Latent images on color films

[Ivan J. Eberle]

Neighborhood sheet-film E6 and C41 labs being shuttered means more time elapses until I have accumulated enough exposed film to ship off for processing.
Which current (or recent past) color films, in your experience, hold the latent image without noticeable degradation?

For instance, while I love Ektar 100, I'm noticing that Portra 160VC seems to hold up better.

[Light Guru]

Are you keeping them in the fridge or freezer?

[Daniel Stone]

When I traveled in Iceland back in 2010, I took 160NC along with me for 8x10. I was there for just under 2mo, so that's not "ideal" in terms of time for getting color(or any) film processed. Upon returning home I got the film processed, and haven't seen any ill effects/loss of density at all.

I usually take my film 1x/mo down to my local E-6 lab, run by a wonderful lady here in Orange County.

Datachrome www.data-chrome.com

owner is Rochelle Burch, wonderful lady. She's the owner/operator, she takes mail-order processing, and she KNOWS HER STUFF. She won't run film unless things are within "her specs" pH and temp-wise... FYI.

give her a try, you might like what you get in terms of service :). Tell her I sent you

-Dan

[Ivan J. Eberle]

Are you keeping them in the fridge or freezer?

Once it's out of the sealed package, I tend to not freeze or refrigerate film again. (After early bad experiences with crazed emulsions, I will never put exposed film back in the freezer.)

[Light Guru]

Once it's out of the sealed package, I tend to not freeze or refrigerate film again. (After early bad experiences with crazed emulsions, I will never put exposed film back in the freezer.)

You can always put it in a resealable container. But if you dont want to put it in the freezer then at least put it in the fridge.

[Frank Petronio]

You could go a year or two without any problems. It's like temperature (it could sit around at 120-F for a couple of weeks without ill effect) and freezer-fridge lore (I wouldn't freeze film unless I was holding it for more than a couple of years).

Maybe back in the 70s with sensitive chrome film you needed to take more precautions to maintain consistency but that's when we used to put Wrattens on everything to balance it out. If you're shooting outdoors with color neg or B&W it hardly matters, heck the sky's color temperature bounces 6000 degrees in a few hours so why would you worry about a few points?

[UlbabraB]

I process C41 at home with Tetenal Kit in a JOBO CPA and since I don't shoot much color I tend to accumulate rolls over time and process them all together. The past month I processed some 120 rolls of Fuji PRO 400H and Kodak Portra 160/400 I shot a year ago (Jun/Jul 2011) and didn't notice any degradation after scanning them. I stored them in a drawer in a room where the temperature is between 20 and 24C all the year.

[dave_whatever]

You could go a year or two without any problems.

i've had a few sheets of velvia that went 18months between shooting and processing, and they look no different to 'fresh' shots.

[timparkin]

i've had a few sheets of velvia that went 18months between shooting and processing, and they look no different to 'fresh' shots.

Agreed - I've just processing some 14 month velvia that was kept out of the fridge and I can't see a problem. I know colleagues who have lost film (astia) down the back of the camper van sofa and they have stayed there for a couple of years in the summer heat. The film was already 6 years past use by date when it was exposed and it developed fine. That film would probably have reached nearly 50 degrees over the couple of summers and been frozen repeatedly over winter.

Tim

[Ivan J. Eberle]

I've had mostly great results despite occasional long intervals between exposure and developing. Astia and Pro 160S seem solid and so does Portra 160 VC.

Any films to scrupulously avoid in this regard? I'm sketchy on Ektar 100 just now, looking for more data points on that film--otherwise one of my favorites.