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Thread: Film in freezer

  1. #1

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    Film in freezer

    Hi all,

    When storing film in freezer, is there any consideration to take when taking it in and out? Might sound like a weird question, but Im not using as much film as I used to (I stored it in the freezer only until I opened the box). Now Id like to take out a couple of sheets and put it back into the freezer... might one expect any issues doing this? Is there a wrong/right way to do this?

    Cheers
    Peter

  2. #2

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    Re: Film in freezer

    I have done this seemingly forever. I keep boxed sheet film in the freezer, with the box inside a ziplock bag. Take the bagged film out, let it come to room temperature inside the ziplock. Take the box into my darkroom, load holders, put the box back inside the ziplock, and then the ziplock back into the freezer.

  3. #3
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Film in freezer

    I never re-freeze film once it's thawed and the original packaging unsealed. Moisture can be sealed back inside too unless you are careful. I'm not in a dry climate, so bought a little freeze-dry kitchen system which extracts air at the same time it heat seals the end of the special poly bag. I never actually used it except once; but in principle, these should work great, and I think I only paid around $90 for mine, including plenty of extra bags. Most 50-sheet film boxes have two sealed bags inside of 25 sheets apiece, and now Kodak offers 10-sheet-only boxes for better or worse of certain films. Ziploks by themselves are not trustworthy. I'd rather double bag and knot tie two plastic grocery bags, or take a drymount tacking iron to the Ziplok ones for sake of a true permanent seal. There were also specially designed laminates of aluminum foil and polyethylene designed to be heat sealed for serious archival use; but that's probably overkill for the present discussion.

  4. #4

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    Re: Film in freezer

    I've done the same as Peter for 40 years without issue.

  5. #5

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    Re: Film in freezer

    I'm with Drew on this. Unopened film goes in the fridge (not freezer in my case), and opened bags stay at room temperature. Refreezing opened bags should be ok in theory as long as there is absolutely no moisture allowed into the bag before refreezing. Since this is extremely hard to accomplish reliably, I don't take any bets on it.

  6. #6
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Re: Film in freezer

    Ditto

    Fridge then stay out





    Quote Originally Posted by koraks View Post
    I'm with Drew on this. Unopened film goes in the fridge (not freezer in my case), and opened bags stay at room temperature. Refreezing opened bags should be ok in theory as long as there is absolutely no moisture allowed into the bag before refreezing. Since this is extremely hard to accomplish reliably, I don't take any bets on it.
    Tin Can

  7. #7
    Alan Klein's Avatar
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    Re: Film in freezer

    ANyone use desiccant in a sealed bag when they refreeze?

  8. #8

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    Re: Film in freezer

    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Klein View Post
    ANyone use desiccant in a sealed bag when they refreeze?
    I don't.

  9. #9

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    Re: Film in freezer

    In and out of the freezer . No issues.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  10. #10

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    Re: Film in freezer

    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Klein View Post
    ANyone use desiccant in a sealed bag when they refreeze?
    Never have. And like Alan9940, I’ve been doing the ziplock and freezer thing for 40 years without ever having a problem.

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