Freezer full of LF slide film, time capsule

[Tin Can]

I first heard of a freezer full of LF film a year ago. Sounded good, so I offered $100 sight unseen and without any real description. Never heard back. Today I get a text, come NOW and get it for free. Still no description, but told to bring a car, and come in 30 minutes. I was still in bed. I don't own a car. I said OK, got a ZipCar and just made the deadline.

Into an huge old photo-district studio, with tons of gear, like 50 Mole hot lights on stands in a row. The guy was in a hurry, he offered the freezer and all contents. I took only the contents. Took 30 minutes.

I got LF color slide 8x10, 4x5, quick-loads and all size Polaroid and Fuji. No B&W. Didn't have a chance to think or choose.

Got it home and let it thaw as some boxes had ice on them, others had mold...some were pristine.

Tonight I sorted by type. I started checking boxes. The film that had been opened from the inner paper/foil packs was ruined by being stuck together. Many boxes, all NG. I opened some sealed 4X5 and that film was not stuck together and easily separated, so maybe OK.

The film is old, either 2002 for the slide film and 2005 for the Fujiroid. The Fuji 4X5 and 3X4 may be OK as it's in foil packs. The quick-loads are dry and sealed. The 8X10 Polaroid is junk, too bad. The Polaroid 59 is dry and looks good.

The end all is, I have 100's of 8x10 Ektachrome 64 and Fuji RTP 64T sheets, most still sealed. And the same in 4x5.

I know this stuff mistreated, it may be all garbage, but some say never toss film, so I won't. I will shoot a few soon and have it pro developed to give it a chance, if that looks good I will set up for color processing, as this could add up! I know color will be odd, but it's Art. Maybe.

The moral of the story is, I'm not so sure freezing film is the greatest long term method, especially the way these guys did it. I just refroze all the sealed boxes, but the loose stuff is in the refrigerator. The film I keep like that is never water damaged from frost, remains loose and usable.

Nothing is for sale, do not ask.

Just a story.

[koraks]

I'm looking forward to the results! If it turns out to be usable, you'll spend all the money you saved on E6 chemistry ;) seriously though, you may end up with some gorgeous 8x10 transparencies. How cool would that be?

[analoguey]

Nothing is for sale, do not ask.



Most amusing line in that story :-P

Didn't you take any pics?

(what's zipcar btw?)

[480sparky]

Free stuff is great, but sometimes can get quite expensive.

By the time you characterize old film, you may end up spending more time and developing than what fresh stuff is worth.

And it sucks to go out and shoot a bunch of stuff, spend the money to develop it, then end up with a box of crap.

[Paul Cunningham]

Congratulations and good luck!
I'm pretty sure this is the LFF equivalent of a Penthouse letter.

[Steve Goldstein]

I just used some always-frozen Provia dated 2002 and it was fine. If the Polaroid was frozen it's likely ruined, Polaroid always used to say that freezing would damage the chemistry. But give it a try.

[vinny]

That film is fresh in my book!
I emptied a guys freezer several years ago in a similar fashion and filled my entire subaru. Most of it was/is good and far older that your stuff. One man's junk is another hipster's gold. Sell that polaroid.

[jp]

2002 isn't that old if it was kept sealed. I shot some early 90's ektar25 this fall that was stored in an unknown manner. It still have the same quality and consistency, plus a little extra base fog which was easy to scan just the same. You could potentially ebay some of this stuff once you test it for serious $.

[diversey]

Amazing story!

[SergeiR]

Randy , i am with you. I do not deep freeze my film. Hell - i most of time don't even fridge it, to be honest, but then i rarely have it around for longer than couple years :)

[Old-N-Feeble]

Holy schnitzel... some folks have all the luck!! :D

[Sirius Glass]

I keep my freezer loaded with films that are no longer available. I am keeping them from the hoarders.

[Corran]

Lucky you. Very jealous. You might want to re-read my post about b&w slide processing...would be perfect for that film. I'll give you all the info you want on that process...in trade for some film ;).

[Duolab123]

Randy, I've had great luck with freezing materials. I just finished a 100 sheet box of TMY 400 4x5 that has a 1996 expry no problems. I think deep freeze is the only way you can store color material for any length of time, refrigerator is not enough, I just recycled a couple of boxes old Kodak color neg paper. I just shot some 10 year old Ektachrome that was stored at refrigerator temp. Looked a bit off but not bad.

Major score congrats! !

