How do I properly cold-store film in a refrigerator or freezer?

Alan Edward Klein · May 12, 2025

The problem with background cosmic radiation reminds me of the problem Kodak had during World War II. The US was developing the atomic bomb in the super secret Manhattan project in the Southwest. When they tested the bombs, radiation caught up in the atmosphere, floated eastbound over Rochester, and exposed Kodak films leaving radiation elements in the background. They figured out it was some sort of a radiation coming from what the government may be doing so, they reported it, and the government told him to shut up and not say anything about it, and Kodak took procedures to protect the film keeping the issue secret until after the war ended.

Sirius Glass · May 12, 2025

Alan Edward Klein said:
How about adding a silica gel pack?

That is an excellent point. Thank you.

Dr. no · May 12, 2025

Minolta93 said:
What are the best methods for cold storing larger quantities of film? I want to protect my film from condensation when I pull it out of the fridge or freezer as well. My most important bunch of film is 20 rolls of Velvia. I'd like to keep those in the freezer for the most part, and I also would rather keep them all in the original packaging as much as possible.

Reversal film is the most susceptible (generally) to aging, and Kodak more than Fuji.
I'd concur with the baggies in the freezer for long-term storage (years), sized to let you remove what you need, and baggies or easier containers in the fridge for what you will use in the next few months. I have plastic boxes in the fridge that I just grab whatever I need that day, not tight but if the freezer melts on them they should be dry inside.
Original packaging is not a necessity!
I have shot film in conditions colder than my freezer--film works at those temps. There are photochemical reactions at -45f, anyway. The reason let film warm before opening is condensation. OTOH, where I live there's usually not much of that! Chips get crunchier after opening the bag.
Label them now! I wish I remembered where all of the film in my freezer came from, and when...

wiltw · May 14, 2025

reddesert said:
Did you read the paper I linked? It directly addresses your remark. Age-related fog can come from natural background radiation, of which cosmic radiation is only one part. The authors addressed the cosmic ray contribution by storing film in an underground low-radiation facility, in a box made of low-radiative-isotope-content lead. That had only somewhat less fog. According to the paper, what Fuji did to address fog was change the properties of the film emulsion, for example to offload more of the blue sensitivity into the sensitizing dye, and minimize the self-contamination by the emulsion ingredients. I attach here a paragraph from their conclusions. Those who want to see the characteristic curve figure 14 can read the paper linked above.

It is quite possible that Kodak took similar measures, I don't really know. This paper from Fuji authors is just what came up when searching for more information.

View attachment 398331

Yes, I did read the paper. I merely provided reference to kodak's research, which showed freezing benifiting color shift but having no effed in minizimzing cosmic ray, rays would not even be blocked by the mass or density of the planet we live on. I did no comment on the Fuji work, as I do not have sufficient knowlege or expertise to know what lessened sensitivity of the blue wavelenth light might nave (or fail to have) relative to cosmic radtion that can pass thru an entire planet!

dokko · May 14, 2025

wiltw said:
I merely provided reference to kodak's research, which showed freezing benifiting color shift but having no effed in minizimzing cosmic ray, rays would not even be blocked by the mass or density of the planet we live on. I did no comment on the Fuji work, as I do not have sufficient knowlege or expertise to know what lessened sensitivity of the blue wavelenth light might nave (or fail to have) relative to cosmic radtion that can pass thru an entire planet!

I think, you're confusing two different types of particles here:

Neutrinos have such a weak interaction with matter that most of them they will pass through the entire planet. Luckily, they will also pass through 0.01mm of film emulsion without interacting.

Cosmic radiation will be absorbed by matter and actually the atmosphere will already absorb most of the cosmic radiation.
Unfortunately we'd need several meters of solid matter to reduce this even further, so a 2mm lead bag will not help here.
But deep underground storage would work well for this, and Kodak has been reported to have stored master rolls of high sensitivity films in abandoned salt mines.

loccdor · May 14, 2025

No need to complicate this, the film should have some kind of plastic around it, either original or added. When you use it, leave it in the plastic a few hours after pulling it out.

Taylor Nankervis · May 14, 2025

Keep it simple. No floss. No fanfare. No special anti-cosmic ray protection...

Leave the film in its original packaging.
Store in a dry freezer (not a wet freezer where it will spend its days in a puddle!). And not in a box where solid ice can form around packs.

Silica is limited in its usefulness; it will absorb moisture and as a result, it will require periodic 'recharging' in a microwave for 45 seconds; after 4-5 recharges, it's gone. I have never stored film with silica. I just store the film in the freezer, removing film for one day prior to use and away I go.

My freezer has a few hundred rolls of RVP50, 100 and E100 plus ancient ACROS. Some of this dates back to 2013, so ten+ years and working slowly thorugh it, very recent processing has been unremarkable against later emulsions.

loccdor · May 14, 2025

Taylor Nankervis said:
ancient ACROS

You could take the Acros out if you needed space. I also bought a lot of it around 2013, and didn't cold store any of it - works like new.

wiltw · May 14, 2025

dokko said:
I think, you're confusing two different types of particles here:

No 'confusion' on my part...zero effort by me (or Kodak) to characterize the particle involved in 'cosmic rays'! It was @mshchem who broght up 'neutrinos'
There have been lots of smarter folks (than me) trying to figure out what makes up 'cosmic rays' over the many years, and how it is that some have enough energy to pass thru many feet of earth (or freezers).

slackercrurster · May 14, 2025

Minolta93 said:
Hi everyone,

I recently stocked up on film. I won't be shooting all of it very soon, so I want to keep it cold-stored. I have almost 50 rolls of 35mm film on hand now, whereas in the past I've had at most fewer than a dozen. So now, it seems more important that I cold store my film. Previously, I've kept 3-packs of consumer film in a ziploc bag in the fridge if I wasn't planning on using it for a while.

What are the best methods for cold storing larger quantities of film? I want to protect my film from condensation when I pull it out of the fridge or freezer as well. My most important bunch of film is 20 rolls of Velvia. I'd like to keep those in the freezer for the most part, and I also would rather keep them all in the original packaging as much as possible.

I vacuum seal and freeze it...exposed cine' film with VS, that is.

reddesert · May 15, 2025

wiltw said:
No 'confusion' on my part...zero effort by me (or Kodak) to characterize the particle involved in 'cosmic rays'! It was @mshchem who broght up 'neutrinos'
There have been lots of smarter folks (than me) trying to figure out what makes up 'cosmic rays' over the many years, and how it is that some have enough energy to pass thru many feet of earth (or freezers).

This is a digression from the original thread, but the radiation that fogs film is mostly natural background terrestrial radiation; cosmic radiation plays a measurable but not dominant part. That's why the Fuji experiment of putting the film in an underground test facility (nearly totally shielded from ionizing cosmic radiation) and clean lead box, only marginally slowed the fog rate.

Hundreds of feet of dirt will in fact block essentially all ionizing cosmic radiation; recall that in order to fog film, it has to be absorbed within a 0.2mm thick layer of emulsion - there's no magic particle that makes it through all that dirt and then is soaked up by the film. Natural background radiation of terrestrial origin comes from small percentages of natural radioactive isotopes in everything - your fridge, the storage container, the film canister, the contents of the film and emulsion itself.

(P.S. I have a PhD in astrophysics - not to cite it as authority, but simply, I can in fact talk about this all day if not restrained.)

How do I properly cold-store film in a refrigerator or freezer?

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