Exposed 120 film - can i freeze?

I have two sons who bought in their days a zillion "B B" underpants; undies gone but those BB ziplocks still working like a charm to keep my film in. Frozen/undeveloped & developed in refrigerator.

Poisson Du Jour said:

Why are you sending your films to Dwaynes in the US?
You could send the film to either Michaels or Vanbar in Melbourne. Either/both regularly handle work from New Zealand (virtually all work from NZ I think) and as far away as Johannesburg.

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OK. Will have a look at them. I started to use Dwaynes with Kodachrome as they were the last lab and on the internet, probably given the most of the users are in the USA, the recommendations tended be just USA re: quality and price. I will check the prices in Melb. Do they mount the slides and and date each slide? I have had scratched film with NZ labs. There are 1 or 2 labs here that process slides but really expensive, $20NZ and mounting is extra. Possibly $8-12 per roll.

I've emailed Vanbar. Michaels charges $16.95AU for one roll of E6 developed. Yikes.
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Yes, Michaels is very, very expensive for what it is, and they do get a fair bit of stick for this. Their argument is that their quality is second to none. Second to what?? I doubt that very much, other than the dainty little white box the finished film is supplied in. Vanbar on the other hand, with the lab price list beside me, is $12.90 for 35mm, $10.90 for 120, minus a 5% discount if you have a Vanbar VIP card. Postage to NZ would be extra, but certainly must be cheaper than a round trip to the USA...

I think your best bet would be to send to Vanbar; it is not known if they mount/date slides; many togs just get the film processed and supplied uncut. The cost of E6 processing is likely to rise over time because not a lot of people are using it. Those that are using it are prepared to pay for the processing as a matter of course to see their bewdiful work!!

I don't know where you are but in Christchurch/Papanui, there was a very good pro-level lab that did my E6 work for me at the end of my travels way back in 2006. They posted the 12 rolls back to me in Australia free of charge. On last year's trip to CCH/Papanui for a stickybeak around, that shop was nowhere to be found...

VisionGraphics in Sydney were once Australia's Kodachrome processing point. They do E6 processing too...
http://www.visiongraphics.com.au/film_processing.php

Thanks. Yes the pro lab (Ken's Camera?) in Christchurch due to the earthquake sold the machine to the guys here (Wellington Photographic Services (WPS)) which is where I am. Other than this, there is one pro lab in Auckland that is about it I think. Will wait for Vanbars email.

Or maybe if it was 2006, that was it, or maybe it was another lab that closed. I know that Image Lab had a branch in Christchurch. But they merely used their own centres for some of the work. But Image Lab has been eaten up by someone else too. Their Lambda machine is gone, they didn't bother to replace the expensive part and I think their film services are gone too.

There's been a lot of mention of transparency film. I suppose old stock might be shot, but these days, transparency means Fuji. Fuji have the best film data sheets in the business. If you check these, they will advise you that unprocessed, exposed, or unexposed film is best stored below 0C prior to development, if there will be any delay in processing. Don't take my word for it: google up the sheets, Fuji will have them on their website. As the manufacturer, they ought to know, and that is all I need to know, personally, and it is good enough for me.

Vanbar is expensive too @$20.90AU including GST a roll delivered. Slides are not mounted so I need to purchase a kit from them and then DIY. Not sure if I would be exempted from GST in theory I guess I should.

100 DIY slide mounts cost $22AU. Least $7AU a roll of 33 frames.

rayonline_nz said:

Vanbar is expensive too @$20.90AU including GST a roll delivered. Slides are not mounted so I need to purchase a kit from them and then DIY. Not sure if I would be exempted from GST in theory I guess I should.

100 DIY slide mounts cost $22AU. Least $7AU a roll of 33 frames.

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Yeah, you're in a bit of a bind. Is there any way you can do without the mounts e.g. have the film processed as an uncut strip and then trip into 6 for sleeving?
I have boxes of 6x7 and 6x6 mounts here that will never find use (in a fit of madness I bought a box of each size, but infuriated and exasperated myself trying to remove the transparencies from the locked mounts! You bet I can colour the air blue!!). But I think you're using 35mm?

I am unsure how your film can be scratched over there in NZ. Possibly because of poorly maintained roller transport (Michaels uses dip-n-dunk; Vanbar uses a squeaky-clean roller transport system). If you're only sending a couple of films over now and then, the cost is worth it. Unfortunately postage charges are heading north again here, considering that Australia Post's profit is now in parcels and packages, this is getting on my nose!

Can't see why you would be paying GST as a NZ customer. That's worth checking up with either of the labs for clarity. Maybe they'd do the noble thing and charge you NZ GST?? I dunno...

The sleeved processed slide film is still on the expensive said since US labs only charge $7US or $9US mounted + delivery. Yes I shoot multi formats but for now I have some rolls of 35mm. I like to show some of them to the family with the projector.

I usually shoot 15-20 rolls of color negative film per year and save them up to develop them all in a few days (using a Unicolor 1 liter kit), so some rolls are a year old. I store 135 and 120 film in the refrigerator, with the 120 film in containers I make from two 35mm film containers, and everything is placed in a light tight bag. I just let them come to room temperature for 4-5 hours before developing and have never had a problem processing them normally. I know I don't get color shifts because I can use my usual color filtration settings when making RA4 prints. Beautiful prints.