Vacuum sealing sheet film

tjaded · May 12, 2011

Hi all--
I recently bought a "Food Saver" to vacuum seal...food! But seeing how well it works for that, I decided to vacuum seal my sheet film. I figured it is just one more bit of protection from the elements (of my fridge/freezer if nothing else!) Just curious if anyone else does this. I am always striving to come up with inane things to do in life--did I just add another to the list??

Adios,
Matt

ic-racer · May 12, 2011

tjaded said:
Hi all--
I recently bought a "Food Saver" to vacuum seal...food! But seeing how well it works for that, I decided to vacuum seal my sheet film. I figured it is just one more bit of protection from the elements (of my fridge/freezer if nothing else!) Just curious if anyone else does this. I am always striving to come up with inane things to do in life--did I just add another to the list??

Adios,
Matt

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showpost.php?p=457677&postcount=4

I'm still using it. I just broke open a pack of Minolta 16mm cartridges that I sealed a few months ago.

tjaded · May 12, 2011

So far I'm loving it. Now if I could just get my hands on some of that foil type stuff they used for Army food...."C" rations of film!

BetterSense · May 12, 2011

This sounds like a good idea, although using Ziploc backs is probably just as good. Based on the old film I've dealt with, I'm convinced that exposure to atmosphere kills film just as much as cosmic rays. I don't know what it is--humidity maybe--but film that has had the foil packet opened definitely goes bad years before still-sealed film.

Photo Engineer · May 12, 2011

Kodak tested a variety of films for use in space in total vacuum and found no problem even though they feared there might be one. So, I suspect that the minor low pressure formed in these sealing units would be no problem at all compared to the hard vacuum of outer space or the moon.

PE

wildbill · May 12, 2011

BetterSense said:
This sounds like a good idea, although using Ziploc backs is probably just as good. Based on the old film I've dealt with, I'm convinced that exposure to atmosphere kills film just as much as cosmic rays. I don't know what it is--humidity maybe--but film that has had the foil packet opened definitely goes bad years before still-sealed film.

Ziplocs aren't. You can't get all the air out and the bags often aren't air tight anyway.

I've been vacuum sealing opened packs for several years and I feel very confident when putting opened film back in the freezer.

Diapositivo · May 13, 2011

You preserve food with vacuum because if you take out air you also take out all the microflora that feeds on your cheese, lemons etc. turning it into a green stinking mess that makes you feel hunger is preferable.

When you preserve film, you always preserve it sealed in its container. The container is factory-filled with factory-air which does not contain moisture* and does not contain said micropests.

So my advice is: if your film is not in a factory-sealed package, do not put it in the fridge or freezer, because you might have condensation problems. If your film is, instead, sealed, putting it in the "vacuum" container does not make any difference because the film is not in touch with outer air. If there is any so-to-speak microbial contamination in the film, you are not improving the situation by vacuuming it because it is sealed.

* Or maybe contains the right amount of moisture, I don't know.

ic-racer · May 13, 2011

My impression is that moisture has the potential to condense on the film during the thawing procedure without the vacuum seal process. I processed some 35mm bulk cartridges the I think were ruined from moisture a few years ago, that is why I started using the vacuum. A film canister or zip-lock bag still contains moisture when it is closed.

Thingy · May 13, 2011

I store my opened 5x4 sheet film and Quickload film in my fridge and have had no problems with condensation. I keep the QL film wrapped up in its (opened) plastic foil container in a QL box and keep sheet film in the closed box.

We have just been discussing this very question in the UKLFPG below, so you may find the answers interesting.

http://www.lf-photo.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2625

Vacuum sealing sheet film

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