Allowable time for keeping undeveloped film after exposure

Hi everyone!

How long can the "Ilford 3200" film remain undeveloped after exposure? (If keeping it in the fridge).

How long do you want/need to keep it?

Due to the fact that I faced difficulties to find developing lab in place where I live now (Germany), I already keep it for a month... So I decided then to develop it myself. It's not very good time for me now, so in perfect case I would need another month (I have exams now). But if it will be bad for the film, then I'll try to do it as soon as possible.
P.S. This is my first time using Ilford delta3200.

I don't know about that film, but I once developed some 4x5 color transparencies five years after I shot them and they turned out okay.

Should be OK, though, being a faster film, I wouldn't leave it longer than necessary.

I occasionally leave partly-exposed films in my cameras for several months with no apparent changes after processing.

Yes, that was my concern - that it has very high ISO and on the package it says to develop as soon as possible after exposure.
But if you say it's fine, then ok

Thank you!

Where in Germany are you based?

David
www.dsallen.de

I am based in NRW. I was very surprised on the prices for the film developing here! They are so high! And in my town (Muenster) it is very hard to find a developing lab. ( I found one, but he didn't have a developer and said to come after a month...)
So I ordered chemicals and stuff from Berlin (fotoimex).

Also remember, cool is good, hot is bad. Film/camera left in the car on a hot day can make a difference quickly. Brought into a cool building, not so much.

magic_taffy said:

I am based in NRW. I was very surprised on the prices for the film developing here! They are so high! And in my town (Muenster) it is very hard to find a developing lab. ( I found one, but he didn't have a developer and said to come after a month...)
So I ordered chemicals and stuff from Berlin (fotoimex).

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Check out photostudio 13 in Stutgart. For 35mm and 120 black and white, they charge 3.63 per roll. I've had prints made by them, and their work is quite good!

I shoot quite a bit of Delta 3200 and certainly prefer to process as a soon as possible, however there was a roll I shot last March which I forgot to process. Developed it last week and was fine even though it had not been in the fridge. (Was in a camera I don't use often in a cupboard.)

However, have had older unexposed rolls gain base fog if not used for a while and foolishly didn't store in the fridge. I do now!

Don't let Ilford Pan F set for any more than a week or 2. The latent image starts falling apart almost immediately.

May be its the time you start developing them personally. D3200 is one nice film with beautiful grain.

baachitraka said:

May be its the time you start developing them personally. D3200 is one nice film with beautiful grain.

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Yes, already bought a chemistry Hope it will work out!

Good luck.

My experience backs Mike Crawford's.

pentaxuser

This is not ideal by any means.

I just souped some 3+ year old TMY in HC110 at N+1 processing for the age. This film was exposed in October 2011. It was kept between 55F and 85F. It turned out fine. Only thing to do is to just go for it.

I developed a roll or Delta 3200 last December that was exposed at an EI of 800-1600 and had been sitting undeveloped for a year at room temperature. I remember the date of expiry coincided with the date I exposed it.

Healthy negatives.

Good luck starting developing your own film. One piece of advice: developing times are flexible, everyone has his own standards, thermometers, water sources and imaging chain contrast. It would make sense to practice developing another roll of D3200 exposed the same way, before "making chemistry reveal what this roll has hidden".

Colin DeWolfe said:

Don't let Ilford Pan F set for any more than a week or 2. The latent image starts falling apart almost immediately.

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How do you know that? It seems odd. 50 is a slow film and should be less prone to degradation. I routinely let 400 speed Tri-X and T-Max sit in my basement darkroom for weeks and weeks before processing and they all seem quite fine.

Of course, I've never done the sort of experiment needed to determine degradation. In that sort of experiment, you'd take two rolls of 50 and expose them identically. Process one immediately and then the other some period later. Compare the negatives.

That said, Pan F 50 do not keep the latent image that long. Personally I do not know the reason but I have experienced it.

magic_taffy said:

Hi everyone!

How long can the "Ilford 3200" film remain undeveloped after exposure? (If keeping it in the fridge).

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I don't know the details of this particular film,but ,the latent image stability of B&Wfilm is usually surprisingly good with reports of successful development even after decades of exposure.heat and humidity are not your friend.in general ,develop as soon as convienientbut, there is no need to rush it.possibly you could dedicate a camera body to a test.make an exposurethen another one after 1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256 days.then process and see how time affected the negative densities.oh,I miss my drkroom so much;testing was so much fun.

Colin DeWolfe said:

Don't let Ilford Pan F set for any more than a week or 2. The latent image starts falling apart almost immediately.

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This is incorrect, the latent image failure with PanF+ starts at about 3 months (directly from ilford) but before that time it's fine (and I've kept mine in the fridge up to 6 months with no image failure).

The latent image issues with PanF+ have to do with the way the film functions, if it could be fixed it would be, either way, ilford is very open about this drawback and they recommend development within 3 months.

As for D3200, as far as I know, there's no issues other than normal fogging. Just keep it in the fridge (not freezer) until it's ready to be processed and you shouldn't have any issues.

40 years anyway.

I shot a roll of TMAX 3200 then forgot it in the freezer for 3 or 4 years. There were some okay shots, but grain was almost completely out of control. I've also had ASA 100/200 color film in the freezer so long the metal container began to rust slightly, but the negatives came out fine.

Dear All,

Good photographic practise dictates that you should process all films as soon after exposing as possible to obtain optimum results, in addition they should also not be left 'in camera'.

In saying that.......modern monochrome films have outstanding LIS ( Latent Image Stability ) but ALL films ( and papers as well ) without exception, are subject to latent image regression.

As I have stated, ILFORD PAN F + is an outstanding film with unique attributes and a fine film for portraiture and where minimal grain and excellent sharpness are required, but its LIS is a compromise performance area whereby we DO recommend PAN F+ is processed within 3 months of exposure and our Technical Information sheets available on our website state that, as well as masses of other product related information for PAN F+.

LIS is also not directly related to the film speed emulsion or type, so where a photographic norm would be the faster the emulsion the more 'sensitive' it is may indeed be correct that does not corelate directly, in all cases, to its LIS characteristics.

A couple of other things LIS is not linear, it does not mean that LIS starts immediately and continues at the same rate.

Keeping film cold or frozen, can assist in lessening the affect of LIS but it cannot STOP the process. Heat and / or humidity can also accelerate the process, but not in all cases.

To put it in perspective, meaningful change in the density and characteristics of a modern monochrome negative due to LIS would not be readily noticable to 95% of photographers in 99% of cases...

As you will see in many aspects of photography and in hundreds of posts on APUG

Good technical results for the photographic negative and print can be ensured and enhanced by good practise.

Simon ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited :

Simon ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited :