Taking film in and out of the freezer

[Ben]

Is there any risk to taking film in and out of the freezer?

I tend to keep the film in the freezer and take it out to room temperature the night before the shoot for it to warm up properly (to avoid condensation). I load the film the next morning.

I then put it back any unused film back in the freezer.

Is there any risk to the film going back and forth?

I shoot transparency film almost exclusively.

[nolindan]

I make it a practice to take film straight from the freezer, load it in the camera or film holder and shoot it. And I'm not being facetious, I really do - hoping to see some evidence of condensation. After 40 years of doing this I have not succeeded in seeing diddly squat. Maybe if I lived in southern Florida and kept the freezer on the back porch, but I doubt it.

In my book condensation on frozen film is up there with waiting two hours after eating before going in the water.

But what the hey, letting the film warm for 12 hours doesn't hurt it and if it makes people happy and soothes their nerves - well there are worse things.

[maltfalc]

don't put open film back in the freezer.

[eric black]

If it is sealed throughout the process, no issues. Humidity and unsealed conditions with repeated cold to room temp to cold is where the issues occur.

[Alan9940]

I've done that with sheet film for 40+ years without issue. When I'm finished loading the holders, I put the film back in the bag, run my hand from the closed end to the open end to get as much air out as possible, fold over, put back in box, and the whole thing goes back into a Ziplock bag with as much air removed as possible.

[_tf_]

Given the humidity around here is usually around 60+%, once a film pack is open, the emulsion will absorb some water, so I only freeze unopened film for long term storage, once a pack is open, it goes into the fridge instead. Film will keep long time in the fridge without being frozen.

[Ben]

So:
- If the box of sheet film is unopened and sealed, it can be taken out of the freezer and put back in.
- Once a box of sheet film is open, it cannot go back in the freezer, but it can back go into the fridge (inside a ziplock bag with as little air in as possible).

Would everyone agree that this is the correct protocol?

[nolindan]

Would everyone agree that this is the correct protocol?

No. Absolutely not. Think what a boring place the world would be if everyone agreed.

I double bag using freezer zip-locs when re-freezing open packets of film to prevent freezer burn.

Do what thou wilt, harm none, and take lots of pictures while so doing.

[Ben]

I double bag using freezer zip-locs when re-freezing open packets of film to prevent freezer burn.

Yes, I do double bag with Zip-Lock bags. The question is if you take film in and out of the freezer, does it cause problems?

[nolindan]

Nicholas, this is science, not art. The question is how to handle film and how to avoid condensation when refreezing film.

I'm not sure where I mentioned 'art'.

In any case, I am approaching the question from a scientific point of view and my conclustion is there is no condensation: Experimentally - I've tried to make it happen and it doesn't (or at least, I can't - can anyone?); Theoretically - the heat capacity of film is just too low, especially compared with the heat capacity of camera bodies, pressure plates and film holders - even the air - and the enthalpy of condensation is too high.

There is, obviously, no condensation when refreezing film. Take something from inside a warm house and put it outside in subfreezing weather and see if it develops dew. If you put something warm and dewy outside in freezing weather the dew evaporates and the surrounding area frosts up. Film can get freezer burn if the film has air circulation around it or it is packed badly and the water in the gelatin evaporates and ice crystals may form.

How to do something so as to avoid something that never happens - well, that is indeed an art.