film storage

Rinthe · Oct 4, 2009

so i hear people put their film in the fridge? is it just the regular fridge or some special ones?

David Brown · Oct 4, 2009

Regular fridge. Some have a dedicated unit. Mine is one of those little "dorm" fridges that I bought at a garage sale for $20.

Denis K · Oct 4, 2009

While in college in the '70s I worked in a science lab at NASA. In those days we used a lot of film, and always kept the unused film in a refrigerator. One day, one of the holography labs was buying a new refrigerator for storing holographic plates and I looked at the purchase order. It was made out to Sears for a "Low Temperature Cabinet". I asked one of the older guys at the lab just what a low temperature cabinet was and he gave me the skinny. Apparently, NASA had a rule against purchasing refrigerators to keep employees from buying them to store their lunch; thus the new moniker got it past the bean counters.

Leighgion · Oct 4, 2009

Strictly off-the-shelf the refrigeration & freezing.

bsdunek · Oct 4, 2009

Have kept my film in the freezer section for 50 years. Works great! I've used 15 year old film and it's just like new. I don't know about all this 'gamma ray' stuff, but I can't see and deterioration.
For short storage - a year or less, use the regular part of the refrigerator, but I use the freezer all the time. Just have the film out for at least an hour before you open the package to avoid condensation.

Jeff Kubach · Oct 4, 2009

I put my film in the fridge and or freezer.

Jeff

Larry.Manuel · Oct 4, 2009

While it's certainly great to keep B&W film cold or frozen, from my reading, a few years' storage at 15C or cooler will do it no harm. Around here [Eastern Canada], that means storage in the back porch 8 months per year. Film seems to take up quite a bit of space in my fridge.

Rinthe · Oct 5, 2009

great. thanks all for the info!

benjiboy · Oct 5, 2009

I use an old second hand Ice Cream freezer I have in my workshop in my basement, it holds a lot of film, and avoids my wife complaining about me filling her fridge, although I must admit in all fairness she has a point .

ashman · Oct 6, 2009

thanks for this information. i like this useful posting.

DanielStone · Oct 6, 2009

small fridge bought at my local thrift shop. 40 bucks. clean as a whistle, and energy star compliant too

-Dan

Sirius Glass · Oct 6, 2009

I have a 25 cubic foot refrigerator.

The food section is 17.8 cu ft or 0.5 cu m and the freezer is 7.3 cu ft or 0.21 cu m. About have the freezer holds film and I move film to the food section when I am going to take it out later for a photo shoot.

Steve

Rinthe · Oct 6, 2009

that's a lot of film steve

Sirius Glass · Oct 7, 2009

Rinthe said:
that's a lot of film steve

Among other films, I have HIE in 35mm and Kodak Ultracolor 400 in 120 [~40 rolls]. I am keeping it from the hoarders!

Steve

Alan W · Oct 7, 2009

I store all of my film in a fridge in the basement along with beer and paper.I've got various speeds of Agfa Apx 120 that I save for special occasions in the freezer.In fact I used a roll of 25 about 6 weeks ago which had "expired" in 1999 and it looked as good as the day it was born!If they ever stop making film to put in there I'll just use the extra space for more beer.

srmcnamara · Oct 7, 2009

I keep my color paper and film in the fridge. just 1 box of 4x5 film right now and a box each of 8x10, 11x14, and 16x20 paper. The paper boxes look like pizza boxes but my roommates know it's not food.

Jouvet · Oct 29, 2009

I am keeping my films in the refrigerator section. Right now I just bought a few bulk rolls and a few Ektar 100 to test. Problem is not much space is left of the fridge section. Is it alright to remove the 120 mm film from its box and place them in an airtight container inside the fridge? I am thinking this will save a little space.

nickstreme · Oct 29, 2009

Store it the same way you store meat.

If your going to eat it in the next week, keep it in the fridge. If your going to eat it next month, freeze it.

DanielStone · Oct 29, 2009

nickstreme said:
Store it the same way you store meat.

If your going to eat it in the next week, keep it in the fridge. If your going to eat it next month, freeze it.

do you vacuum seal it as well ? I did that with some 12"(cut from a roll) Endura Metallic. so far, its almost 1 1/2 years out of date, and it still prints fine! i didn't freeze it, just in the back of the fridge.

-dan

slumry · Oct 29, 2009

I was lucky to get a freezer the size of one of a dorm refrigerator, it was even on sale. It was very cheap. Since then I have not seen any similar freezers that small.

AmandaTom · Oct 29, 2009

I have 4x5 and 120 in my fridge taking up half a shelf. Unfortunately I have no cold room for the other25 boxes of Quickloads, and 6 boxes of Readyloads that are languishing in my pantry and darkroom. I think I need to find a dorm fridge of my own. Or take my son's. He's probably only keeping beer in it at college--I need it for more important stuff!

Jouvet · Oct 30, 2009

thank you for input, i will now remove them from their boxes, and individually pack them in cellophane, before placing in the air tight container.

alexmacphee · Oct 30, 2009

Keep mine in the freezer. My wife insists on putting frozen food in it, and it's really annoying. I have this fear that one day, out in the field, I'll reach into the bag pocket and go to put another roll of Velvia 50 in the camera, and find that it's a sausage.

Q.G. · Oct 30, 2009

Jouvet said:
thank you for input, i will now remove them from their boxes, and individually pack them in cellophane, before placing in the air tight container.

120 film already is in an airtight foil.
So just put them in whatever container you are planning to use and into the freezer.
You could put them in the freezer in just the foil wrapper they already are in. No problem with that (except that a loose bunch of rolls in the freezer rapidly gets 'messy', with rolls everywhere).

film storage

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