I am shooting more film these days, loads of 35mm and just getting into MF with a Hasselblad I acquired from a friend and was wondering whether I ought to be refrigerating my film. I have a few questions:
1. Should I refrigerate
2. Should I refrigerate all my film (cheap/pro 35/120)?
3. If so, does temperature matter?
4. Can I safely store it in the same fridge as food?
5. If I I should refrigerate, does it need to warm up before going into a camera?
6. Should I refrigerate my exposed stuff too, prior to developing?
Go even further and freeze the film. Just take the film out the day before using it and you are ready to go. I put my film into freezer bags right into the freezer next to my veggies and salmon.
You should refridgerate if it's going to be awhile until you use it or if you live in very hot climate. You can store it with food. But bring it out the night before you use it and keep it in plastic bags to keep condensation off of it.
An explanation of how it works, from many years ago . . . . .
There is an "expose by" date on the film box. Quality deteriorates very gradually, and colors will remain true until that date when stored under average conditions. Keeping it cold halts that process. On #6, I can't say but suspect keeping it cold would do the same if you don't want to process it right away.
I'm in the same boat - just getting into film and not sure how to properly handle it. Would be particularly interested in hearing what experienced people have to say about #6 - if you need to refrigerate after exposure.
Also how sensitive to heat is film anyway, for example if I shoot film in the middle of summer do I need to take any precautions?
#6: Only if it's going to sit around for a long time. The latent image will degrade with time and temperature, but if you're processing your film promptly (and live somewhere with climate control) then that won't be an issue.
Re: shooting in summer... It's not generally worth the effort to do anything with a loaded camera. If you're burning through rolls relatively quickly and not purposefully leaving the camera sitting in the baking sun, the effects will be minimal. I used to leave my loaded camera in my car here in Phoenix in the middle of summer. No visible effect over the week or so it took me to chew through a roll of film. The one exception would be infrared film, which degrades like nobody's business when exposed to heat.
For really long term, freezing is best, but that does not protect from gamma radiation, which can fog after enough time not matter the temperature. A lead lined bag would be good for that. For normal use, I just keep everything in a fridge in my studio along with snacks and drinks. A year ago, I shot a roll of Kodachrome 25 that had been sitting in that fridge since the late 80's. It expired in '91, and aside from losing a bit of film speed, everything looked fantastic, actually unbelievably so. As long at my film has been kept cold for most of the time I've had it, it doesn't seem to matter even if it's a few years out of date. The twenty years for the PKM was extreme, but then, I only had a couple rolls left and had nothing to lose but a couple of processing charges.
It used to be that the transparency film designated PRO was tested at Kodak or fuji and shipped when it was 'ripe' so it was common to buy it by the case to have all the same batch so the color and speed were predictable. The non PRO film wasn't so demanding. I also heard that negative film was also more forgiving but what the heck ya might as well put it all in the fridge. I just shot some fuji E6 film that expired in 04 and hasn't been in a fridge since 06, it was a little low in contrast but otherwise ok.
If you live in a temperate climate (not the SF Valley or the Serengeti for example) and use the film within a reasonable amount of time you will be ok.
Pro film has no preservatives, so needs to be kept in the fridge and kept cool before and after exposure.
In the motion picture industry it's universal to use an esky i.e. cooler when the film is out of the fridge.
Consumer film has preservatives, so doesn't need the fridge, but if it's old or you are planning to keep it for a long time it doesn't hurt.
I have a small fridge dedicated to only two things, beer and film. As soon as I buy a new roll or sleeve, I immediately throw it into the fridge. I have it turned down as low as possible, and I cracked the small plastic freezer protector off that's inside as well to get the temperature even lower.
Peter Figen wrote:
For really long term, freezing is best, but that does not protect from gamma radiation, which can fog after enough time not matter the temperature. A lead lined bag would be good for that.
Unfortunately no lead bag in the world would stop fogging by cosmic rays!!! To stop some cosmic rays requires multiple layers of different types of barrier material, several feet thick. Even then cosmic-ray neutrinos, by contrast, are almost impossible to stop - they usually go right through the Earth!
For the past decade I have kept all my transparency film in the freezer. Taking it out, of the freezer and of any other packing, half an hour before use is adequate, unless you use a motor drive, in which case give it an hour. If you are in a big hurry put the casset in your trouser pocket for a few minutes. This may cause a sharp intake of breath!
wilt wrote:
Unfortunately no lead bag in the world would stop fogging by cosmic rays!!! To stop some cosmic rays requires multiple layers of different types of barrier material, several feet thick. Even then cosmic-ray neutrinos, by contrast, are almost impossible to stop - they usually go right through the Earth!
Anything that usually goes right through the Earth is not about to make a pit stop at a photographic film's emulsion layer (0.01mm). On a slightly less astronomical scale, a lead bag serves the same purpose (as long as the bag is itself free of radio isotopes).
This past June, I spent over a week camping in Arizona/Utah where the day time temps rose above 104, and the night temps were often in the 80's. I had a lot of very expensive film with me, so I devised a method where I used a solar panel to power a thermal electric cooler. The hotter it got, the cooler my film was. It worked wonders.
When I'm at home, I store my film in the freezer, and take it out the night before I need it.
Ben Horne wrote:
This past June, I spent over a week camping in Arizona/Utah where the day time temps rose above 104, and the night temps were often in the 80's. I had a lot of very expensive film with me, so I devised a method where I used a solar panel to power a thermal electric cooler. The hotter it got, the cooler my film was. It worked wonders.
A low tech option, which works very well for beer:
If you can cover your stash of film with hessian (aka burlap) and keep that wet (possibly a trough/wick arrangement) throughout the heat of the day the evaporation will have a strong cooling effect.
I only use B&W 35mm & MF film and keep most of it in a dedicated fridge. I've frozen a large number of Agfapan 100 bulk rolls but mostly I keep the stuff in the fridge which is in a very cool basement.
but mostly I keep the stuff in the fridge which is in a very cool basement.