B&W films in fridge - how long?

[renes]

I keep in fridge 100 rolls (120) of TRI-X 320 Pro. Want to buy another 100-set but wonder how many years they will keep full quality...

5, 10?

Any experiences, suggestions?

[trumil9]

Low temperature slow down all chemical processes, but not stop. If you plan to buy bulky amount of film just plan how fast you will use your stock. If you already know that you can use 2 film weekly than leave 10 films in temperature 4°C, the rest keep in the freezer, etc. Temperature below 0°C/32°F almost stops all chemical activity. Then you can keep films many years. On your own risk (always ) , pozdrowienia

[rguinter]

Low temperature slow down all chemical processes, but not stop. If you plan to buy bulky amount of film just plan how fast you will use your stock. If you already know that you can use 2 film weekly than leave 10 films in temperature 4°C, the rest keep in the freezer, etc. Temperature below 0°C/32°F almost stops all chemical activity. Then you can keep films many years. On your own risk (always ) , pozdrowienia

I agree with Voytek. For long term storage of bulk film I have a dedicated film freezer, i.e., no food just film. Small upright or chest freezers are cheap and good insurance for long term storage. I have no film old enough to know for sure but other references I've read over the years indicate most films will last decades when stored at below 0F temperatures. Bob G.

[Frank Petronio]

10 year-old film in normal household freezer conditions will likely be fine, especially the B&W. Color film emulsion will lift off quicker than B&W, but I've shot 15 year old VPS 620 stored unfrozen and it's been fine. I had some 2002 color neg, stored at room temperature fail though.

[Robert Hughes]

For b&w film: if it was made before WW2, you may have a problem - then again, maybe not. I've seen 100+ year old exposed plates get developed with satisfactory results (maybe not this one from the Shakleton expedition, but there are similar ones out there...)

[healyzh]

I'm working my way through about 30 rolls of TMAX 400 that my Mom has had in the refrigerator since she bought it 10 years ago. My film drawer is full, so I just grab some when I'm over there. I developed one roll in Rodinal 1:100 Stand Develop for an hour, and it seemed overly grainy, but it seems just fine when developed normally in Ilford DD-X.

[Milton Tierney]

I purchased several boxes of 4x5 plus-x, try-x, tmax-100 and tmax-400 film in 1995. Kept them in a freezer at all times and tested them last year. Only the tmax films are still good today. Plus-x had the worst fog.

[Drew Wiley]

In the Shackleton case, it was more a matter of, how long can the photographer last
in the refrigerator?? Hurley was not only an incredibly brave photographer, but a very good one. I have a copy of The Endurance by Caroline Alexander, where the shots are nicely reproduced.

[Allen in Montreal]

There are a lot of variables, but TXP should last about 10 based on my experience.
I have had T-100 last 15 years kept in the freezer. Delta 3200 was scrap in 7 or 8.
I just finished a batch of 120 TXP that was around 12 years old and it was beginning to get an increased base fog.

if you are buying up the end of the Kodak 320 txp as a result of the film being discontinued, it may be worth it to get one of the mini bar styled freezers just for film if you have the space and freeze as much as you can.

When two stores closed their doors here I bought as much stock as I could in the final days. Very little of it has gone bad even after all these years.

I keep in fridge 100 rolls (120) of TRI-X 320 Pro. Want to buy another 100-set but wonder how many years they will keep full quality...

5, 10?

Any experiences, suggestions?

[CG]

Freeze it as cold as you can. Get all the film you want. It's insurance.