rerefrigerate over and over

[ehegwer]

Howdy, Does anyone know if there are any ill effects to re-refrigerating unexposed film over and over?

I buy it in bulk, stick it all in the fridge, and grab 5-10 rolls to shoot when I go out. Sometimes I don't use that many, and I just stick the unexposed rolls back in the fridge. I don't really keep track of which ones are taken out, and put back in.

Any experiences/help is most welcomed.

 

[Palantiri7]

I've never had a problem doing that.

 

[bsdunek]

It doesn't spoil from bacteria like food. I do it all the time. I keep my bulk loader with film in a freezer bag in the freezer. Take it out, load a few rolls and put it back. Just let it warm up before opening the container to avoid moisture problems.

 

[Alexander Ghaffari]

I hear that it gets more dry and rubbery if you re-microwave it. So whatever you do not finish after heating up the leftovers, just throw it away. : )

 

[Claire Senft]

Micro-wave the film... who said anything about micro-waving film? Now, there is a strange thought.

The film is being described by the OP is to refrigerate and allow film to reach a usable temperature and put the used used film back say a day later.

Firstly, I am anticipating film being subjected to 40ºF temps. Es no hay problema as far as temps. The only concern I would have will film that has been frozen and allowed to warm and refrozen or in and out of the fridge is getting the condensation of moisture on the film.

I do not believe there would be any other problem.

 

[wogster]

Micro-wave the film... who said anything about micro-waving film? Now, there is a strange thought.

The film is being described by the OP is to refrigerate and allow film to reach a usable temperature and put the used used film back say a day later.

Firstly, I am anticipating film being subjected to 40ºF temps. Es no hay problema as far as temps. The only concern I would have will film that has been frozen and allowed to warm and refrozen or in and out of the fridge is getting the condensation of moisture on the film.

I do not believe there would be any other problem.

As someone who freezes and thaws film on a regular basis, condensation is caused by a simple fact, cold air holds less moisture then warm air. When you take a cold item, into a warm moist area, the air immediately around that item will start to cool, meaning it's moisture holding ability is less, and some of the water in that air condenses on the nearest surface. This is why glasses fog up in the winter, when you go inside. Any condensation will occur on the package itself. You should NEVER open a package of film that isn't at roughly the same temperature as the air around it. If you like to take outdoor photographs in the winter, and take your camera bag into a warm house, leave it closed up for an hour or two to warm up, so that condensation is on the bag itself rather then the camera equipment inside. This doesn't apply if the bag was inside a warm car, then quickly transported into a building, where the equipment inside didn't get an opportunity to get that cold.

 

[jordanstarr]

I've never had any good practice and just didn't care around this topic. The main reason being is that I've been able to get away with 8 years of photography with the same practice. I've lived in Canada my whole life and winter doesn't stop me from shooting. All my film is stored in a fridge or freezer (when room allows and depending on the date of the film). I take absolutely zero percautions and have never run into a problem yet and this includes taking 35mm/120/4x5 film straight out of the freezer and loading it into cameras/backs/film holders. Maybe I should be thanking my lucky stars, maybe I'm incidently letting flim/camera equipment temperaturize or maybe there's absolutely nothing to worry about. On the more likely side, I probably need to change my practices slightly to avoid a very bad situation, but I don't think you need to get OCD about it either.