to freeze or not?

[Jaybird]

Got a newbie questions here,

I just ordered some K40 and it came in today. should I freeze it if I plan on using it up this summer? What about moisture in the freezer? Will freezing it help extend the life after processing? whats the deal?

Jay

[kjellpell]

Hi!!

It's always good to freeze your raw-material. You can extend the date of expire many times storing at a low temperature. There's no danger of moisture on/inside the cassette as long as it is kept in the foil-wrapper. Just remember to take it out the day before you shall use it, AND KEEP IT SEALED until it has reached room-temperature.
I have some info from Kodak on how much you can extend the date of expire at different temperatures somewhere. I'll look it up and post it later.

[jessh]

I shot a role of ektachrome not long ago and when I opened the box the foil wrapper had small holes in it. The film was brand new and I had no problems with it, but if this is a common ocurance or happens to be the case for you then it will not provide enough protection against the moisture. I would suggest putting it inside a plastic ziplock bag and making sure it is sealed well. Has anyone else seen this?

~Jess

[David M. Leugers]

I think one should always place his filmstock in the freezer until ready to shoot. I have been doing this for almost twenty years. I put all film in sealed plastic freezer bags available in any grocery store. Then when I am ready to use it, I take it out of the freezer. I remove the amount of film I think I will use from the plastic freezer bag and leave it out in room temperature to thaw overnight. Usually only an hour or two is needed, but why not overnight to completely thaw out to remove the possibility of fogging the film from condensation? I have frozen film over ten years past its shelf life and it comes out great when processed. For me, it is the only way to go.

[Old Uncle Barry]

Yep! I have to agree entireley with the other guys,but just to underline it all,I have used nine year outdated stock (16mm) K25 from the freezer and it came back perfect.Good job I used it really as when I next use the larger gauge it will have to be K40 due to the apparent discontinuation of all 25asa emulsions.
The same has applied to Super8 but admittedly it was only 1 year out of date.Says a lot for the high quality of Kodak product.

[jessh]

when removing frozen film from the freezer you should probably leave it in the sealed plastice bag until it has completely dethawed in order to keep from having problems with condensation, and make sure it is totally dethawed before you try and use it.

~Jess