Christmas Present

[R W Penn]

Could Ilford give us a present by-Please date photo paper, Please???

 

[thebanana]

Could Ilford give us a present by-Please date photo paper, Please???

Huh??

 

[wogster]

Huh??

I was thinking the same thing.....

 

[Alexander Ghaffari]

Putting expiration dates on photographic paper?

 

[Alex Bishop-Thorpe]

My understanding was paper just lasts so much longer than film it never made sense to the industry to put an expiration date on it. Putting a date of manufacture on it would make sense I guess, but people might get turned off by paper that they see was manufactured 2 years ago, even if it's perfectly good.
I'd be happy if they updated their boxes to "www.ilfordphoto.com" instead of "www.ilford.com", as that site no longer links to IlfordPhoto. At least, that's what all the packets I've gotten recently have on them.

 

[david b]

I would love some kind of manufacturing date on the film.

Either a date made or "best if used by" date.

 

[Martin Aislabie]

Paper is less sensitive to aging than film and the consequence of it less severe – how do you benefit?

The trouble with a "use by date" is how do you set a date?

Emulsions are just like food in that they degenerate at different rates depending on storage conditions.

Leave it somewhere hot and it goes off fairly quickly

Put it in the freezer and it lasts a very long time

With food – they put on an ultra cautious “sell by date” as the consequences of eating contaminated food are severe – and you end up throwing lots of it away

With film – you might loose the days’ photographs with all the subsequent costs involved of repeating the shot.
In case you hadn’t noticed - the “use by date” on film has got considerably shorter over the years – just to protest the manufacturers from needless complaints.

With Paper – the worst you would get is a print with higher background base fog - it’s still usable but not for an exhibition print.

For paper - another other consequence would be photographers increased paranoia in only buying fresh stock, so the stores would have to be ultra careful in both stock volumes and its rotation – which leads to fewer retailers and higher distribution costs.

You could of course date the paper yourself – when you buy it – and say after 2 years – just throw the remainder away – just in case

My personal approach to papers long but finite shelf life is to consume the stuff – turn it first into prints and then (inevitably) into recyclable material (LOL)

Merry Christmas everyone

Martin