Are you guys stockpiling or using your film constantly?

[MattKing]

The reason I use the fridge and the freezer to store some of my film is that it offers temperature stability as well as cool/cold temperatures.

If I had something like a cool room in a basement, I would be happy to use that instead.

I receive film in trade/receive film as a gift when those circumstances arise. I use film when the opportunity is there. I buy when I have need or deals are offered.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Just a curious question. Some of you might have a small stash of film. Are they continually being used or ...? Mine are just a few years expired stored in freezer but comes a time when I have to start shooting more. I have about 45 rolls in total.

Not a question about the film specifically so I have placed it under misc.

I never stockpile film;I just order what I need when I need it.

 

[LAG]

...
im happy people are happy freezing and keeping their film cold...

...im extremely happy others do this stuff, it makes them happy ....
but i have absolutely no interest in it ...

Jnanian, quite clear your point of view, but I'm disappointed. I was not referring to the things you decide to freeze (I hope you keep the beer cool, at least) I thought you were going to answer about the "conspiracy" thing.

Anyway, lets this thread run its course. Thanks

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

...and personally
i think it is a myth / conspiracy
propogated by the liberal media and conservative film companies
suggesting film has to be frozen to last.
YMMV

LOL. It must be election year in the US, or something.

For what it's worth - I don't freeze my film either. Especially black & white.
But I have never let film sit for more than a couple of years, and they're usually exposed and processed prior to expiration, so 'don't worry, be happy'...

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Back in the day, when people were shooting transparency film commercially, and needed 100% accurate color reproduction for catalog work, etc, that's when proper cold storage of film was important. Now, most people can get away with 99% accuracy.

 

[greg zinselmeier]

the real question is. . . . How many prep-ers' do we have here on Apug? there are lots of people who stock pile mass amounts of food, military garb, guns, ammo, etc. . . . waiting for the world to end, so they can survive. . . just a little longer than most. anyway. . . . How many secret prep-ers do we have in film? like . . . i'm wondering, who has over a 1000 sheets of 4x5 and 2000 rolls of 120. . .? shit like that. . . . like super paranoid people. thinking film will die tomorrow......................

 

[Old-N-Feeble]

the real question is. . . . How many prep-ers' do we have here on Apug? there are lots of people who stock pile mass amounts of food, military garb, guns, ammo, etc. . . . waiting for the world to end, so they can survive. . . just a little longer than most. anyway. . . . How many secret prep-ers do we have in film? like . . . i'm wondering, who has over a 1000 sheets of 4x5 and 2000 rolls of 120. . .? shit like that. . . . like super paranoid people. thinking film will die tomorrow......................

I stockpile some food and water. Not a lot but enough to get me through a couple weeks if a tornado hits and does lots of damage to the local businesses. I recently sold all my film though... every last roll and sheet. I'll surely buy more later but only a few rolls of 120 and a couple boxes of 4x5.

 

[Sirius Glass]

the real question is. . . . How many prep-ers' do we have here on Apug? there are lots of people who stock pile mass amounts of food, military garb, guns, ammo, etc. . . . waiting for the world to end, so they can survive. . . just a little longer than most. anyway. . . . How many secret prep-ers do we have in film? like . . . i'm wondering, who has over a 1000 sheets of 4x5 and 2000 rolls of 120. . .? shit like that. . . . like super paranoid people. thinking film will die tomorrow......................

I have approximately 800 sheets of Kodak Vivid Color 160 4"x5" film which is no longer available, so does that make me super paranoid? I hear that even paranoids have enemies.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Stockpiling!?
The sky must be falling.
Or Trump must be on a winning streak...

Look, taking a realistic view into the medium-term future, I think the future of film, and very especially E6 film, depends on a regular uptake and processing regime in the market among the few (mostly professional niche) users that exist, just to keep that film coming onto the market. Even then, with regular purchase/processing/re-purchase, this may not really be enough for future supply. The current thoughts among a number of professional users of E6 stock is that Fujifilm is manouvering for a substantial reduction of, and exit from film before or near to 2020.

It is sensible to keep a small amount of film in cold storage if you are using that film regularly, then process and replace it, keeping the cycle going. The majority of my professional work is through E6 film so there is a very regular use/process/replenish.

 

[removed account4]

Back in the day, when people were shooting transparency film commercially, and needed 100% accurate color reproduction for catalog work, etc, that's when proper cold storage of film was important. Now, most people can get away with 99% accuracy.

