All 120
Given that those stocks will likely not deteriorate much it's not something that most users are concerned with. Though with your interest being primarily in 120, you do want to avoid keeping it for too many years as the modern backing paper certainly ain't what it used to be.
Most Ilford film that I buy seems to have a couple of years to go before the suggested date...regardless of where I purchase it. If the freshest is really important to you, I'd suggest buying from a specialist analogue photography business rather than Amazon or another company which might have small sales volume of film because their main focus is elsewhere.
You can buy from Ilford Photo themselves....but all the "usual suspects" should be offering decently dated film unless they state that it's a special offer on short dated film.
Think of Nik & Trick, Process Supplies, Ag Photographic, Analogue Wonderland, Wex, Firstcall...I am sure I'm forgetting some.
If you do dabble in 35mm you'll find that bigger branches of Boots still sell Ilford B&W 35mm film, usually HP5 and FP4. While it might not be the freshest or cheapest, it is often convenient. And in 135 format those films will last at least a decade beyond their date unless you store them in a greenhouse.
Also consider finding out if you have a proper independent camera shop in your area. The kind that still regularly stocks film. Chances are their film is properly stored and fresh, and you can always ask to be informed when a new delivery of film is received and buy it as fresh as possible.
Don't keep around 120 film for a long time. Backing paper offset problems are very common.
Just buy fresh film from time to time when you're about to use it.
Welcome to Photrio and welcome back to shooting film!
probably a lot more immune
I'm not familiar with the usual suspects though. A few names there didn't come up in a search. What is wrong with the backing paper?
What sorts of storage time are these things materialising with?
Could be a week, could be a year, could be a decade or more. There have been fairly recent reports of brand-new Ilford film (HP5+) exhibiting backing-paper related mottling. When Kodak was hit with this problem, it was also brand new film. But most instances we get to see are with expired film, and film that has been stored under adverse conditions. Especially storing in high temperatures, and storing for extended periods of time after having removed the film from the foil wrapper are contributing factors to problems.
With film that's within date, stored at room temperature and from one of the major manufacturers it's rare to run into these problems.
Thanks all for replies. It strikes me as crazy something reliable for probably decades has been suddenly struck down this way.
Also gleaned dry storage (as in silica gel beads) would help avert this, and that Kodak has made an attempt to overcome the problem. What a blow to spend time and money only to have number and gunk on your film! So looks like Kodak will get my money.
I'm in NW UK. I do have a local shop of sorts. Mathers Of Lancashire but there's a problem with the website and I can't reset my password. And I think there's been a problem with online payments.
He is cheap on prices though. £6.80 for 120 HP5 for instance. Just don't fancy non secure payments (over the phone).
Thanks for the list Agulliver
EDIT: What sorts of storage time are these things materialising with?
It's more common than it was 20 years ago, which is to say that with zillions of rolls being sold annually one almost never heard of a problem...and now one occasionally hears of a problem in an era when less film is being sold.
And specifically there was a period a few years ago when Kodak 120 film was suffering badly with backing paper issues. I discussed this with Andy Church at Kodak Alaris back in 2020 and he was confident the problem had been solved and at that point in time the last batch of "bad" film would have recently expired. There was also a time a bit more recently when Ilford had issues with 120 backing paper.
It is also much more easy to share stories of problems today. A handful of users post here about mottling on 120 rollfilm and it looks like there's some major issue, when even with the affected Kodak and Ilford batches there have been millions of satisfied users.
Both those problems seem to have been solved but it is still more important these days to shoot your 120 film and get it developed before it expires.
Having said all that, if you do shoot and develop within the expiry date and don't store the film in unfavourable conditions....you are very unlikely to experience any problems.
Has anyone ever had a backing paper problem with Foma? the general QC might not be quite up to Kodak and Ilford standards and the film is less sophisticated but it seems reliable.
You know, it's been so long, what are expiration dates like? Eg, I get a roll of HP5 factory fresh, what are we looking at? 3 years? 5 years? 8 years?
Oh it's rare. I got the impression it had become common. Still learning!
There are new guidelines when it comes to current production 120 B&W films.
1) do not buy more film than you expect to use before the film's expiration date.
2) keep the film stored in a cool dry location. A moisture-proof container in the fridge is a good choice.
3) do NOT expose your film to extremely warm conditions, as this will accelerate the "wrapper offset" process, leading to damaged film. Damp conditions can cause problems too, if any condensation forms on the film in-camera.
4) though you will pay more for Kodak films, it appears that Kodak has largely solved the wrapper offset problem on their 120 films in the past few years. Choose Kodak if you are unsure that you will use up all of the film before its expiration date.
5) it's possible to safely use most 120 B&W films up to a year or even 18 months past the expiration date if you have stored them in the fridge for the time you have had them. I am currently using 120 rolls of Delta 400 that are 6 months past their expiration date, having been stored in the fridge for 2 years, and these films have not exhibited any wrapper offset damage.
If you follow these suggestions, you shouldn't have to deal with negatives damaged by aging processes inherent in modern films.
Ilford themselves seem to sell film directly off their website. I recently read a user mentioning them having a "hidden" black friday sale with 10-15% discounts off their website.
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