Film in hot weather

[Southern-Lights]

How long would film last in a hot car? The film canisters were starting to feel warm.

 

[Jeff Kubach]

I would bring a small canister with ice.

Jeff

 

[Alex1994]

I bring a little ice pack (of the sort you get for portable coolers) and put it in a plastic bag with my film.

 

[Southern-Lights]

Well, the film was already in the car. How long would it take for it to go bad?

 

[Alex1994]

Depends on the temperature outside and what temperature the film is supposed to go up to. Ilford says anything upwards of 26 degrees celsius is less than optimal but realistically I have had film in well over 40 degrees C that was fine. Depends on time and temperature.

 

[perkeleellinen]

My guess is that you're only going to get your answer when you develop it.

 

[Southern-Lights]

Okay. I should be good. It was only in there for a few hours.

 

[Paul Howell]

I left an exposed roll of 35mm in my car last week, must have fallen out of my camera bag somehow. It was well over 110 both days, night time mid to
high 80s. No fog from I can tell from just viewing the negatives, may show up when I print. I have left high speed film like TMAX 3200 for just a couple of hours at over 100 and got some fog. Color negative film also seems to fogs much more easliy.

 

[Shawn Rahman]

When I was living in Southern California, I left an unexposed roll of Koda Ektar in my car for two months in the glove compartment over the summer. Temps where I lived in Valencia, CA reached 95+ for month straight that year. I did not notice anything wrong with the final developed film when I got around to it in the fall.

 

[vpwphoto]

It's just about how hot and how long... I used to shoot film all day in 90 degree heat full sun... kept some of the film in a cooler (not ICE COLD) just so it was not 100 F in the sun... some of the film got hot for shorter periods... then I sent it UPS to the lab... I think those brown trucks and warehouses get hot too... never any weird issues.

Now if you keep a roll of film in a camera in a hot car day in about out for the whole summer that IS a problem... and I have done that too... flat ugly prints is what you get.

 

[vpwphoto]

I would bring a small canister with ice.

Jeff

:
Yep... those Natl. Geo photographers carried film in coolers around the desert...

Not.

 

[Southern-Lights]

Okay. Thanks everyone. Sorry I didn't give any details. I was worried my film went bad.

 

[ntenny]

When I was living in Southern California, I left an unexposed roll of Koda Ektar in my car for two months in the glove compartment over the summer. Temps where I lived in Valencia, CA reached 95+ for month straight that year. I did not notice anything wrong with the final developed film when I got around to it in the fall.

This has been my experience too. I usually keep a camera loaded with Tri-X in the glove box; sometimes it takes months to finish the roll, and in inland Southern California that car can get *seriously* hot. I've never been able to detect anything wrong with the film after developing---I suppose there might be some degradation, but it's below what's obvious to my eye.

Color film is reputedly more sensitive than b&w, but the quote above would suggest that even with color there are likely no grounds for panic.

-NT

 

[Klainmeister]

Having shot most of my film in SE Utah during summer and winter months I have learned two things in regard to film and temperatures:

1) Anything above 110F for multiple days can shift colors slightly (never had issues with BW though). I've taken a thermometer reading of the temp 6" above the hot sand/sandstone in Utah and got up to 145F, so I no longer leave my film near the ground on the hottest of days.

2) Anything below -15F can also color shift. Same area of the country, but after hiking for 3 days with mostly Velvia 50 with lows near -20 I've learned that the film gets purpleish. Also, first time I've ever had a shutter stick from cold--had to hit it with my hand pretty hard to get it to snap back shut.

Moral of the story is, unless it's fairly extreme temperatures for prolonged periods of time, not sure if I'd worry.

 

[maaaaax]

Hi,

Im heading to Asia with my 35mm film camera, but I am worried about the hot climate. I'm taking a bunch of rolls with my and i will develop rolls as soon as possible, but my trip is going to be 6 months on the road.

I heard the best way is to keep rolls in the fridge or a cool place but this is not always going to be possible. I may spend long periods of a time away from fridges and big cities so i will have exposed film in my bag for long periods of time.

Am i worrying to much? Any tips?

 

[abruzzi]

Bury the rolls deep in whatever bag you use for clothing. The outside of the bag may see large temperature swings but the clothing will act as an insulator, keeping the film at a more steady and reasonable temperature. Alternatively, if you have access to postal facilities on a regular basis, mail the exposed film back to someone who can receive and store on a weekly/monthly basis. If you have no other options, then you make do.

 

[Stephen Schoof]

Based on this test I did a few years ago, i agree with the advice to keep it as cool as possible using clothes etc for insulation, but don’t worry too much about it.

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/velvia-50-and-the-heat.107175/