Freeze Thaw Bad for Film?

I don´t freeze film, because I usually manage to expose it before expiry date and if I don´t I put it in the fridge (generally 2 or 3 rolls per year) and then forget about it anyway...but I have been exposing film here in Finland at temperatures as low as -30 C and sometimes the film was in subfreezing temperature for one hour or two while photographing, so I have actually done freeze/thaw cycles (and occasionally more than once for the same film) and so far all good.

For color film, especially transparency film, freezing helps hold the color balance better. For BW film, I've used expired film 10 years past their date store in a cool dry place with no issues. Keep in mind freezing film uses electricity which is an expense.

Simon R Galley said:

...our technical service department...say...Once film has been stored in a refrigerator or freezer and then removed it should NOT be refrozen or refrigerated...

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Now that's interesting. May I impose on you to ask them why? Thanks in advance.

Never had a problem, in or out of manufacturer's packaging. I do let it warm up inside the package (manufacturer or otherwise) before opening, though.

Simon's comments are interesting and I wonder what problems they are seeing. I routinely take film out of cold storage and throw it in my camera bag for a trip then back into cold storage (generally refrigeration though some, expired or stuff that is no longer made that I've stocked up on, is frozen) and I've never seen a problem.

I also can't imagine why it would take 24 hours to warm up. I just take it out and put in my camera bag (exception - sheet film that I need to load into holders, in which case I try to allow an hour or two) and go. By the time I'm ready to load it, it's certainly at ambient temperature.

I also have started routinely putting exposed film in ziplocks and back in the fridge, because I often can't process it promptly. With the exceptions of Pan F+ and Delta 3200 this seems to work well - no problems. It doesn't cause any additional problems with those films, but it doesn't help their poor latent image keeping qualities that much either.

Simon R Galley said:

Thawing from frozen takes at least 24 hours, as a rule of thumb the same timescale should be
used for refridgerated film.

Simon ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited

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Out here, night temperatures are now 25+ C. Thawing takes hours, not an entire day.
Maybe timescale that you are referring to is relevant only to the location tested?

analoguey said:

Out here, night temperatures are now 25+ C. Thawing takes hours, not an entire day.
Maybe timescale that you are referring to is relevant only to the location tested?

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It's at least possible that a longer thawing time - beyond just the thermal change - might be required due to the chemical and physical nature of the emulsion. That was my first guess (and just a guess) when I saw the recommendation.

Also, I assume the recommendations represent what Ilford believes is necessary for optimal condition of the once-frozen film and may have a safety factor built on top of that.

The freeze thaw cycle sooner or later takes mountains, among many other things, apart. Is it any wonder that it's not recommended for film?

Not saying film isn't resilient, just sayin' that if you don't want surprises...

Don't freeze the original Ektar 25 film. Some lots grow nasty crystals in the emulsion if you do so, ruining it. (No problem with Ektar 100, very different film.)

I have heard that, but too late - I already have some frozen. But then, with the availability of Ektar 100, I see no real reason to shoot it even if it's good.

Simon R Galley said:

Once film has been stored in a refrigerator or freezer and then removed it should NOT be refrozen
or refrigerated.

Simon, why should film not be re-frozen? What detrimental effects would this have? And why is this so?



Thawing from frozen takes at least 24 hours, as a rule of thumb the same timescale should be
used for refridgerated film.
Simon ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited

Click to expand...

I don't have the science or data behind this but 24 hours to thaw seem unnecessarily long. I usually put the frozen rolls I plan to use first in my shirt pocket and by the time I get to the location (usually an hour or so) it's ready to go. I've not had problems that I could detect from the results in any case.

Oh gosh, freeze-thaw damage require water to make crystals. The whole idea is to keep water out completely. There is a right way to freeze
film and a wrong way. Some new film is well sealed inside its box, some is not. But in either case, you want to make sure moisture does not
get inside. I double bag even new film - and I mean bag I can completely twist-seal, not just zip-lok. Once film is opened, you have to extract
any humidity in the surrounding air before sealing it again. An inexpensive device that does this is a freeze-dry kit intended for food, about a
hundred bucks. But don't trust those heat-sealed food bags completely. At least double-bag. I have true heat seal museum material like they
use to store valuable C-prints frozen. It is a laminate of aluminum foil with heat-sealable polyethylene, and comes in big rolls. I've successfully used it for hermetically sealed print displays in high moisture environments (one surface also obviously has to be transparent;
but that's a complex subject in its own right). There is plenty of information out there if you take the time to do your homework. Go to
archival/museum info sources, and not just casual web input that is 75% guesswork. This kind of storage was perfected decades ago.
hermetic sealing of prints in risky moisture display

No - it's easy to keep water out. Real easy. You don't want zero humidity, just low. A simple Tupperware box with a tight lid and some fresh
silica gel in it will let you temper your film environment if you quickly repackage it. A normal house in the winter with forced air heating is pretty
damn dry - too dry for most people - that's why they buy humidifiers! Some people live in dry climates to begin with. I don't. I've hermetically
sealed prints up to four feet across in controlled humidity chambers... If you want something trickier, try that!

So, Simon, is the reason why one should not re-freeze film is because of possible leakage in the packaging letting in air with moisture and causing damage to the emulsion with ice crystals? What do your tech people say?