B&W Film refrigeration

[Pieter12]

Upon returning from a day or more of shooting, I may have a couple of extra rolls of unexposed film in my camera bag. Is it OK to return the film to the refrigerator a few times after being at above 70 agrees or so for a day or more?

Also, I would like to find a small insulated carrier that would hold 3 or 4 rolls of 35 or 120 film to fit in a small camera bag. Any suggestions?

 

[AgX]

I sometimes use small PE casings for refrigerating foodstuff, just large enough to take same cassettes type 135. You coud pad such with insulatiing foam with flap-over part for the lid. Though after one or two openings the temperature inside may have equilibrated.A better of keeping temperature low would include a heat-sink as a cool-pad, but that of course takes space...

 

[Agulliver]

The best I can think of is that film is not meat. It's perfectly OK to fridge or freeze it, thaw it, refrigerate it....etc...as many times as you like. It's not going to be damaged or go off quicker by fridging and thawing several times. However you do want to avoid loading the film before it's fully up to temperature in case of any condensation.

B&W film can generally go for years without even being put in the fridge and show no ill effects so it's probably not necessary to worry about insulated carriers unless your film is going to be subjected to 100F temperatures and/or high humidity.

 

[removed account4]

as long as where you live ( inside your house ) isn't super humid or drastic temperature changes
i wouldn't bother putting it in the fridge or freezer.
you don't really need to do that.
i have had film in a building that doesn't go above IDK 75 or below 60 for DECADES
and never had a problem with my film going bad, even when it was on the shelf for IDK 15 years.
there is a thread i started a few years ago that ruffled a few feathers
you can probably find it in a search ...
and i asked if anyone else has any personal experience with shelf stored film ( b/w ) going bad compared to freezer or fridge film.
im not talking densitometers and minute fog levels, im talking stuff you can SEE / notice...
someone even chimed from a portrait company that made some sort of a hot box/ oven
to attempt to damage the film ( their giant rolls are shipped back and forth to a central processing plant )
nope, ... didnt' damage the film ...

good luck !

 

[guangong]

For the most part my freezer is stuffed with 16mm bw reversal movie film along with a little color slide film. Most of my still film just sits on top of freezer. This all resides in my basement. On the whole, bw film is pretty robust. However, if stored in freezer allow time for film to reach room temperature before opening foil wrapper to prevent condensation.

 

[warden]

Some of my rolls of film have gone in and out of the freezer many times before exposure with no problem. I've also shot a roll of Tri-X directly from the freezer in 75 degree heat with no issues.

 

[Alan9940]

I use mostly sheet film, but folks have told me for years that I shouldn't thaw a box of film, then re-freeze after breaking open the plastic/foil bag inside. I've thawed, used, re-froze, thawed, used, etc, without issue for nearly 40 years. I'm thinking doing this with roll film certainly would not be anything to worry about.

 

[jim10219]

I keep mine in Ziploc baggies, with most of the air squeezed out, in the freezer. I pop them in and out all of the time and let them freeze and thaw. I've never had an issue. Color, slide, B&W, and even Fuji instant film don't seem to mind this. If you open up the seal or do something that might expose the film to moisture, you can stick it in the refrigerator for a day or so before transferring it back to the freezer. That should help with condensation. The only issue I've had is allowing plenty of time for them to get up to room temperature before loading the film. Sometimes I'll forget to pull out my sheet film and half to load frozen sheet film immediately into holders before running out the door. That can be a mess because the film thaws from the heat of your hands, gets wet, and sticks to the holder. But, by the time I arrive on location, everything is dry again and the shots come out just fine.

I think the reason not to thaw and refreeze film is more theoretical than anecdotal.

 

[Wallendo]

I wouldn't hesitate to re-refrigerate. However, I recall a post from Simon Galley several years back where the photo engineers at Ilford recommended that film not be re-frozen.

Actually, Ilford recommended not re-refrigerating or re-freezing: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/freeze-thaw-bad-for-film.112850/#post-1492054

 

[Sirius Glass]

Refreeze film with the sealed film packages unopened. Any film which the package has been opened should be put in a ZipLok bag and refrigerated. In southern California the humidity is low enough to not have to worry about water vapor in the ZipLok bags.

 

[trendland]

I wouldn't hesitate to re-refrigerate. However, I recall a post from Simon Galley several years back where the photo engineers at Ilford recommended that film not be re-frozen.

Actually, Ilford recommended not re-refrigerating or re-freezing: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/freeze-thaw-bad-for-film.112850/#post-1492054

Not to be re-frozen is an issue with some frozen food you shouldn't do. But you may do if you will not eat it after re-frozen fish meat a.s.o.
So it is the same with Films? (not to eat after re-frozen....)

Seriously I would say yes ! But it depends. It has to do with cristal structures within the emulsion in deep freezed condition. And it has to do with expension of freezed material from H2O.
But I would say effects are very smal. I would not refreeze color films again and again.
Let's say 5 - 8 times should be enough. But with bw films the danger from normal practice is much more less.
So no need to care about at last.

with regards

 

[Pieter12]

Thanks everybody. Now I can obsess about something else.

 

[trendland]

Refreeze film with the sealed film packages unopened. Any film which the package has been opened should be put in a ZipLok bag and refrigerated. In southern California the humidity is low enough to not have to worry about water vapor in the ZipLok bags.

Yes in southern California some things are different. But an unopened film package has the best concentration of humity inside the films are designed for. Therefore unopened Film packages feel fresh in a freezer without any change of characteristics.
That differs when films are opened from original package (special in desert regions) ......
because films might feel better in suroundings of southern california compared with original
package build in clima from dew points in Rochester area but Kodak will not state....

with regards

 

[CMoore]

FWIW.....i never freeze film. I double bag it, and put it in a refrigerator.
I have removed and replaced film several times. I have never seen any ill-effect from doing that.......

 

[Harman Tech Service]

There is probably little danger in re-refrigerating film a couple of times but cycling your film through repeated freezing and thawing will cause progressive damage to the emulsion.

The reason for the long recommended thawing time is due to variation in circumstances. Some users may thaw a brick of film at a time or thaw it inside a camera bag or film bag. If possible, always err on the side of caution especially when working in humid conditions. Please also check out our faq's.
https://www.ilfordphoto.com/faqs
Regards,
David

 

[Sirius Glass]

There is probably little danger in re-refrigerating film a couple of times but cycling your film through repeated freezing and thawing will cause progressive damage to the emulsion.

The reason for the long recommended thawing time is due to variation in circumstances. Some users may thaw a brick of film at a time or thaw it inside a camera bag or film bag. If possible, always err on the side of caution especially when working in humid conditions. Please also check out our faq's.
https://www.ilfordphoto.com/faqs
Regards,
David

I only thaw what I expect to use. Any film that is refrozen get set aside to that it will be used next.