Chilling bulk loaded film?

Ok, as some of you might be aware, I'll be bulk loading 135 shortly to try save a few $$. I have a question regarding keeping this stuff for a long time.

I read somewhere that you can't chill it because the loader is not airtight (obviously) and condensation will make its way in and mess everything up!

I had a thought, I hear you can get 18 odd rolls of 36 exposure off a 100ft roll. So what I thought was that I could just buy 20 cartridges, load them all (or as many as I can) using up the whole roll, and then put each one in a little film container (I have a whole lot sitting around) and then refrigerate them!

Can this be done or is condensation still gonna be a problem???

Thanks.

I keep my bulk loaders in the fridge, in ziplock bags with silica gel sachets in the bags. When I remove a loader from the fridge I leave it in the bag to reach room temperature before removing it from the bag. Its just a precaution, to be honest I have never had a condensation problem, even before I used this method.

If you do plan to store it for years, I don't see a problem with keeping the made up cassettes in the little plastic cans. Place the cans in a bag with silica gel packets like Andy K suggests, and you r film will be fine.

But why bother going through all these gyrations anyway? Just how long will these 18 or so rolls of film last you? Unless ambient conditions are truly bad, age fog is simply not a problem unless you plan to keep the stuff long term - really long term - like years.

I buy lots of bulk film, and have at least 8 loaders with various kinds of B&W film sitting on the top shelf of a basement closet. Some of the stuff is outdated by a couple of years and has been in the closet at least 1 whole year. It's still fine, and I know this because I used a roll of vintage TMY just the other day. Granted, because the closet is in the basement, the temperature does not get too warm in summer, though it will reach about 80 deg. F for a few weeks each summer. Bulk rolls waiting to go into a loader are kept refrigerated, but once they are queued up to go, they stay at room temperature.

Don't worry about it.

Cool thanks!

I've have no problems with storing my bulk loaders (with film) in the refrigerator. I simply take it out the night before I do more bulk loading.

You certainly can do this.

My preference has become to have enough empty 35mm cartridges that I can spool off an entire 100' of film in one sitting. (I always roll 35-exposure rolls so there is no advantage to me in waiting.) I then put them in Fuji canisters (I like that they are translucent, and they are a hair smaller than Kodak's so I can fit eight comfortably into a Zip-loc sandwich bag) and freeze the Zip-loc bags in my deep freeze (chest freezer if you're not Canadian).

I sold my second bulk loader because my bulk film seldom stays in my bulk loader more than a few hours. (I load it at my father-in-law's darkroom, take it home, and spool off the rolls while I watch television.)

I kept my bulk loader in a ziplock bag inside the freezer. You must bring it up to room temp. slowly. I would place mine in the refridgerator for about an hour, and then i'd place it on the countertop until it was ready. Only after then would I open the ziplock bag.
Bulk loading works well, I liked it especially for loading 10-12 exposure rolls. It's very convenient.

Mearns said:

Can this be done or is condensation still gonna be a problem???

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Any condensation that forms will be on the outside of the canister (or zip lock bag, etc.) and won't create a problem for the item inside the canister. Another major factor is the humidity, and ambient temperature in the area into which you bring the 'frozen' item.

I wind a roll at a time, place them into canisters, and freeze 'em. Works for me.

John