Shelf Life of Ortho Lith Film

[sanking]

I was under the impression that lith film had a fairly short shelf life. But today I pulled out a box of Kodak Ortho Lith Film, Type 3, with an expiration date of 1986. I was about to discard it but decided to test it on the off chance that it might be useful for something. I was very surprised to find that the tests looks very good, with no general fog and good Dmax. And to the best of this knowledge this stuff had been stored at room temperature, not frozen. Is this typical of lith films?

Sandy King

 

[Jim Noel]

One of the boxes of lith film I just finished was dated 1978 and I had no problems with fog. It might have been a little slower but that was of little consequence. I use it to make enlarged negatives and on occasion, in camera for testing lenses.
I have more boxes of very old lith film from a couple of manufacturers and expect they will also be in good condition. I have never stored lith film in the refrigerator or freezer.

 

[maxbloom]

My Kodak Contrast is dated '83 IIRC. Zero fog in HC-110 (1:100 from concentrate).

 

[Akki14]

I don't see why it'd be any worse than any other film. In fact, wouldn't it be better since it's such a low ISO so not so sensitive to general age basefog as higher speed films?

 

[maxbloom]

I don't see why it'd be any worse than any other film. In fact, wouldn't it be better since it's such a low ISO so not so sensitive to general age basefog as higher speed films?

I'm sure PE could go into much better technical detail than I'm capable of, but I'll try to explain this briefly. I believe that part of the reason that very low speed films are resistant to fogging is for the reason you mentioned...they lack speed and thus sensitivity-increasing compounds. The more important reason in this case, and the one I'm positively sure about, is the fact that the film is orthochromatic. As such, it does not require a [third?] sensitization layer.

 

[Phillip P. Dimor]

I've some Kodalith type3, exp. in '86 too. Stored in a warm room for 2 years, before that I've no idea. It's fine.
Also, Kodak Duplicating Film that had expired in '93 and '91 is still fine too. Which is good because I hardly ever use the stuff.

 

[smieglitz]

I'll add to the chorus. I've used lith film that was 20+ years out of date and stored in a cabinet. No problems with it at all.

 

[sun of sand]

Hope you don't mind me putting this here

I have some old Gravure copy film
What is it ..exactly? Is it a slow film like most other graphics arts films? Sh*t, I'll just have to open it.

 

[richard ide]

Gravure copy film.

If it is the same as material I have used in the past; it is a slow speed continuous tone film.