B&W Film Dates

[sage]

Is there any issues with using black and white film with short dates or just old dates like a year or so, and should it be kept refridgerated or does that only matter for color film?

 

[jordanstarr]

sage...
almost all of my film is expired to some degree. i shot a roll of tmax 100 (120 format) last week that expired in 2001. it was stored in some guys basement in washington state for 4 years. it worked fine (some defect on 2mm in from the edge, but did not effect the picture). also, i shot some kodak e100 colour slide film from 2002 that was perfect.. I have a roll of tri-x that expired in 1989 that i'll be experimenting with next. you'll have no problem with film that's been expired for at least 3 years if it's been refridgerated. obviously don't take a chance if you're taking pictures of a "once in a lifetime" opportunity or a paid project. use the aged film for working on your skills, experimenting techniques, filters, etc., or use it for things you can go back and retake later if you're not pleased with the quality. on that topic however, the quality does not seem to degrade with expired film from what i have found. there seems to be a slightly different "look" between 2001 and fresh film, but it could have just been countless other variables.

hope this helps...jordan.

 

[sage]

Works for me, I'll just put everything in the fridge till im ready to use it I think then, the non freezer ice cream yummyness side

 

[drpsilver]

24 Oct 2007

Sage:

I have used B&W film (mainly 4x5) that is "short dated" by as much as 3 years with little problem. The one roll of Tri-X (120) that was 15 years old. I rated this film at EI 200 when I exposed it, but the sensitivity was really about EI 50 (my estimate). So the film became 1/8 sensitive over 15 years! No bad at all.

I refrigerate all my film B&W and color. I believe that B&W really does not need to be refrigerated, but IMHO it keeps better. In all cases color film should be refrigerated if possible, otherwise color shifts can occur if the film gets "cooked". In all cases one must let the film get to room temperature before opening the cannister, foil, or 3-part box.

The bottom line is if you have B&W film that is only a year out-of-date use it as you would normally.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Darwin

 

[sanking]

Is there any issues with using black and white film with short dates or just old dates like a year or so, and should it be kept refridgerated or does that only matter for color film?

It really depends a lot since some films fog much faster than others. Slow and medium speed films fog much slower than high speed films, and some of the films made at the Forte and Efke factories fog much faster than Ilford and Kodak films.

Keeping the feel frozen will certainly help, but high speed films are subject to fogging from cosmic rays, so they will fog in the freezer, but less rapidly than if stored at room temperature.

How much fogging is acceptable is an open question. For most purposes I consider fog values of log .25 over normal B+F values to be at the borderline of acceptability. However, I know people using Super-XX for printing AZO that was manufactured over 15 years ago and has fog values of more than log .35 over normal B+F.

Sandy King