[ic-racer]

I was offered once a freezer full of prime rib, strip steak, turkey breast. Most from 1990s. Some moldy and stuck together. I know this stuff mistreated, it may be all garbage, but some say never toss it, but I say the heck with that. Its all going in the garbage, I'm not wasting my time with it :eek:

[Tin Can]

Time or money.

I have little left of either.

I'm happy. ⏰

[Duolab123]

If this stuff was frozen from the git go its probably OK, definitely worth a try. I used to do business with Bayer's Plastics divisions, they had a company store that practically gave away Agfa film. I still have some in the freezer it's ten years out of date, the color print film wasn't that great to begin with but I gave some to a friend he got back decent prints. B&W will lat forever in the Freezer. My biggest concern would be brittle desiccated acetate base on roll film but since this is sheet film its probably on a Polyester base which will last a 1000 years.

Food is a bad analogy look at the rate of bacterial growth at 0 F vs. 40 F. As long as the packs are sealed, and it was frozen from the beginning I think you won the lottery!

If you need anyone to try a 10 sheet pack let me know ;)

[Tin Can]

I just bought a Fuji Quickload holder. Seems they are cheaper these days...

Autumn left Chicago yesterday. Miss Grey is now here. The QL will wait for Spring.

[Michael Cienfuegos]

I just bought a Fuji Quickload holder. Seems they are cheaper these days...

Autumn left Chicago yesterday. Miss Grey is now here. The QL will wait for Spring.

My son said it snowed on Saturday. The bad weather doesn't seem to keep him in the house too much, only slows him down a bit. I had to suffer through a miserable 88ºF day yesterday, they are promising us rain for Wednesday and Thursday. I'm not holding my breath. Stay warm, my friend.

[adelorenzo]

I was given some 10+ year old Fuji 4x5 slide film recently. I shot a box of Velvia 100 that came out fairly dark but I've had good luck with the boxes of Provia 100. It's my first time processing slide film at home. I am using a Tetenal E-6 kit and I found I got the best results extending the first developer time to compensate for the age of the film.

Examples:

Provia 100, this came out with really nice exposure and detail for a high contrast scene

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5706/21557930840_329127e7d0.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/yR12LL)
Boat, Carcross, Yukon (https://flic.kr/p/yR12LL) by Anthony DeLorenzo (https://www.flickr.com/photos/delorenzo/), on Flickr

Velvia 100, this one is a bit on the dark side but, since I'm scanning, there isn't much of an issue anyways

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/567/20907743853_23713d80ee.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/xRxDQi)
WP&YR tank car detail (https://flic.kr/p/xRxDQi) by Anthony DeLorenzo (https://www.flickr.com/photos/delorenzo/), on Flickr

Anyways I guess what I'm trying to say is I bet there's a lot of good film in there. Shoot some and show us the results!

[Tin Can]

Looks great Adelorenzo. I am looking into the kits, need to watch a couple you tubes.

First I will shoot some Quickload daylight and have the Pro lab develop at $4.05 a sheet. Then some Fuji 64T, 8X10 is $7.50 a sheet.

If that looks good I will setup for dip and dunk 8x10. All studio shots as the bulk of the film is tungsten.

[Corran]

You're killin' me! I love T64!!!

[Tin Can]

You're killin' me! I love T64!!!

Tell me how you develop 8x10 sheets. Please.

[Corran]

I've done 8x10 E-6 in BTZS tubes. I have the chemicals in a water bath @ 100F and then I transfer that to the cap. When I'm ready, I start rolling the tube in the water bath to keep the temperature up. When the time is up I do a wash cycle and get the next cap ready. Rinse and repeat. Most of this is in the dark of course. It would be much easier with a big sink - mine is about 1 foot square. The water bath I keep in a separate container with a heater pump going.

I've picked up a couple hundred sheets of T64 (original and II, not sure what really is the difference) in 4x5, over the years. I have shot startrails with them. Weather has been terrible but lately it's getting clear, so I might be freezing my butt off all night soon doing more.

[Tin Can]

I've done 8x10 E-6 in BTZS tubes. I have the chemicals in a water bath @ 100F and then I transfer that to the cap. When I'm ready, I start rolling the tube in the water bath to keep the temperature up. When the time is up I do a wash cycle and get the next cap ready. Rinse and repeat. Most of this is in the dark of course. It would be much easier with a big sink - mine is about 1 foot square. The water bath I keep in a separate container with a heater pump going.

