Do you store your film in a cooler while shooting?

haring · Jul 15, 2011

Do you store your film in a cooler while shooting? Do you carry a small cooler with you when you are outside of your studio?

tkamiya · Jul 15, 2011

Yes and no. (I only shoot B&W)

I have a giant cooler in trunk of my car with NO ice in it. I keep my gear and film in there to transport. It's there just so that temp does not rise beyond ambient temp - not to cool. Once I'm in the field, I keep film with me usually in my bags. As far as I know, b&w films aren't affected by human-comfortable temperatures. I never had any heat related issues.

I live in Central Florida.

Gerald C Koch · Jul 15, 2011

No, not even in Florida during the summer. But I will not leave film in a closed car, that is just too hot. However, there is a good use for small coolers. Use them as camera cases. People will steal a camera case but very few will steal a cooler.

haring · Jul 15, 2011

Gerald C Koch said:
No, not even in Florida during the summer. But I will not leave film in a closed car, that is just too hot. However, there is a good use for small coolers. Use them as camera cases. People will steal a camera case but very few will steal a cooler.

Smart!!!

Neanderman · Jul 15, 2011

Yes. Most of the time, though, I don't put any ice or other cooling medium in it.

David A. Goldfarb · Jul 15, 2011

I tend to use a cooler, if I'm doing something like shooting large format out of the trunk of a car in the heat, and I don't want the film to get as hot as the car. I don't put ice in, because I don't want condensation forming inside the cooler with the film. That way, if I'm shooting 8x10", say, I can have a bunch of holders ready to go in the cooler and a few in my knapsack, park the car, make a few shots, put the exposed holders in the cooler and restock the knapsack before moving on to the next location.

SkipA · Jul 16, 2011

I use a cooler, no ice, whenever the temperatures in the car are going to be above 75. That's most of the time in Texas where I live. I don't have a trunk, so the cooler is in the main body of the car. If the temps are above 90 or so, I put a few frozen water bottles in the bottom of the cooler, and cover them with a towel to absorb moisture. It doesn't make the cooler cold enough for condensation to form, just keeps it from overheating with the rest of the car.

Jeff Kubach · Jul 16, 2011

I have done that every once in a while.

Jeff

2F/2F · Jul 16, 2011

No, but I keep the film bags out of the sun and heat. I always carry my film in to places if I will be there for more than 10 or 15 minutes, rather than leaving it in the car. When I go hiking, I just keep it in my backpack. Never had a problem, even with IR film. I've definitely had heat damage on rolls that have fallen under my car seats and sat there for who knows how long.

Vaughn · Jul 16, 2011

I use to keep my 8x10 holders and film in a big ice chest (w/o ice). The holders fit perfectly. Now I use insulated soft-sided bags meant for two bottles of wine.

Some kids target ice chests -- looking for beer.

alapin · Jul 16, 2011

I use two ice chest coolers. One smaller than the other. If temps are 80 or better, I put ice around the smaller cooler (with no ice) inside the larger cooler. Work well to keep temps under control. I have not had any condensation because the second cooler just keep the film dry and cooler.

benjiboy · Jul 16, 2011

I wish it got hot enough often enough in the U.K for this to be a problem, it's July and as usual the rain is pi$$ing down today and the forecast says it's going to continue for the next three or four days.

hpulley · Jul 16, 2011

foliageface · Jul 16, 2011

Yes, I started using coolers to hold my 4x5 holders while taking trips as long as 3 weeks in the SW (NM, AZ and UT) to protect them from the 90 to 100 degree temps and to provide a relatively clean place for them to be stored while camping. And, as mentioned in an earlier post, I place each of my holders in a Ziploc to help keep them clean as well. I now primarily shoot in 8x10 and have found coolers which neatly carry about 12 holders each. I used to place cold cans of the soda I drink in the coolers with the holders to act as a cooling assist until a cooler was left in a car with a soda can which froze and burst in an unexpected overnight temp drop. Quite the mess, lost several film holders with exposed film that was "glued" to the septum.

narsuitus · Jul 16, 2011

"Do you store your film in a cooler while shooting?"

Rarely do I store my film in a cooler while I am shooting. I do, however, store my film in a cooler while I am traveling via automobile in hot weather. In fact, I use a cooler that is large enough to hold my lenses, bodies, and batteries as well as my film.

stillsilver · Jul 17, 2011

I too use a cooler without ice.

Mike

Do you store your film in a cooler while shooting?

Moderator

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency