How light-tight is the Kodak box?

[miklosphoto]

Does anyone know if the two envelopes inside of the Kodak TMY 50 sheet (4x5) box are light tight?
Did I ruin the film if I opened the box itself? It was at relatively dim room light.
thanks
Miklos

[vinny]

what were you expecting to see when you opened the box?

your film should be fine.

[Kirk Gittings]

If the envelopes were still sealed you are fine.

[Noah A]

I hate to bear bad news, but...

I had always assumed those envelopes inside Kodak films were light-tight. I was wondering, though, so AFTER I took the film out of one of them I looked at the envelope carefully in room-light.

The material itself seemed to be fairly light-tight, as did the seam (on the intact end, I had opened the other end). However, the corners clearly were worn through and they let lots of light through. It was sort of like corner pinholes in a bad bellows. But I could clearly see light passing through as the material had worn in the corners. The envelope had not been handled a lot. It was a ten-sheet box that I loaded all at once into holders.

So, hopefully you're ok, but in general I assume that the Kodak envelopes are NOT light-tight.

I'd definitely test a sheet or two before shooting anything important with the film.

[miklosphoto]

what were you expecting to see when you opened the box?

your film should be fine.

Thanks for the reply. Honestly I was expecting a light-tight packaging. I mean, I know this might sound dumb, but this was the first 4x5 box I have ever held in my hands, so I assumed it is the same as a medium format box. It has, say, 5 rolls in it still light-tight wrapped. Anyway, I will develop few test sheets this weekend and will see.

[Mark Woods]

Process one sheet and see if there's any fogging. That's the only way to know.

[Kirk Gittings]

Noah, in 33 years of shooting Kodak sheet film, I havent experienced that. The film must have had one hell of a trip from the manufacturer to the retail store!

[Frank Petronio]

Just to back Kirk's experience, as long as you didn't leave it out in the sun for a while, a quick pop open like that is probably OK but worth doing a test. The worst case is probably a little fog only on the very edges where it won't matter or even be noticeable, since the film is tightly stacked and it would take a lot of exposure to penetrate through the layers, not to mention the cardboard on top and bottom.

Just don't do it again ;-)

[Noah A]

Noah, in 33 years of shooting Kodak sheet film, I havent experienced that. The film must have had one hell of a trip from the manufacturer to the retail store!

It was a brand new box of Portra 400 from my local Calumet store. I'll check my next few envelopes but this one definitely had the corners worn through. The envelope felt pretty much the same as they always have, so I don't think they've changed the material or anything.

They weren't microscopic holes, I could almost see through them. For the record I've never noticed this before either, but I'm relatively new to LF and was barely born 33 years ago .

Miklos' film will likely be fine, I only mentioned my experience to suggest that we should not rely on the envelopes. I was surprised since I always thought the envelopes were totally light-tight.

[RandyB]

Do you really think Kodak or any manufacturer would put film or paper in a package that wasn't completely light-tight. In 40+ years of shooting LF I can't remember ever having an inner bag with holes or tears. Sounds like a fluke, are you sure the box was "factory" sealed, perhaps the box was new but a return from a customer who mishandled the film. Most stores don't give refunds on film and paper for this very reason but perhaps there was an exception. To answer your question: Yes, the inner envelopes are completely light-tight but once they leave the manufacturer anything can happen.