ILFORD FP4 PLUS PASSED "FRESH" DATE???

[Stephen J. Collier]

I have about 8 rolls of HP4 Plus that, as of this month, are passed freshness. I was wondering what I can expect from them as I shoot and develop them in the next few months. Does anyone have any hints or words of advice for getting the bet possible negatives?

Thanks,
Stephen

 

[Jeremy]

Were they frozen or at least refrigerated? If so then I would expect no difference at all and if not then they may be ever-so-slightly lower in contrast, but I doubt it. If you want, send them to me and I will shoot them and tell you how it turned out

 

[Stephen J. Collier]

Well, thanks for the offer, but I'll have to decline. They were never frozen or refrigerated, they were just left at room temp. I shot a few of the rolls recently and they tunred out O.K. so hopefully I can get a few more months out of them.
Thanks.

 

[rbarker]

As long as the room wasn't a sauna, you should be fine during the next few months. A year or two from now might be another story, of course.

 

[Maine-iac]

I have about 8 rolls of HP4 Plus that, as of this month, are passed freshness. I was wondering what I can expect from them as I shoot and develop them in the next few months. Does anyone have any hints or words of advice for getting the bet possible negatives?

Thanks,
Stephen

I just shot a couple rolls of FP4+ that I bought about 12 years ago, took them to France with me, froze them for about eight years, thawed them out, stored them in a cabinent in the dining room for two years, shipped them back to the US where they now reside in my dry basement.

They exposed and processed perfectly with no fog, using my regular Phenidone/Vitamin C/carbonate developer.

Other than the freezing, they were not subjected to extreme temperatures or humidity, so my conclusion is that FP4+ has great shelf life, far beyond its rated expiration date.

Larry

 

[jmailand]

If you can freeze or refriderate them do it. That will slow down the aging process regardless of any previous storage conditions. If there still good now my guess would be they will still be good for atleast another 2 years if you put them in the freezer now.

 

[mikewhi]

People go way too overboard on this 'freshness' stuff and I have bought a lot of great film at barn sale prices because of it. As soon as someone sees it's 1 month out of date they start to think that it will turn to mush right in front of their eyes or something. While it is technically true that freezing film does slow the degradation process of the chemicals in the emulsion, you can shoot b&w film years and years out of date when it's stored in average temperatures and it will be perfectly fine. I e-mailed AGFA about this last year and they told me the same thing. Forget this freezer stuff unless you're thinking of keeping the film for 10 years or so. Honestly, I have film that is a lot older than 10 years and it's fine.

One of my past times is wondering into old-style camera stores and seeing a box or out of date Plus-X sheet film (usually 4x5) and asking to see it. I handle it, turn it around and with some sadness tell the owner too bad, it's out of date. I can usually get it for about $20 or $25 and I reluctantly take and say "I'll give it a try".

So l relax, your film is fine and will be for years to come. The only way to ruin it is to take pictures of misty harbors and small children.

-Mike

 

[jmailand]

When I said it would be good for at least two years I was being very cautious. It will probably last much longer than 2 years and the film isn't going to melt once its gone pass the freshness date. Cold temperatures will slow down the aging process of film emulsion. Just make sure its in kept away moisture if you freeze it. The plastic film canister 35mm film comes in should do this. Putting them in a zip lock freezer bag won't hurt either. No matter how it is stored though eventually ambient radiation is going to fog the film.

 

[Stephen J. Collier]

Thank You All...