Film storing

[superadio]

Should i store my new unexposed films in freezer, or just cool? How much longer do the they last if stored best way?

[Matthew Buick]

I'm no expert on these matter by any stretch, but if you freeze your film, in their sealed original packaging, they'll last practically forever. Chilling films certainly extends their usable life, but by how much I don't know. Probably in the region of two to five years depending on the stock type, sensitivity, age when bought, etc...

Hope this helps!

[Blue Audio Visual]

The recommendation for long term storage is to keep the film frozen at -18C or lower.

But...

Film is also damaged by gamma radiation, and there are considerable practical difficulties in trying to shield it from that (both cosmic rays and decay of radio-nucleotides AKA background radiation) though I suppose if you were really dedicated to the craft you could always move to an area of the country with low levels of background radiation, and then store it in a lead box with 9" thick walls and put that inside an industrial freezer. Not sure my wife would be very happy if I did that though.

Or alternatively just buy some fresh film every now and then.

[aj]

Most photographers focus on the temperature (when not photographing ) for storage of their films and papers.

A few years ago I met somebody from whom I bought an enlarger. He kept all his materials at work to protect them from radiation... He works at a nuclear research plant where all workrooms are lined with a lead foil of considerable thickness As I expect he knows as a physicist what to fear for his photographic materials a metal or lead casing should be considered. Luckily most fridges have a steelsheet outside. So this helps as a starter

Not letting your film go old is likely the best. But then there are films which are no longer manufacturered (tech pan, agfapan 25, panatomic, plus-x etcetc) and these must be stored, if you still have them.

[Will2]

Film is also damaged by gamma radiation, and there are considerable practical difficulties in trying to shield it from that

Since gamma radiation is the background radiation of the universe, all you need to do is find a salt mine a few miles deep near you. Just ask if you can store your film down there, they'll probably say fine.

Someday Kodak needs to make a documentary about the crazy extremes they go through to protect their film in lead lined vaults... it would be very interesting.

I believe in general the slower the film the less susceptible to the radiation it is.

[Angus]

It really depends how long you want to keep it and what the ambient conditions are like where you live.

Film is (slowly) killed by heat, humidity and radiation. And of course it is killed quickly by light if you let light into the film itself. The radiation is only a problem over a period of years....heat and humidity can start causing damage in under 2 years for sure.

My rule of thumb, first off keep the film in all its packaging. If I have half used a cart this isn't possible. I will freeze film if I have reason to believe I am not going to use it for 12 months or more. I will try to use the frozen film within 5 years of freezing it. That seems to be the time when even frozen film begins to fade, though I have used 10 year frozen colour film and had it come out OK.

Otherwise I keep films to hand in two locations. The bedroom of our home is quite cool most of the time, as we don't let the sun shine in the window. I have a couple of shelves of film in there and a tin box under the bed. Those films are B&W (which doesn't go bad so quickly) and film I expect to use in the next 12 months.

[David M. Leugers]

My standard is to take the film (unopened in its original package) and place it in a zip lock freezer bag being careful to remove all the excess air and to be sure the seal is complete. I put the film as such in the freezer. Film has remained in good usable condition for decades. To my eyes, after about ten years in the freezer you will see some slight change in color and a slight haze to Black and White. Even after 25 years I have gotten what I consider good results. Fresh film is the best always, but better to preserve expensive film until you have something to shoot.

[Will2]

Those vacuum sealing systems used for vegetables might be a good idea... but aren't super 8 cartridges already sealed without air from Kodak?