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.

[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.

[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.

[John Kasaian]

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.

How old was the film? What condition were the outer boxes? Kodak packaging, IMHO is second to none.I 'd suspect that either your film is either a veteran of Bataan Death March or The Great Yellow Father in Rochester is starting to jump the shark on packaging.

It just dosen't sound like something Kodak would let leave the factory.

[Vlad Soare]

Personally, I prefer Ilford's black plastic envelopes (identical to those used for photo papers). Those are much easier to handle in the dark and don't need to be ripped open, so they can be reused over and over.
But, of course, the type of envelope is not necessarily a good criterion for choosing one film or another.

[Sal Santamaura]

Personally, I prefer Ilford's black plastic envelopes (identical to those used for photo papers). Those are much easier to handle in the dark and don't need to be ripped open, so they can be reused over and over...

The Kodak vapor-seal envelopes are best cut, not ripped, open. Their major advantage is that the film is packaged in low relative humidity conditions, then hermitically sealed in the envelope. This permits placing unopened packages directly in a freezer without being concerned about film damage, something one can't do with Ilford's product.

The Ilford black plastic envelope and hinged stiffener inside are definitely easier to handle. Whenever I use Kodak film, it gets placed in spare Ilford packaging after the vapor-seal envelope is cut open. Not fair, but more convenient.

[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!