Freezing Quickloads

[paul owen]

Just wondered if there were any inherent dangers when freezing boxes of Fuji Quickload film? Any ideas as to how long the film will stay "fresh" for? Can I treat it as other sheet film I have frozen? TIA Paul

[Paul Butzi]

I freeze Kodak Readyloads, no problem. On occasion I've frozen them, thawed them, frozen them again, thawed them, then used them.

I've frozen Fuji Quickloads, too, but I use little Fuji film so it's not very definitive.

[Dan Jolicoeur]

I just start using one of those vacumn sealers that my wife had bought for garden vegtables before freezing. I cut the end long so I could also refreeze. I have been doing the same with paper also. No problems so far!

[Ted Harris]

Same answer as Paul except that I use far more Fuji than Kodak film. All the same rules apply that apply to other sheet film when frozen. The oldest I have in the freezer is so 1999 Astia ..... have recently used most of the last two boxes of same without any noticable fogging or color shift.

[Daniel Geiger]

I keep my virgin boxes of FQL in the freezer, i.e., those which are still in the un-opened aluminum bags. I have also returned virgin boxes I took out of the freezer but did not open, maybe 2, max 3, in-and-outs. Once a pack is open, I just return it to the fridge, and usually its used up in a month or two. I live in Southern California (relatively warm, low humidity) and do LF mostly while hiking. By the time I set the camera up, the film has come to environmental temperature, but has not baked yet. I don't think bag-sealing is necessary as any condensation just occurs on the outermost surface, i.e., the cardboard box. Haven't had a problem yet.

[John Berry ( Roadkill )]

No problems for me here.

[Steve Bell]

I've frozen Fuji QL with no problem. I take the inner silver bag out of the box and write on the bag the film type and expiry date, then wrap it in clingwrap, for protection against the QL bag getting punctured as its hermetically sealed. Leaving out the box saves space in the freezer. I never trust freezing opened boxes, just in case moisture gets into the film. Nor do I freeze opened boxes of film, they all live in the fridge.

[Guy Tal]

I've been doing it for years with no problem, just make sure to give the film enough time to reach the ambient temperature before using. I routinely use films up to a full year past expiration and never had an issue (then again I'm not too concerned about any potential minute variation in color either).

Guy
Scenic Wild Photography (http://www.scenicwild.com)