's marriage ceremony decades past. What the quality of the images might be and how degraded they are is, in those cases, irrelevant since the fact that something remains viable at all is much more important than how nice it looks. But I don't suggest storing exposed film away undeveloped as a time capsule for later archeological surprises... 😉

G