IDK scott
i used to be friends with someone who delivered "cold stored pro film" and it sometimes sat in a hot van for hours on end
i have received some as well, delivered to me, sitting on my stoop for hours on end in the summer heat ..
and i have plenty that was purchased and never cold stored after i received it and the colors looked fine.

in a thread from a few years ago, mr bill speaks about a hot box he and his workmates built to test c41 film and he and his crew came to the conclusion
that film ( pro and consumer grade ) is a lot more robust than people want to believe it is.

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

i still have a couple hundred +/- sheets of shelf stored c41 and e6 film i have been using up, but unfortunately there isn't a local lab
to process it for me, and i really don't want to deal with shipping so i just use it as a faux b/w film

YMMV

 

[Leigh B]

i still have a couple hundred +/- sheets of shelf stored c41 and e6 film i have been using up, but unfortunately there isn't a local lab to process it for me, and i really don't want to deal with shipping so i just use it as a faux b/w film.

Check with Dodge Chrome in Silver Spring, Maryland: www.dodgechrome.com

They're a large professional lab that still maintains a full wet lab.

I know they can do both C-41 and E-6.

- Leigh

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

IDK scott
i used to be friends with someone who delivered "cold stored pro film" and it sometimes sat in a hot van for hours on end
i have received some as well, delivered to me, sitting on my stoop for hours on end in the summer heat ..
and i have plenty that was purchased and never cold stored after i received it and the colors looked fine.

in a thread from a few years ago, mr bill speaks about a hot box he and his workmates built to test c41 film and he and his crew came to the conclusion
that film ( pro and consumer grade ) is a lot more robust than people want to believe it is.

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

i still have a couple hundred +/- sheets of shelf stored c41 and e6 film i have been using up, but unfortunately there isn't a local lab
to process it for me, and i really don't want to deal with shipping so i just use it as a faux b/w film

YMMV

A few hours here and there isn't going to ruin film, you're right. It may well have been paranoia on the part of pro photogs, but that was the party line. "Pro" film was cold-stored to keep it as close to perfect as possible, because it was shipped "ripe" whereas consumer grade films like Kodak Gold were shipped "immature" because it was expected that they would sit in delivery trucks and/or drugstore shelves for an indefinite period of time before being bought, and then in grandma's instamatic for up to two or three years before being processed (the latter being the more likely - and more extended - scenario).

Yes, the colors looked fine then, and they still look fine now. It was just the persnickety folks who wanted to guarantee that if they photographed something that was Pantone #116, when processed and reproduced, it was EXACTLY Pantone #116, to within a fraction of a CC of color accuracy. Those were the folks who cared about refrigeration.

 

[Leigh B]

It was just the persnickety folks who wanted to guarantee that if they photographed something that was Pantone #116, when processed and reproduced, it was EXACTLY Pantone #116, to within a fraction of a CC of color accuracy. Those were the folks who cared about refrigeration.

That's certainly true.

The problem with color film, which led to cold-storage, is that the dyes age, but not all at the same rate.

So if "mature" (i.e. "pro") film was left exposed to the elements its color balance might shift.

For pros shooting advertising in particular, customers can be very picky about exact color matches.
This is certainly true for their "trademark" colors, like the brown that Hershey uses for its chocolate mix.

- Leigh

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

A few hours here and there isn't going to ruin film, you're right. It may well have been paranoia on the part of pro photogs, but that was the party line. "Pro" film was cold-stored to keep it as close to perfect as possible, because it was shipped "ripe" whereas consumer grade films like Kodak Gold were shipped "immature" because it was expected that they would sit in delivery trucks and/or drugstore shelves for an indefinite period of time before being bought, and then in grandma's instamatic for up to two or three years before being processed (the latter being the more likely - and more extended - scenario).

Yes, the colors looked fine then, and they still look fine now. It was just the persnickety folks who wanted to guarantee that if they photographed something that was Pantone #116, when processed and reproduced, it was EXACTLY Pantone #116, to within a fraction of a CC of color accuracy. Those were the folks who cared about refrigeration.

