Good Practice in Packaging Film

[sanking]

I was cleaning up an area of my darkroom and came across a 25 sheet box of J&C 400 film. This is the stuff made in the plant in Hungary that was closed down a few years go, and was also sold as Forte 400.

Expiration date on the film was 2004, and it had been stored at room temperature so I fully expected it to be very fogged. However, I exposed and developed a sheet of it and the B+F was not bad at all. I wondered why since some of the other East European films I have tried in the past, Efke PL100 for example, fogged badly after only a couple of years if stored at room temperature. Then I thought about the packaging. The Efke films, as I remember, came in a box that was not sealed in plastic, whereas the J&C film was packaged in a sealed plastic container, which I opened for the first time today.

Does it make sense that sealing the plastic container is that important in keeping film from fogging?

Sandy King

 

[Kenneth Lee]

Sealed... in a Vacuum ? In Nitrogen ? Is fogging an aerobic or anaerobic reaction ? Or is it due to cosmic rays ?

 

[Photo Engineer]

Sandy;

Packaging is an important factor in film longevity, but film emulsion additives are at least important. At this point it would be impossible to say which was most important in the case you cite. It could be either or both.

PE

 

[clayne]

Very fogged because it expired in 2004? Extremely doubtful for 400 speed film.