Film Date / Usage

[Doug Paramore]

I really like the cooler idea. I am gonna convert one. I think it is a great idea for those of us who toil in the hot climes. I usually don't leave my camera case in the van in the summer. That one time I returned from a shoot, took out the exposed holders and was gonna go back for the rest of the stuff. I didn't. Even though I live in the boonies, it is a dumb idea to leave a camera case in the van.

I, too, have used film 'way out of date, including some that went out of date in the late '70s. That film was the old Super XX Pan. I also tried to shoot some Tri-X that had been frozen that was bad after 8 years. The Super XX picked up some fog, which I could print through, but otherwise was o.k. That film had been refridgerated. I would have reservations about film left in holders in a basement, which are sometimes damp and the holders don't provide much moisture barrier. I certainly wouldn't shoot anything important with old film.

[Richard Deimel]

It seems a simple matter to carry the film holders in a separate case and not leave them in the trunk with the camera stuff.

[John Bowen]

Michael,

I jus returned from a Fine Focus Workshop in Vermont. I took 30 8x10 film holders all loaded with TMY. One of my goals was to shoot every holder since some of them probably had film that was in the holders for at least 9 months (none of the film had passed the expired date). You couldn't tell the stuff that was loaded 9 months ago from the stuff that was loaded last week.

My advice would be to shoot it and not worry about it.

PS. Thanks so much for your efforst with the Kodak ULF film. I understand that Kodak and Ilford were both blown away by the amount of 7x17 film ordered.

[Dan Fullerton]

You might try checking the film in the holder to see if it is loose and not actually stuck to the holder (sure sign of moisture problems). If you can remove the film without a problem it should be OK to shoot. Most black and white films can survive amazing temperature extremes and remain viable. I have more problems with perspiration loading holders in dark bags during the summer than with the temperatures involved.

[Frank Petronio]

In twenty years I never had film go bad even when it went past the expiry date. But I don't leave it in high humidity areas. This includes E-6 and C-41 color, which I think would be worse than B&W.

[Ben Calwell]

Michael,
I've shot film that has been in my holders, unrefrigerated (but in a fairly cool room), for up to a year. For my amateur purposes, the resulting negs and prints looked fine to my eye.