Why freeze film?

flashfirenze

flashfirenze

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Apr 9, 2007
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Hi all,

Sorry for the amateurish question, but I am curious about this.

When and why do you refrigerate film? And which types?

Also, when and why do you freeze film, vs. just refrigerating it?

Any info would be appreciated!:D
 
To keep it from ageing. The older the film gets, the more radiation it accumulates and the more it fogs.

When kept cold, film ages far slower. Keep a small supply in the fridge for quick grabbing and your long term supply in the freezer. Any film can be frozen and low sensitive films keep for ages in the freezer, I've read about people using 15yo APX25 or TechPan without problems. Just remember to give it a day or so to get back to room temperature before using it to avoid condensation and cracking.

Also remember to ask the missus before throwing out any leftovers from the freezer to make more room for film! :D
 
EmilGil said:
Also remember to ask the missus before throwing out any leftovers from the freezer to make more room for film! :D
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Or even better - buy your own freezer! I went to Home Depot and bought a cheap, chest style freezer a year ago - it is now filled with film and enlarging paper. I also have a small fridge where I keep film that I want to use short term. I still buy fresh film and cycle it through the freezer (older film being used, fresh film being frozen).
 
I tend to keep about 30 or 40 rolls in the fridge (mostly Sensia 100 and Delta 400), and buy new stuff when my supply is getting low (cycling it - new stuff goes at the back of the fridge). I don't keep it long enough to need it frozen - I reckon it should be fine for a couple of years at fridge temperature.
 
after using the film, is it ok to put it back into the freezer and hold till one has the time to develop it ? (like a months later?)
 
Another question

Another question

What is the purpose of buying such large quantities of film?

I am not a pro, so I usually only buy 5-10 rolls at a time. I guess the fact that I live within walking distance of Adorama and B&H may make buying film more convenient for me than some people. I just spend 5 minutes and go to the store.
 
It's no problem to keep the film for a while before processing it and if you do, the fridge/freezer is the best place to keep it. Exposed film ages faster than unexposed (but I doubt any of us will see a difference, it has to do with exposure thresholds etc). Just don't store it for years and years to come...

Living 5min from B&H would probably keep me away from stocking up film as well, although some films are not to be found in stores anymore.
 
flashfirenze said:
What is the purpose of buying such large quantities of film?

I am not a pro, so I usually only buy 5-10 rolls at a time. I guess the fact that I live within walking distance of Adorama and B&H may make buying film more convenient for me than some people. I just spend 5 minutes and go to the store.
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When you don't live 5 minutes from a good photo store, or when Wally-World has your favorite film at 70% discount and you want to buy a lot.
 
flashfirenze said:
What is the purpose of buying such large quantities of film?
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Hedging our bets in case they stop making it?

Also - I tend to like certain films ALOT. Buying in larger quantities, I can usually source a better price.
 
flashfirenze said:
Now you've lost me.
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Bulk loading. You can get 100' or 50' rolls of film and cassettes, along with a bulk film loader, and load whatever length of exposures you want. It is cheaper, and fun to bragg about too. :D

It is harder to get color film processed if you load it yourself, but some folks manage to do it.
 
oftheherd said:
It is harder to get color film processed if you load it yourself, but some folks manage to do it.
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why is that so?
if one loads a 36 exp or 24exp color film, can't the 1hr photo stores develop them too?
 
Credibility the cassette looks strange, they wont want to risk their minilab.

If you are worried about cheap then you can get outdated bulk 30m (Jessops charget GBP22.99 for 30m in date B&W) load in a daylight loader (2nd user GBP 5.00), and dev yourself (tank 2nd user similar etc.) You then need a scanner or enlarger, the snag but not necessarily too much $.

You can dev colour yourself but more difficult, HCB used B&W.

Noel
P.S. it is not so difficult that I'd want to brag.
 
RF-Addict said:
I went to Home Depot and bought a cheap, chest style freezer a year ago - it is now filled with film and enlarging paper.
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Is it recommended to refrigerate/freeze enlarging paper? This is the first I've heard of this. I ask because just got some paper that is about 20 years old. Finite life?



~Chad
 
20 years is a long time, especially for photographic materials. You'll have to try the paper but don't expect too much from it. Its likely to have lost quite a bit of contrast. All photographic materials last longer if stored cool/frozen (except polaroid!), paper and film alike. On APUG there was a guy claiming that the reason was all the metal in a fridge shielding the film from radiation (Faraday cage) but most people claim that thermal radiation is the main factor.

Bulk loading is a good alternative for b/w but you might run in to trouble with colour film and cheap labs. I haven't seen a lot of colour bulk film either but you can probably find it at B&H or so.
 
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