Storage Recomendations for Sheet Film

[rguinter]

Greetings. I just joined this list. I do 4x5 inch sheet film and medium format panoramics. I have a question about film storage that maybe someone could help me with. I'm scratching my head. I recently bought a 50-sheet box of Kodak Technical Pan via email from a vender. Turns out he vacuum packed the film when he purchased it (perhaps as much as 2-3 years ago) under heavy vacuum which crushed the bottom of the box. Bottom is pushed in about 3/4-inch. Evidently it was stored like this for many months (maybe years) and the bottom of the box now looks as if it was stepped on. Atmospheric pressure just did its thing. Does anyone with more experience than me think this could have damaged the film inside? I'm wondering if I should return it for a refund. Frankly I've never seen this before and wonder if it really was a proper storage technique for new film. Best regards. Bob rguinter@yahoo.com

[seawolf66]

I got a box FP-4 just same way and All is fine for , Remember with out air in there ,The has less chance of age-ing in My Thoughts !

[BradS]

I don't know about tech-pan but, all current Kodak sheet film stock is packaged in an inner, light tight envelope. The box is just so much window dressing.

Don't worry. I think it would have suffered more damage had it been stored in the freezer (a practice that baffles me).

[rguinter]

I'm most concerned about the physical damage to the box and the compression forces that would have transfered to the contents over time from heavy vacuum. Like an unopened box that comes damaged in the mail one wonders if the contents were affected. This box looks about the same as if it had been stored with a bowling ball resting on it. My concern is all the 50-sheets had to be squashed together tightly for the duration of storage which was in a deep freeze. Any additional thoughts? Bob

[BradS]

like I said above. I'd be more concerned about it having been frozen. I would never buy film that had been stored in the freezer for any period of time.

[Steve Gledhill]

like I said above. I'd be more concerned about it having been frozen. I would never buy film that had been stored in the freezer for any period of time.

I've only ever read that freezing film is ok though I have no personal experience of using previously frozen film. I do however have some sheets in the freezer for future use. This is the first I've seen anything that says otherwise. Please can you elaborate on your concerns. Thanks.

[Bjorn Nilsson]

Freezing film is a "common standard" for improving on the longevity of the film. Most of the pro camera/film shops I've seen stores/displays their film in glass door freezers, especially the color film. Most professionals used to order a large quantity from a single emulsion of chrome film and freeze it, so they only had to calibrate for that particular run once. Of course care have to be taken so that there is no moisture on the film surface when freezing it. (I.e. sealed packages of some sort, depending upon format etc.) This practice was a neccessity (sp?) for coping with emulsion differences back in the film days. (Nowadays it's more a matter of upgrading software and hardware. )
B/w film have much better longevity to start with and "best before" dates are years ahead as compared to 4-6 months with professional chrome film. So while b/w film have much less "issues" with change due to storage, it's still a fact that freezing will make the film fully acceptable long beyond it's best before date.

As for this tech-pan film, as long as the inner plastic bag isn't damaged, the film should be OK, but not primarily due to the vacuum packaging but more due to freezing.

Btw, Brad, why do you think freezing is such a bad thing for film? (Given sealed bags so that no moisture gets in contact with the film etc.) I had a look at the "Film storage" thread from July this year and:

That's what the bottom drawer in the 'fridge is for....FILM!

???

//Björn

[BradS]

Things do not freeze in the fridge. Big difference..

[Bjorn Nilsson]

Yes, but still, why is freezing such a bad thing? (Apart from the 25degC difference...) If you had a failure, what happened?

//Björn

[Kevin Crisp]

I've been freezing film for 35 years, and not just sealed boxes. If the box is open I put it in a plastic bag. I always let it thaw before I open it. I've never had a problem. So what is the downside of this?