Hi all
I have seen plenty of articles, posts and photos of people keeping film in their fridge and freezer.
I have a few rolls of film (mostly colour negatives or slide) that I bought over the years and intend to shoot, so I have kept it in the fridge in the hope that it will prolong its life. Some films (120) are still in the foil wrap, some others (mostly 35mm) are just in canisters, some others (4x5) in their wrappers - some already open, some still closed. Some canisters have been opened, some are kept in a film box already out of the canister (one of those metal ones that takes 10 rolls). All of it, however, has been kept in plastic boxes with a rubber seal.
Now... I was hoping that the boxes would protect the film from humidity to an extent. I don't have a dedicated fridge/freezer for film, so my wife has kindly (but begrudgingly) allowed me to put some boxes of film between the chicken and the vegetables... Being a 'normal' fridge, I suppose there will be a higher % of humidity present than if the fridge contained nothing but film.
To be extra safe, I recently put a couple of indicator silica gel packets (the ones that change colour when they have absorbed a certain amount of humidity) and I was surprised to see that, within 3-4 days, the indicator had changed colour and showed that the seal on the plastic boxes was, clearly, not as efficient as I thought it would be...
I am concerned that the practice of storing film in the fridge or freezer seems to be at odds with the usual advice to keep film in a dry place. (or is the usual 'dry place' reference just really telling us to avoid leaving film in the rain and similar situations?)
What I'm thinking is:
- Will the film, by being in the fridge, absorb some of the humidity and will this damage the film, or is the amount of humidity absorbed (if any) negligible?
- Is it preferable to keep the film vacuum-packed with silica gel packets? Or could it be that, being in an enclosed bag with silica gel, the film may be damaged by becoming overly dry?
- Is is likely that film that has been kept in the fridge outside of a canister/wrapper (but still inside a plastic box) will be adversely affected by any humidity present?
- If the film has been in the fridge AND if the film has absorbed some moisture, will moving it to the freezer damage it? (i'm thinking water freezing and expanding, if it has somehow accumulated between the film) Or is any humidity in the film negligible and will have no effect if it is subsequently frozen?
What do you guys and girls do? What works for you and - perhaps most importantly - what has NOT worked?
Many thanks in advance!
I have seen plenty of articles, posts and photos of people keeping film in their fridge and freezer.
I have a few rolls of film (mostly colour negatives or slide) that I bought over the years and intend to shoot, so I have kept it in the fridge in the hope that it will prolong its life. Some films (120) are still in the foil wrap, some others (mostly 35mm) are just in canisters, some others (4x5) in their wrappers - some already open, some still closed. Some canisters have been opened, some are kept in a film box already out of the canister (one of those metal ones that takes 10 rolls). All of it, however, has been kept in plastic boxes with a rubber seal.
Now... I was hoping that the boxes would protect the film from humidity to an extent. I don't have a dedicated fridge/freezer for film, so my wife has kindly (but begrudgingly) allowed me to put some boxes of film between the chicken and the vegetables... Being a 'normal' fridge, I suppose there will be a higher % of humidity present than if the fridge contained nothing but film.
To be extra safe, I recently put a couple of indicator silica gel packets (the ones that change colour when they have absorbed a certain amount of humidity) and I was surprised to see that, within 3-4 days, the indicator had changed colour and showed that the seal on the plastic boxes was, clearly, not as efficient as I thought it would be...
I am concerned that the practice of storing film in the fridge or freezer seems to be at odds with the usual advice to keep film in a dry place. (or is the usual 'dry place' reference just really telling us to avoid leaving film in the rain and similar situations?)
What I'm thinking is:
- Will the film, by being in the fridge, absorb some of the humidity and will this damage the film, or is the amount of humidity absorbed (if any) negligible?
- Is it preferable to keep the film vacuum-packed with silica gel packets? Or could it be that, being in an enclosed bag with silica gel, the film may be damaged by becoming overly dry?
- Is is likely that film that has been kept in the fridge outside of a canister/wrapper (but still inside a plastic box) will be adversely affected by any humidity present?
- If the film has been in the fridge AND if the film has absorbed some moisture, will moving it to the freezer damage it? (i'm thinking water freezing and expanding, if it has somehow accumulated between the film) Or is any humidity in the film negligible and will have no effect if it is subsequently frozen?
What do you guys and girls do? What works for you and - perhaps most importantly - what has NOT worked?
Many thanks in advance!