Ultra Low Freezer Ideal for Long Term Film Stockpile?

[PKM-25]

Dude I don't even know you.

Lol, what ever man, that would be true of most of the people on here then. My advice, buy a freezer, stock up, use it, rotate stock. That is what is pros do, I have about 10 grand worth of film and paper in a large freezer, I use a lot. I stored Kodachrome for years, went through 1,200 plus rolls of it and it was fine.

I don't use as much color, so I only have a little bit, 100 4x5 sheets of Ektar, 200 rolls of it in 120, etc...

No one knows how long C41 will be around, so buy and use it, stock up on logical amounts...

Nuff said, yes?

 

[Andre Noble]

You should have kept it at this originally:

My advice, buy a freezer, stock up, use it, rotate stock. That is what is pros do, I have about 10 grand worth of film and paper in a large freezer, I use a lot. I stored Kodachrome for years, went through 1,200 plus rolls of it and it was fine.

I don't use as much color, so I only have a little bit, 100 4x5 sheets of Ektar, 200 rolls of it in 120, etc...

No one knows how long C41 will be around, so buy and use it, stock up on logical amounts...

Nuff said, yes?

 

[cliveh]

As I live in England, I can't speak for those very hot countries, but I have never kept black & white film in a fridge. I keep colour film in the fridge (not the freezer). Sometimes I think people extrapolate advice to extremes.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Andre - you'd have to have an idea of what the batch codes mean before you know how old the film
actually is. And it's all a game of odds. The older the film gets, the worse the odds are, though not
all films age at the same rate. And what might be allowable for general shooting might be inadmissable for critical usage, where even slight crossover would cause an issue. I differentiate that
fact in my own work - there are instances I'll buy and use outdated film, and times I won't.

 

[brianmquinn]

For what it is worth; I have EXPOSED a lot of X-ray film at -80C with great results.
These were LONG exposures. Usually lasting from days to weeks.
Development was fast only taking minutes.

 

[SkipA]

I just came across a 220 roll of Fuji NPH 400 with a 2005-10 expiration date. It was stuck in an inner pocket of one of my larger camera bags that I use for MF gear. Room temp, often 80 to 85 degrees, for years.

I believe I bought this film to shoot my sister's wedding. It likely came from a pro pack that I didn't completely use up. She loved the images. I didn't think they were my best. I confess I never liked this film. It always seemed dull and lifeless to me.

I'm going to shoot it so I can see first hand how badly a poorly stored high speed color negative film ages.

 

[SkipA]

Andre, I bought a 15 cubic foot manual defrost freezer for film. I think a manual defrost freezer is better than an autodefrost type, as it keeps the freeze/thaw cycles to a minimum. I keep mine at minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit. I have 10 year expired Astia that still looks great. I have 10 year old Efke and Bergger sheet film that still looks great. No fog. I dont' have any film that is 20 years old, and I'm trying to use up all of my old film before I buy more, but I don't think that freezing film that you especially like for the long term is a bad idea.

 

[lxdude]

Maybe with perhaps a science lab & photography background for outside of the box thinking could chime in.

I don't think taking film out of the box will help much.

 

[Andre Noble]

I don't think taking film out of the box will help much.

Actually it helps a lot.

Months ago I bought ~ one hundred 35mm rolls of Kodak 125 Plus X. They come 80 to a box, and are inside individual boxes too. I took them out of both boxes, but not out of their canisters - to save a lot of space in the freezer. Otherwise wouldn't fit.

 

[PKM-25]

Consider that film canisters are not totally airtight...

For example, when HIE was discontinued, I bought the last 80 rolls Samy's had and then used vacuum bags to seal them in batches of 20 rolls. Did the same with Kodachrome when I was on the road, big sealed bags of 50 rolls, not even in the cans. Of course this lowers the "ebay" value, but who cares, right? The value is in using it down the road, not flipping it....