Possibly stupid film storage question ...

[kaiyen]

Wow. Now Jaap's experience is quite new to me. It's good to know that it's possible to do that if in a pinch. Though I guess it wouldn't be my general policy 🙂

allan

 

[dmr]

I do "freeze" film and have used it straight out of the freezer in some cases, after being stupid and running out of film at the wrong moment.. Even film at minus 20 C (at a guess) exposed correctly and was not distinguishable from fresh film. No condensation problems either.I just had to be careful loading it, as it was quite stiff

Come to think of it, I'm sure there are many times when I've shot on film that's been near or below freezing.

The attached photo (posted to the photo of the week once) was done over lunch with the Mamiya, which had sat in the car overnight and all morning, with a brief shot of heat while I was driving to work. I do remember that the camera was cold in my hands and I was concerned about the mechanism and the shutter speed, but not of the film. That was really the first time I had used that camera when it was cold.

This was the same Walgreens 200 film as we're discussing here.

Now -- I know that temperature has quite an effect on chemical reactions, like the speed at which they occur. Would the difference of, say, 0c to 20c have enough effect on the photochemical reaction of exposure to affect it to a noticible degree?

 

[JoeFriday]

Brett do you leave your camera outside your coat when you are shooting in the cold? Sounds like you do. I'm just cautious, probably for no benefit.

Did anyone see March of the Peguins? I wonder how they shot in Antarctica? Cameras with electric blankets?? Frozen film and cameras were probably normal. I'd be interested to get a comment from a film company manufacturer's technical specialist.

I have a tendency to leave my camera bag in my car for a week or two at a time.. the film and camera are both in subfreezing temperatures on a continuous basis at this time of the year.. I figured if photographers have been shooting photos in conditions like that for decades, there was no point in me worrying about keeping my camera and film toasty all the time

on the other hand, I'm very careful to keep the equipment out of extreme environments.. I won't keep the camera bag in the car for extended periods of time in the summer

 

[sbug]

I put my film on a shelf that is not in the fridge or the freezer. I figure if I don't take it out of a fridge at the store, why would I put it in one when I get home. I do buy film frequently and use it up pretty quickly though.

My only camera concern in the cold would be the battery life if it had a built in meter. Otherwise, no worries. I'm usually preoccupied with the fact that my hands and nose have gone numb anyway. I am careful to put the camera back in the camera bag before getting back inside so it can warm up slowly without condensation.

 

[kaiyen]

Well, if it's consumer film which is intended to age on the shelf, then leaving it out of the fridge does make sense. if it's pro film that has been pre-aged, then it makes sense to put it in the fridge.

allan

 

[Nikon Bob]

C

Now -- I know that temperature has quite an effect on chemical reactions, like the speed at which they occur. Would the difference of, say, 0c to 20c have enough effect on the photochemical reaction of exposure to affect it to a noticible degree?

To me that is the reason to freeze film when it gets near expiry date, to slow or arrest the chemical aging of the film. As pointed out above, consumer film is supposed to age on an open shelf while pro film is supposedly aged to perfection ( where have I heard that before) and requires refridgeration to maintain it's colour fidelity. I would take the consumer vs pro film bit with a grain of salt as I have not noticed any difference in my use of film. I have used film that was in a very cold camera so it must have been cold too and never saw any differences in exposure due to the film being cold and that is in weather that has been -20C to -35C. I don't do that too much as each time I do I get taught the same lesson all over again. It is just not that much fun.

Bob

Bob