badly stored Delta film

gwatson · Jul 21, 2006

Hi all

I've just found 20-odd rolls of Delta 100/400 (120) in a box. They have been in there for about a year and the temperature has got above 25 C for the last month or so. I know I will have to shoot and see, but does anyone know what happens (chemically) to the film if it has been stored like this? They are still in date.

Cheers

Geoff

KenM · Jul 21, 2006

It should be fine - but, as with all things, fire off a test roll before you shoot anything important. Now, if it was chrome film.....

pentaxuser · Jul 21, 2006

For years places like Boots and supermarkets and even a lot of photographic stores kept and still keep stocks of film in the front of the shop on shelves at ambient temp. Occasionally, as now, and as in years past we have a longish hot spell where shop temps must reach or slightly exceed 25C for some of the day. Try loading a camera and shooting in say Egypt for a couple of weeks for most of the year and keeping the film below 25C! If a short spell at 25C was ruinous then I think that customers and sellers would have cottoned on and we'd hear a lot more about it.

If it's in the shade and subject to 25C for short periods only I'd be surprised if it wasn't OK. When we went round Ilford it may not have 25C in the spooling and packaging dept but it felt very pleasant so probably in the low 20s and that was a day which was a lot cooler than now.

If anything around 25C was disastrous for short periods then I am sure that these areas would be cooled.

pentaxuser

johnnywalker · Jul 21, 2006

I had a supply of both films in a hot climate for 3 months, without air conditioning or a fridge, and they were fine.

Gerald Koch · Jul 21, 2006

gwatson said:
They have been in there for about a year and the temperature has got above 25 C for the last month or so.

Ah, one of those dreadful English heat waves. ;-)

pentaxuser · Jul 21, 2006

Gerald Koch said:
Ah, one of those dreadful English heat waves. ;-)

Yes but don't worry. It's nothing that rolling up our trouser legs and placing a handkerchief, knotted at each corner, on our heads can't cure. At the Ilford factory located in the middle of the desert area of Cheshire, such handkerchiefs have to be issued to the workers under Health and Safety laws.

Most summers we need both thermal underwear and beach wear. In England we get all four seasons - usually in the same afternoon - as Frank Sinatra was fond of saying.

pentaxuser

Bighead · Jul 21, 2006

I was always told that the cold kept it fresh but the heat did not accelerate a break down in the chemicals....... Of course, extreme heat is different, but if I had to wager, I'd say you are fine.......

Donald Qualls · Jul 22, 2006

I've been using up some bulk 35 mm Tri-X that sat in my van, in direct sun, for several weeks in late summer almost two years ago (probably repeatedly reaching temperatures above 40C for several hours at a time). It's got a little fog, but it's very mild in a developer that contains an anti-foggant like HC-110 -- and given it's 5+ years expired, I don't know how much of that is due to the heat, and how much due to plain old age. Either way, the last of it is in cassettes now, and it's still quite usable...

gwatson · Jul 23, 2006

Thanks all for your comments. I've been away for a couple of days, so sorry I have not replied sooner.

I guessed I'd probably be OK with the Delta. The box had been there since I moved house and in it I also found some 120 Velvia, an unopened pack of p55 and an unopened box of 16x20 Forte PWT paper. I had wondered where all that stuff had got to. I've binned the Velvia, I've run a sheet or two of the p55 through, and the gel (and emulsion) seems fine; the paper, ??? Should be OK, I guess.

Thanks again for your time.

Geoff

Simon R Galley · Jul 24, 2006

It should be absolutely fine....

I keep an ILFORD HP5+ Single use camera in my car glove box ( in case I have a prang ) I just changed my car after 3 years, took out the SUC and exposed it...absolutely fine, and the temperature ( both extremes ) it has endured are significant, but as always remember what it is good practice : KEEP FILM COOL, STORE IN A DRY AREA and PROCESS as soon as practicle after exposing :

Simon. ILFORD Photo / HARMAN tcehnology Limited

badly stored Delta film

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