Film Date / Usage

[Michael Kadillak]

With a new house and a move, I have had some T Max film in holders for about one year in a basement at modest room tempratures. Should I deep six the film in fa vor of fresh refrigerated of the same type, or can I shoot it and not worry abou t the results? Thanks

[Doug Paramore]

Toss it. It ain't worth the risk. The holders aren't moisture proof. I certainly would not risk an important shot or take it on a trip. Even if you test a holder or two and it's o.k., the next holder may be bad. You might shoot it up on some nearby stuff that you can go back to if it goofs up. I speak from experience. I shot some Tri-X last summer that had been in holders in my camera case in the van for about two months in good ol' Alabama heat and humidity. I blew one of the best cloud formation over the beach I have ever seen. Low contrast and reduced film speed. I'm still kicking my own butt over that one. I knew better. If it's 8x10 film, you will probably want to cry at the expense of dumping it, but it is the safest way. Even with the cost of film today, it is cheap when you consider the cost of getting to a shot, your time, etc. Good shooting,

Doug.

[Pat Kearns]

Mike, I would have to agree with Doug's advice, you don't want to chance a once in a lifetime shot with questionable film. Come on now Doug, you should know better than to leave film in your van in Alabama for two months. In 10 minutes the heat will exceed 150 degrees in a vehicle. I'm surprised your film holders haven't melted. Doug, don't take offense, I'm just a "good ol' boy" in Mobile and have to say shame on you. Regards, Pat.

[John Lehman]

If it has been at room temperature and not too humid, it is probably OK. I just got back from a weekend trip around the Alaska Range where I shot 8 holders of HP5+ which had been in my camera case in the closet since last summer. It came out fine. Of course, room temperature in Fairbanks is a bit cooler than summer temperatures outside :-)

[Doug Paramore]

Note to Pat: Good to hear from someone in Alabama. It was kind of dumb, wasn't it? Even my best friends, in their most compassionate moments, have never considered me as being very smart. One of the problems with a van is that you can throw stuff in the back and it is out of sight, out of mind. Give me a ring if you get to S.E. Alabama. Regards,

Doug.

[Doremus Scudder]

Hey you Southern Boys, why don't you keep another cooler in the van/car for storing your film holders, etc. (in addition to the one for the beer!)? I keep all my camera gear in a rather large wheeled cooler when it's in the car. Keeps everything nice and cool, even on hot summer days, and it's less likely to get stolen (who would stoop so low as to steal someone else's picnic lunch, or worse yet, beer!). Regards, ;^D)

[Doug Paramore]

Good idea about the cooler. I never thought about putting camera gear into one of the big coolers. That's one of the great things about this forum...all those good ideas. Seems like any time someone has a jproblem, someone else has "been there, done that".

[Jan erala]

Just for curiosity, I want to tell this. Last week I shot the same scene with fresh 8x10 FP4+ and old FP4 that was out of date already 1987 when I got it with buing an old Linhof.

Suprisingly, after developing the negs (in HC-110 very diluted), I can't find any difference between them! I've stored this film in my garage, which is mostly a cold place throughout the year.

[Steve Roche]

Michael, I would have to agree with the above responses, but just for fun consider this. I picked up a graflex outfit at a flea market and upon examination of the contents in the case I found several boxes of Kodak Royal Pan film. There were also several film holders all loaded with unexposed sheets. The expiration date was November 1961. I was going to toss all the film but decided to try it just for giggles. Needless to say, I was shocked when I processed the film and found nice evenly exposed negs. There was some obvious lack of contrast but I was not expecting anything at all. Not bad for film that expired 39 years ago. Just thought I would share. Steve

[Robb Reed]

RE: Cooler as container for camera etc.

Doug...

I can recommend the use of a cooler to store camera and film. I bought a large Coleman when I acquired my 4X5 monorail 2 years ago. I built two notched baffles for it and inserted them in such a way that I can hang the camera in its own third of the cooler. This leaves two other areas for storage of film and other equipment. I've hauled it through the Owens Valley out here in California during high summer with 20 loaded film holders, temp over 100F. No problems at all. Cheap, convenient and light weight.

RR

[Doug Paramore]

I really like the cooler idea. I am gonna convert one. I think it is a great idea for those of us who toil in the hot climes. I usually don't leave my camera case in the van in the summer. That one time I returned from a shoot, took out the exposed holders and was gonna go back for the rest of the stuff. I didn't. Even though I live in the boonies, it is a dumb idea to leave a camera case in the van.

I, too, have used film 'way out of date, including some that went out of date in the late '70s. That film was the old Super XX Pan. I also tried to shoot some Tri-X that had been frozen that was bad after 8 years. The Super XX picked up some fog, which I could print through, but otherwise was o.k. That film had been refridgerated. I would have reservations about film left in holders in a basement, which are sometimes damp and the holders don't provide much moisture barrier. I certainly wouldn't shoot anything important with old film.

[Richard Deimel]

It seems a simple matter to carry the film holders in a separate case and not leave them in the trunk with the camera stuff.

[John Bowen]

Michael,

I jus returned from a Fine Focus Workshop in Vermont. I took 30 8x10 film holders all loaded with TMY. One of my goals was to shoot every holder since some of them probably had film that was in the holders for at least 9 months (none of the film had passed the expired date). You couldn't tell the stuff that was loaded 9 months ago from the stuff that was loaded last week.

My advice would be to shoot it and not worry about it.

PS. Thanks so much for your efforst with the Kodak ULF film. I understand that Kodak and Ilford were both blown away by the amount of 7x17 film ordered.

[Dan Fullerton]

You might try checking the film in the holder to see if it is loose and not actually stuck to the holder (sure sign of moisture problems). If you can remove the film without a problem it should be OK to shoot. Most black and white films can survive amazing temperature extremes and remain viable. I have more problems with perspiration loading holders in dark bags during the summer than with the temperatures involved.

[Frank Petronio]

In twenty years I never had film go bad even when it went past the expiry date. But I don't leave it in high humidity areas. This includes E-6 and C-41 color, which I think would be worse than B&W.

[Ben Calwell]

Michael,
I've shot film that has been in my holders, unrefrigerated (but in a fairly cool room), for up to a year. For my amateur purposes, the resulting negs and prints looked fine to my eye.