I've picked up a couple hundred sheets of T64 (original and II, not sure what really is the difference) in 4x5, over the years. I have shot startrails with them. Weather has been terrible but lately it's getting clear, so I might be freezing my butt off all night soon doing more.

What do you estimate the necessary wash water quantity is? The instructions say wash for 2.5 minutes at 100F, but is a large running volume needed? I won't be using BTZS, but N2 burst one gallon tanks, which would be very difficult to dump and refill, I guess I can run hot water in the bottom and overflow to the top, at a fast rate...

I swore I would not do color...it's not nice to swear, even to oneself.

[Corran]

I fill up the tube and dump it out constantly during the wash cycle. I know that's not very specific, but that's what I do, and it seems to work fine.

[Duolab123]

Looks great Adelorenzo. I am looking into the kits, need to watch a couple you tubes.

First I will shoot some Quickload daylight and have the Pro lab develop at $4.05 a sheet. Then some Fuji 64T, 8X10 is $7.50 a sheet.

If that looks good I will setup for dip and dunk 8x10. All studio shots as the bulk of the film is tungsten.

I've had great luck with the Tetenal E-6 Kits from Freestyle. I split the 5 L kits 8 ways, bought a few HDPE bottles from Freund container, As long as you get the bottles full the stuff keeps over a year.I make up 625mL batches, which are perfect for Jobo Runs. I use the 2509n reels. You can use PET bottle (Pop and water bottles) for everything but the color developer, this stuff attacks PET and it cracks and leaks. 4 baths Developer, color developer, Blix and stabilizer. Piece of cake. You can develop about 60 sheets of 8 x 10 from 5 L.

Freestyle is supposed to be getting Fuji/Hunt after the first of the year, If this comes true you will have the perfect setup for replenishment in deep tanks, Back to the Future!

[Tin Can]

I've had great luck with the Tetenal E-6 Kits from Freestyle. I split the 5 L kits 8 ways, bought a few HDPE bottles from Freund container, As long as you get the bottles full the stuff keeps over a year.I make up 625mL batches, which are perfect for Jobo Runs. I use the 2509n reels. You can use PET bottle (Pop and water bottles) for everything but the color developer, this stuff attacks PET and it cracks and leaks. 4 baths Developer, color developer, Blix and stabilizer. Piece of cake. You can develop about 60 sheets of 8 x 10 from 5 L.

Freestyle is supposed to be getting Fuji/Hunt after the first of the year, If this comes true you will have the perfect setup for replenishment in deep tanks, Back to the Future!

Just to be clear, you are using, then storing, then using the same chems for the prescribed capacity? So a 5 liter kit in 4 topped off bottles will do about 12 8x10's per quart. I figure top off the four user bottles with the extra from the 5 litter total?

I may just fill my gallon tanks and make floating lids for them. They already have double sealed top lids, but that leaves 1" of air. Inner floating lids.

I saw the big boy kit at Freestyle at $200 and B&H has lots of chems they won't ship...


Now lets do the math. at 60 sheets per Tet kit at $120 with shipping cost that's $2 a sheet if all goes well. Roughly 25% of the $8 per sheet with tax, the Pro lab costs.

This is most likely a one summer project and if I use the 250 sheets of 8X10, we are looking at real money. $500 DIY and $2000 the Pro way.

I need to save up some cash, get real serious, have a summer of color and then never do it again!

Looking at that written down, baby steps are in order. Shoot 4x5 aged chrome, then check and report.

Like I said, next summer is my goal, this film can wait til then.

Thanks guys!

[Corran]

That's what I do, but in 2.5L batches for my 4x5 tanks.

It lasts a while. I wouldn't try to shoot it all in one summer, personally, but whatever floats your boat, I guess.

[Fr. Mark]

FWIW I used B/W paper and film with 1956 expiration date in 2014 it mostly worked. still have some of the paper. Great find. Sometimes big cities have great opportunities. I think a zip car is a rental car system, right?

[Tin Can]

FWIW I used B/W paper and film with 1956 expiration date in 2014 it mostly worked. still have some of the paper. Great find. Sometimes big cities have great opportunities. I think a zip car is a rental car system, right?

Yes, I have 2 ZipCars parked very close and I can rent by the hour. I only use a car once a month for major supply runs. I can get a 2016 Ford Transit 14 hours overnight for $35 with 180 miles and free gas. Night shoots coming up.

Big cities often have hidden treasure but so do remote areas.