Longevity of unopened Fuji pack film

nightbringer · Oct 27, 2011

I picked up a Mamiya RB67 recently, with the HP701 polaroid back.
Where I am pack film is incredibly expensive - $30 for a pack of FP-100C 10 3.25" x 4.25" sheets. I am looking into making a big order from B&H who seem to have it relatively cheap, but I have been trying to find out how long pack film was good for if you stored it say in the freezer.

So anyone know?

hpulley · Oct 27, 2011

Most say you shouldn't freeze pack film as the liquid can break out. It can be refrigerated at least.

Personally I don't even bother doing that. Heck, people are still buying outdated Polaroid film on eBay.

I think the expiry dates are very conservative.

Data sheet says under 10C for long term storage: http://www.canemco.com/catalog/Technical_sheets/fp_100c_datasheet.pdf

woosang · Oct 27, 2011

Don't freeze

As stated by the poster above, it's a bad idea to freeze Polaroid the biggest issue besides that is your chemicals drying out. The 100c and 3000b film have no batteries unlike the 600 speed film so it should last longer in the fridge. Most very old packs (ie over 6 years) are useless the chemicals have dried out and therefore don't spread and in the case of the battery ones the battery dies.
You should be ok for a few years at least but the colour may become unstable after a time.

woosang · Oct 27, 2011

I should have said instant film not Polaroid....

McFortner · Oct 27, 2011

Don't freeze any type of instant film. It all works on the same principles with a "pod" full of developing chemicals that are spread over the negative and positive. Freezing the film causes the pod to swell and break prematurely and makes the film useless.

nightbringer · Oct 27, 2011

So it should be all right for a few years if I just stick it in the fridge where I keep all my film?

xya · Oct 28, 2011

nightbringer said:
So it should be all right for a few years if I just stick it in the fridge where I keep all my film?

that's it. just put it there. 2 or 3 years over the date are usually no problem if it has been stored properly. but if it's older than that it changes and you have to recalibrate your proceedings. and then it becomes useless because it dries out.

this is for sheet film packs. integral film (instax) is more sensible to age and integral film with batteries (polaroid and impossible) is worse.

frontdrive34 · Oct 31, 2011

I keep all my peel apart in the fridge. The fuji stuff lasts for ages.

himself · Nov 6, 2011

I recently used a pack of fp100c that expired in 2007. It wasn't stored in the freezer or fridge, I think it was mostly sat on the shelf of the shop I got it from (for free) in Warsaw, so temp ranged from like 15 to 40 celsius.

It worked fine except for the slight purple, as in completely purple, colour.

In the fridge is best - as everyone has already mentioned.

nightbringer · Nov 11, 2011

Would you be able to store it in the fridge in the polaroid back?

himself · Nov 13, 2011

nightbringer said:
Would you be able to store it in the fridge in the polaroid back?

I stored some of it in 2 different types of back and only had a problem with the one.

I was using 3 different types of fuji film at one one point, so I had 3000b in my camera, 100c in my bronica back and 100b in my type 100back (off a polaroid passport camera). I never had any problems with the polaroid camera or back, but whenever I kept it in the bronica back for a long period in the fridge there would be a green square on the image the exact size of the 6x6 frame, why this happened I have no idea. you can see it here Dead Link Removed.

It was only ever the very top poaroid too, so the others were fine.

So to cut a rambling story short - yes you can... as long as it's not a bronica back and/but possibly just my particular back.

I hope that helps and makes sense.

Marc B. · Nov 13, 2011

To the OP,
Is Amazon.com available to you folks down-under?
A search on Amazon USA shows a few sellers as low as $3.95USD, for FP100c - $6.45USD, for FP3000b.
Maybe, use the Amazon link like a search directory, find companies that are selling at the right price,
then/or, contact those companies directly.
Another thought, can you access Japanese suppliers/retailers for a better deal?

PS: B&H Photo is a great company to do business with, I'm just trying to offer some other ideas for the future.

nightbringer · Nov 14, 2011

I ended up just sticking my polaroid back in the fridge - I figure that I might have to let it warm back up again for about half an hour before using it.

Marc B. said:
To the OP,
Is Amazon.com available to you folks down-under?
A search on Amazon USA shows a few sellers as low as $3.95USD, for FP100c - $6.45USD, for FP3000b.
Maybe, use the Amazon link like a search directory, find companies that are selling at the right price,
then/or, contact those companies directly.
Another thought, can you access Japanese suppliers/retailers for a better deal?

PS: B&H Photo is a great company to do business with, I'm just trying to offer some other ideas for the future.

Marc B:
No, there is no Amazon Australia unfortunately. If I want to get stuff from Amazon US then I have to use a mail forwarder or a relative/friend living over there to get somewhat reasonable postage rates as they charge an arm and a leg for shipping overseas. A quick browse on eBay shows some prospects, but it's still kind of expensive and not in the bulk I can get ordering from the US.

The Japanese one is an idea, though a quick look at Japan Exposures have prices similar to local, and that's before shipping.
I was in contact with another member who was offering to sell me some FP-100B, might end up ordering a big pile from him and then clog up my fridge with it lol.

tomalophicon · Nov 14, 2011

Ebay members from Taiwan often have very cheap pack film in bulk.

himself · Nov 14, 2011

nightbringer said:
I ended up just sticking my polaroid back in the fridge - I figure that I might have to let it warm back up again for about half an hour before using it.

sounds like a pretty reasonable thing to have done and as far as letting it warm up, the temp makes a difference to development time obviously, but I have no idea what would happen if you shot it cold and then let it develop for an extended time, the temp times are for ambient temperature not chemical temp I suppose... but if you're in a position to let it warm then I'd imagine that'tis best to shot and develop at the same temp.

just one more thing, I've never bothered refrigerating any of the film if I know I'll be using it relatively quickly. As long as it's stored in a cool dry(not a problem there I'd imagine) place it should be fine up to its expiry date at the very least.

xya · Nov 14, 2011

himself said:
sounds like a pretty reasonable thing to have done and as far as letting it warm up, the temp makes a difference to development time obviously, but I have no idea what would happen if you shot it cold and then let it develop for an extended time, the temp times are for ambient temperature not chemical temp I suppose... but if you're in a position to let it warm then I'd imagine that'tis best to shot and develop at the same temp...

the temperature of most fridges is about 4°C only. that's far too low. warming it up a bit is really the best solution. if you shoot fuji 100 film in cold and you are not shure about the develloping time, just make it long, even very long. the fuji is self-terminating. so a minute or two more is no problem at all.

Longevity of unopened Fuji pack film

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