Film in Holders

[Santo Roman]

Just wanted to know how long you think sheet film will last in their holders before there are changes with the film or they just go bad? I normally only load film into them before I shoot but I might want to load a few ahead of time so I can save a few minutes.

santo

[Andrew O'Neill]

No worries. I've had 8x10 holders loaded with film for weeks. Mind you, the holders are always kept in plastic ziplock bags in a cool room.

[Gem Singer]

If the loaded holders are kept in a cool dark area and not subjected to excessive heat or moisture, the film should last as long as it would last if it were still in it's original box.

I have used film holders that were loaded for more than a year with no adverse effects.

[Santo Roman]

Sounds good. This is what I was looking to hear, or read in this case.

santo

[photographs42]

Santo,

My experience is pretty much the same as the others. Zip-lock bags and cool storage space and you should be good for up to a year.

You didn’t ask about this end of it but I’ve read that it is important to develop negs as soon after exposure as possible, and at some level that is probably true, but I have delayed development for several months with no obvious effect.

Jerome

[John Kasaian]

Same here.

[nolindan]

I have had film lose about a stop of speed over a year of storage in holders. The holders were stored in no particular fashion - just wrapped loosely in a plastic bag and tucked into a cupboard. I have seen the same phenomena with loose sheets of photographic paper that spent a month or two in the paper safe.

I have a suspicion that air (oxygen?) getting an emulsion for an extended period of time will lower the speed and contrast of the emulsion. If the film is still in its wrapper with 25 other sheets then the oxygen in the box is all used up before it has much effect. This is pure conjecture -- one of these days I will do some controlled experimentation.

Anyone else have similar experience?

[BradS]

I have never taken any extraordinary precautions on film storage other than keep it out of the rain and don't leave it in the car for more than a couple of hours....I have seen others leave film in a locked car in the sun for days and days and it suffered no significant ill effects (admittedly, that was Tri-X which is quite robust).

I would think that IF a film were so pathetically sensitive to minor variations in storage conditions and time that it would not long survive in the market - if indeed it made it to market at all.

[Drew Wiley]

Films differ. But I often load up holders even months in advance, then place them in
an insulated picnic box for storage. Even modern color sheets films are fairly stable.
I keep color film frozen until the box is open, and typically try to use the sheets within
a few months. But the only time I've had color shift issues is when I was experimenting
with already outdated film or with Dupe films (which sometimes get shipped old). I do
pay attention to heat and humdity in any storage area, however.