BradS I tend to agree that most things can be taken totally out of proportion.
However, it seems that you are willing to fully ignore facts about physics and chemistry.
As temperature drop, atoms move slower, chemical reactions slow down and/or stop completely, depending on the temperature.
As we are dealing with chemicals here, it's very simple and logical to deduct that freezing something makes it last longer than cooling it.
- This is the reason why we keep beef and other foods deep-frozen and that frozen meat, in fact, can last several years when frozen.
The same applies to photographic materials and chemicals.
I suspect the reason why film is normally kept refrigerated in stores, is that they are supposed to be sold, maybe used quite quickly after purchase and that it is both more economical and practical for stores to have a fridge, rather than a freezer-system.
All frozen things become more brittle, frozen stuff takes longer to reach ambient temperatures and until they do, they are susceptible to accumulate condensation.
Naturally, there is then, an increased risk of ruining your materials, if you don't make sure to thaw it correctly and shielded from condensation, if I produced film, I would never recommend freezing, due to these increased risks. A recommendation would open up for complaints from customers, having their film ruined because of condensation-issues.
Also, films are normally meant to be used within the expiration-period, and one, as we know, don't have to cool the film at all for the film to be totally ok within this time-frame.
There is no question, based on articles and discussions I've found on the net, that freezing is better then cooling, if you are taking about storage way past the expiration date, but many films are very stable and can work fine, even if stored in ambient temperatures for years (as you mention).
Some of your films were fogged, but do you think they would have been, if they had been frozen from the get-go?
Here are Kodak warm-up times for Ektar, for some reason, they start at -18C in their table, but still recommends a long-term storage temperature at between 2 and 13 degrees (fridge)
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/e4046/e4046.pdf
However, it seems that you are willing to fully ignore facts about physics and chemistry.
As temperature drop, atoms move slower, chemical reactions slow down and/or stop completely, depending on the temperature.
As we are dealing with chemicals here, it's very simple and logical to deduct that freezing something makes it last longer than cooling it.
- This is the reason why we keep beef and other foods deep-frozen and that frozen meat, in fact, can last several years when frozen.
The same applies to photographic materials and chemicals.
I suspect the reason why film is normally kept refrigerated in stores, is that they are supposed to be sold, maybe used quite quickly after purchase and that it is both more economical and practical for stores to have a fridge, rather than a freezer-system.
All frozen things become more brittle, frozen stuff takes longer to reach ambient temperatures and until they do, they are susceptible to accumulate condensation.
Naturally, there is then, an increased risk of ruining your materials, if you don't make sure to thaw it correctly and shielded from condensation, if I produced film, I would never recommend freezing, due to these increased risks. A recommendation would open up for complaints from customers, having their film ruined because of condensation-issues.
Also, films are normally meant to be used within the expiration-period, and one, as we know, don't have to cool the film at all for the film to be totally ok within this time-frame.
There is no question, based on articles and discussions I've found on the net, that freezing is better then cooling, if you are taking about storage way past the expiration date, but many films are very stable and can work fine, even if stored in ambient temperatures for years (as you mention).
Some of your films were fogged, but do you think they would have been, if they had been frozen from the get-go?
Here are Kodak warm-up times for Ektar, for some reason, they start at -18C in their table, but still recommends a long-term storage temperature at between 2 and 13 degrees (fridge)
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/e4046/e4046.pdf
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