The Film Apocalypse and Proper Freezing and Storage of Film

[rdenney]

On the other hand, the guy that taught me darkroom work was still working on what may have been a 1000-foot roll of 35mm black and white film--maybe Tri-X. This was about 1970 or so, and he had put that roll, in a (large) taped metal can, in the freezer in the early 50's. He'd been pulling it out, thawing it, cutting off what he needed to load a bunch of cassettes, and refreezing it that whole time. His words: "It's not like milk." No damage that I could see. Maybe the issue you saw was unique to color negative materials.

He passed away in the early 80's and I'll bet there was still film left on that roll.

Rick "who learned about properly print washing from him after having to pay to clean the cloth belt on a print dryer" Denney

[Ben Syverson]

Maybe it's superstition, but I prefer to refrigerate film rather than freeze it in our auto-defrosting freezer. The freeze/thaw cycle seems pretty destructive, judging by the roads around here.

[Drew Wiley]

I bought one of those little freeze-dry bagging machines but still haven't used it! I put
sheet film which is still in factory-sealed foil packs in the freezer, with two added tight
poly bag outside each. Once the inner foil itself is open, I don't re-freeze the film due
to condensation risk, though I could start actually using my freeze-dry rig, in which I'd
certainly double or triple the outside layers. But in my experience, Fuji sheet film starts
to lose some of its color balance characteristics anyway in about a decade, even when
frozen. So I wouldn't keep any Astia around that long. I too am going to miss it, and
only have one box of 8X10 left in the freezer.

[danchan]

Thanks again for everyone's comments and suggestions. I thought I'd give everyone an update.

It turns out I only have space for an upright freezer, so I got a Frigidaire with a temperature read-out and stocked it with film. I ended up double bagging the film -- individual Ziplocs around each box, squeezing out as much air as possible, then several bagged boxes per larger Ziploc. The temperature read-out is great. I've set the freezer as low as it can go: -10 deg C.

[Jim Becia]

Just some quick anecdotal evidence about freezing film (mainly color transparency). I have been buying and stocking up on Velvia and other films for the past 10 year or so. Whenever I get a chance to pick some up with short dates or even expired ones, I have. I usually just throw it in the freezer and just make sure to let it defrost before using it. Recently I found a box of 5x7 Velvia that I had purchased well after it's expiration date of 1994. It had been in and out of the freezer several times, but I finally decided I had better use it. I was a little skeptical, so I loaded one sheet of the 1994 Velvia on one side and another sheet of current Velvia (that I had cut down from 8x10) on the flip side. I then proceeded to shoot both sheets at the same time on the same subject. So I picked the film up at the lab and looked through it, I could not tell the old from the new. They matched exactly. Asked the lab owner if he could see any difference and he couldn't. This is film that was 16 years past the expiration date and that I had bought after it had been expired. So, at least to me, freezing seems to do the trick. Jim

[Jim Jones]

Since photography, and especially digital photography, will certainly result in the discontinuing of supplies for us who also occasionally paint and draw. Therefore, I've hoarded enough pencils to last a lifetime. They require no refrigeration!

[Liam:]

Since photography, and especially digital photography, will certainly result in the discontinuing of supplies for us who also occasionally paint and draw. Therefore, I've hoarded enough pencils to last a lifetime

Hi Jim, I am intrigued as to how much film you have bought? I have a feeling film is not going to last my lifetime but being 19 I really can't afford more than about 1 box at the moment....

[Jim Jones]

Hi Jim, I am intrigued as to how much film you have bought? I have a feeling film is not going to last my lifetime but being 19 I really can't afford more than about 1 box at the moment....

I prefer to use whatever film is available rather than stock up on a favorite. This means having to do without a few of Kodak's great LF films; Tech Pan, High Speed Infrared, and Professional Copy Film. If I were a really good photographer, how well I use any available film and camera rather than using the material that best suits my limitations would be most important.

[John Kasaian]

Since photography, and especially digital photography, will certainly result in the discontinuing of supplies for us who also occasionally paint and draw. Therefore, I've hoarded enough pencils to last a lifetime. They require no refrigeration!

This is indeed the "golden age" for pencils. With digital taking over, why most places are giving their pencils away! I keep mine in a tin box---protection from termites

[sanking]

Over the years I have lost so much film from improper storage in freezers that my attitude now is if I am not going to use it in a reasonable time just sell it, give it away or throw it away. That applies especially to film in half open boxes. Now, if the film is still stored in the hermetically sealed bags I would trust it stored frozen.

I just don't have the patience any longer to worry about the condition of the film when shooting a scene. Have had too many disappointments from bad film to spend much time in that place again.

Sandy