pro film time in camera

CRM-114 · Nov 18, 2010

Hi,
most so called 'pro' films are sold refrigerated, and are recommended by the manufacturer to be stored refrigerated.

this begs the (obvious) question: how long can, say a roll of Velvia 50 stay in the relative hellish environment of a camera body?

or do I have to store my cameras in the fridge also ;-)

Seriously, I'm not talking extremes like the inside of a car in mid-day summer, but the everyday environments most humans enjoy/tolerate.

But sometimes it can take a few weeks/months before I get through a roll...

thank you for your considered responses.

perkeleellinen · Nov 18, 2010

I don't think you should worry. I never refrigerate my 'pro' films and I've never seen any consistency issues between rolls. I actually did wonder about this during the summer when I had a roll of HIE in my camera, but I just kept it in my bag, it took a few weeks to finally finish it. There were no problems.

debanddg · Nov 18, 2010

Usually nothing much happens if you keep those out for a month or two. I am in a similar boat like yours many a times and never faced any issues [at least per my observations]

Rick A · Nov 18, 2010

The worst that can happen is excessive curl along with a flat spot that makes it slightly difficult to load in a reel for developing(personal experience).

sandholm · Nov 18, 2010

I have always thought of film like bananas, the pro stock is just perfect yellow, not green and no brown spots, just perfect. Therefore its kept refrigerated to maintain this stage for as long as possible. The business knows this, therefor they can produced film that perform the very best during the yellow area, but they dont care about the performance during green/brown. The other market, the"amateur" market, film is produced in such a way so it perform well during the whole period, until it expires, but you wont have that ultimate performance.

So, I try to use "pro" film in a week and then they are back in the freezer (developed minimum the week after). If i dont shoot that last 2-3 frames I dont care, just wind it back and freeze it, I rather have 10 perfect frames which perfect color (I dont know, i somehow believe there is a difference in old/new film when i print to ciba...... but maybe I am just crazy

(i left out the obvious jokes, but feel free to add

removed account4 · Nov 18, 2010

hi crm-114

i knew of someone who used to deliver film to stores .
he suggested that he sometimes would get stuck in traffic and pull off the road
for a bit, while the "pro film" bake in a 100ºF delivery van ( for hours) . this was the same film
sold for you know ... 5-7$ / roll out of the cold-case. since hearing that story years ago
i started to use consumer films for jobs, and never noticed the difference ( except in my wallet ).

i wouldn't worry about film in your camera

john

Neal · Nov 18, 2010

Dear CRM-114,

There was an article about that in PhotoTechniques (About 5 years ago, I think). The upshot is that even with some extended times at elevated temperatures there is essentially nothing to worry about.

Neal Wydra

hpulley · Nov 18, 2010

A real pro would likely slam through several rolls of film during an afternoon on the job so for them there is no problem of leaving film in the camera for extended periods with pro film in it. For that matter there is no waiting to finish the roll, if the roll isn't finished you rewind it anyways as you need to get them developed to complete your job! If it really matters then you should use it up fast and this is why you shouldn't really buy fridge cooled pro film if you take a few weeks to finish a roll, you're just wasting your money for the most part. Cooling to extend the expiry date is different than the cooling of pro films to maintain perfect color balance. Cooling to extend film life works for any film.

BTW, does anymore have any advice on what to do to avoid flat spots and excessive curl? Should I rewind the roll and leave it in the cassette for a while to un-flatten it???

benjiboy · Nov 18, 2010

Unfortunately not many camera stores that sell pro films if you can find them in the UK refrigerate it, and if you do and tell them that it should be stored below 30 degrees, they look at you as if you're some kind of nut, my local pro dealer keeps it in a glass fronted cupboard and they tell me that don't care it isn't refrigerated they don't sell much film anyway, most of their customers are digital , so unless I'm desperate I buy it on-line direct from Fuji UK where it is correctly stored, and freeze it myself.

hpulley · Nov 18, 2010

Really, with most pros having gone digital I doubt anyone can keep pro films going like they used to. I think the Delta Pro line from Ilford is mostly Pro = more expensive. I like them but some days I think I should really just shoot HP5+ for the price.

Poisson Du Jour · Nov 19, 2010

Nothing to worry about at all.
The longest mine (Velvia 50, 100F or Provia 100F) has been in-camera is 4 months over Winter and into Spring. Every image counts; it's not wasted.

Fortunately for us Downunder, pro-dealers happily stock heaps of pro-level film (E6 in multi-formats is especially well represented) alongside the latest and worst of digital. Keeps the two camps happy and the store in the good books!

pro film time in camera

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