How long can I postpone development?

[Marco Annaratone]

Hi everybody!

I will spend most of the summer shooting 8x10 B&W in areas where I won't be able to develop film (it's a long and boring story ... just trust me on this).

How long can I postpone the development of the film? Can I develop it after, say, three months? I will be able to keep the film --- after being exposed --- in a refrigerator and absolutely light-tight.

Other recommendations? Should I insert some paper between exposed negatives? Should I use some plastic sleeve to wrap batches of exposed negatives before putting them in the light-tight boxes? None of the above?

I am particularly interested in those who have actually done it successfully, but any help is certainly welcomed.

Cheers!

[Frank Petronio]

Three months is not that long, you wouldn't notice anything until years go by.

[David de Gruyl]

Exposed and unexposed film are practically identical. Refrigerate and keep dry, it should be fine.

[Doremus Scudder]

I've kept B&W film for more than six months before being able to develop with no visible ill effects.

At the time, I did a bunch of research on latent image stability. It seems the latent image degrades slowly over time, but doesn't amount to much but a very slight loss of overall density (read film speed) in the time frame you are considering. I'd suspect it to be 1/3 stop or even less. Usually we all have that much buffer built into our system.

Best,

Doremus Scudder

[Ben Calwell]

I stuck some exposed film holders (TriX) in the fridge once and kept them there for four, almost five, years. Finally developed the film, and the images are lovely, if I do say so myself.

[Ed Richards]

It mostly depends on how old you are.

[Ari]

It mostly depends on how old you are.

[Tim k]

16 years is my record. Some color 35mm print film, stored at room temp. Now, they didn't come out great, but they were more interesting for having sat the 16 years. If I processed them right away, they would just be in a shoe box somewhere.

[Valdecus]

My record is 27 years. Exposed a roll of 6x6 in High School and found it in a shoe box years later when I moved. Turned out the negatives included a couple of images of a friend of mine and myself in the Garden of the Gods nearby Colorado Springs.

The image seems to have gotten a bit softer, but it is still quite nice. So, three months shouldn't be a problem at all...

Cheers,
Andreas

[Asher Kelman]

My record is 27 years. Exposed a roll of 6x6 in High School and found it in a shoe box years later when I moved. Turned out the negatives included a couple of images of a friend of mine and myself in the Garden of the Gods nearby Colorado Springs.

The image seems to have gotten a bit softer, but it is still quite nice. So, three months shouldn't be a problem at all...

Cheers,
Andreas

I'd be happy to get that from a shoot today!

Asher