I used to work at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and seeing how they documented works of art in their photography services department, they included color charts (of course), to make sure color reproduction was as accurate as can be. Interestingly, I also worked at the lab that processed the film they shot at the museum, and saw the very tight control they had of their Refrema processing machine, the various test strips they developed and analyzed with densitometer and sensitometer. It was a relationship of many years of working together, where the studio and the lab knew each other very well, and yes there were refrigerators to keep the film at correct storage temperature, but then the film would sit on a shelf until picked up by the lab courier, in his car for a couple of hours during his run, and in the lab for a few hours until it got processed.

I now have some Ektachrome 64T that was film they found in the studio fridge during a clean-out, which expired in 2007, I think. I've used it, and for my purposes it was just fine, but I doubt it would have met their standards back in the day. Now they're a digital Hasselblad powerhouse, doing 3D documentation of objects that can be viewed as such online.

 

[removed account4]

yup scott
its all about extremes, not short term.

i hope people don't forget to hoard rodinal.
otherwise in 2035 when they decide to finally
shoot their walk in freezer dedicated to their film hoard
they will only have PEEro or BEERinol or ROSMARYinal or CAFFenol,
or shallots to develop their film in.

 

[Ian Grant]

I seem to be stockpiling film as I've been acquiring it faster than I've been shooting it. I still have 4 boxes of 10x8 Fortepan 200 and Adox (EFKE) PL25 in 10x8, 5x4 and Quarter plate two films I particularly like. So it's time to updatye my stock list and get shooting the oldest first.

Ian

 

[Moopheus]

. like super paranoid people. thinking film will die tomorrow......................

It's not so much that film will die tomorrow, but products do. I bought a few 100' rolls of Acros when Fuji was discontinuing that packaging and the exchange rate was favorable. So now I have a lot of it! Similarly, I happened to get a good deal on some FP4+ in 4x5, so I took advantage. It doesn't take up much space in the freezer, so why not?

 

[Leigh B]

i hope people don't forget to hoard rodinal.

i have over a dozen 500ml bottles, which will surely last much longer than I will.

It's not so much that film will die tomorrow, but products do.

Very true.

When AGFAPan 25 went out of production, I bought all I could find here in the US.
I still have an unopened case.

If you find a film you like and want to shoot, you'll go to extremes to accomplish that goal.

- Leigh

 

[Jeff Bradford]

I no longer stockpile film, except Fuji FP100c. I order quantities from Freestyle and Film Photography Project and use it up before I order more. My last large purchase was 15 rolls of Eastman Double X from FPP. This time it is a bulk roll of FP4+ from Freestyle. Maybe I will order a few boxes of Velvia 50 in 220 rolls before it's gone...

 

[rayonline_nz]

I no longer stockpile film, except Fuji FP100c. I order quantities from Freestyle and Film Photography Project and use it up before I order more. My last large purchase was 15 rolls of Eastman Double X from FPP. This time it is a bulk roll of FP4+ from Freestyle. Maybe I will order a few boxes of Velvia 50 in 220 rolls before it's gone...

220 size?

 

[Old-N-Feeble]

<snip> When AGFAPan 25 went out of production, I bought all I could find here in the US. I still have an unopened case. <snip>

I'm JEALOUS!! I loved that stuff in Rodinal.

 

[removed account4]

i have over a dozen 500ml bottles, which will surely last much longer than I will.

thanks goodness !
the zombie apocolypse would just stink without a little RO9 !

maybe someone should start a thread
"are you stockpiling chemistry, and if so which ones"

 

[Jeff Bradford]

220 size?

Yes. Velvia 50 in 220. Fuji recently quit producing it in 220 rolls, but recent production is still in-date. I load it in my Pentax 645n and let it rip.

 

[Pioneer]

I don't stockpile film...

I just buy far more than I use...

and I use a lot.

I gave up buying developer...

now I mix my own...

I buy chemicals the same way I buy film.

The next step in my scheme...

is to make my own film...

Then Kodak will be on their own.

BTW - Now you know why I flunked poetry in English.

When the teacher was saying iambic pentameter,

I was thinking pentaprism and handheld light meter.

 

[removed account4]

I don't stockpile film...

I just buy far more than I use...

and I use a lot.

I gave up buying developer...

now I mix my own...

I buy chemicals the same way I buy film.

The next step in my scheme...

is to make my own film...

Then Kodak will be on their own.

BTW - Now you know why I flunked poetry in English.

When the teacher was saying iambic pentameter,

I was thinking pentaprism and handheld light meter.

dan
be careful making yor own, it is fun and addictive !