Where do you keep your films? Fridge, freezer or room

[eli griggs]

I have one of those "fancy" 12v or 120v coolers whose intended home was my truck. It was still sitting in my basement, so for now it is the film fridge.

My Rozeann brought me a small USB powered cooler/heater but I've no tested it in the car, preferring the cold bag or ice chest.

 

[otto.f]

All three of them, depending on what I tend to use more/first

 

[Agulliver]

How did/does NASA protect photographicfilms?

They didn't. Because it wasn't deemed necessary.

There is lots of info out there on the modified Hasselblads which went to the moon were actually stripped of some of their metalwork to reduce the weight. The film was held in a special magazine/cassette which could not be removed accidentally by the astronauts (who were not photographers) or by accidental bumping during flight. But there was no special protection against radiation or cosmic rays.

Honestly people tend to worry about these things *far* more than they need.

 

[foc]

I store all my films at room temperature and have never used a fridge or freezer.
Of course, it does help that where I live, high temperatures are never a problem.

 

[Duceman]

I've been keeping all of my film in the freezer for the past 15 years or so. We have a chest freezer in our basement which is where I had been keeping my film. Recently, my wife commented on how much space the film was taking up in the freezer and _suggested_ that I should get my own freezer just for my film. Taking my wife's _suggestion_ I went out and bought a medium-sized 3.8 cubic foot freezer, thinking that it would be more than enough space for my film. Well... after transferring all of my film from the old freezer to the new one, it was plump full! Guess I've got a little collection of film. Grin.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I watched the film Jay Myself the other night. For those unfamiliar with it, it is basically the story of the photographer Jay Maisel and his career--but mostly about move out of the 6-story, 30,000 sq-ft bank building he occupied for 50 years in the Bowery part of Manhattan. He is a hoarder, collecting anything that might make an interesting photo at some point. It took 35 moving vans to empty the place out. But to stay on topic, at one point he opened a large cupboard filled with bricks of 35mm Kodachrome. No refrigeration. I'm sure when he was shooting film he went through it fast enough not to worry. But the stash he was looking at had expired in 1974, and he more or less said good riddance, this is going in the trash--not because it was expired as much as he certainly didn't seem like he missed shooting film any more.

Where did he move the 35 moving vans of stuff too?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Seems to me that UV is the killer of long term stored film?

I never had a problem with UV light in the refrigerator or the freezer.

 

[eli griggs]

They didn't. Because it wasn't deemed necessary.

There is lots of info out there on the modified Hasselblads which went to the moon were actually stripped of some of their metalwork to reduce the weight. The film was held in a special magazine/cassette which could not be removed accidentally by the astronauts (who were not photographers) or by accidental bumping during flight. But there was no special protection against radiation or cosmic rays.

Honestly people tend to worry about these things *far* more than they need.

Cheers!

 

[Pieter12]

Where did he move the 35 moving vans of stuff too?

A 10,00 sq ft former carriage house and an industrial storage site.

 

[MTGseattle]

My Rozeann brought me a small USB powered cooler/heater but I've no tested it in the car, preferring the cold bag or ice chest.

All they really do is not require you to keep buying ice and having to deal with melt water.

 

[bluechromis]

I keep mine in a freezer that I got mainly for film. I later learned that a chest freezer might have been better. The freezer recently failed and it was several days before I realized it had thawed. Since then, I have kept the film in plastic containers in the freezer to hopefully reduce problems from moisture.

 

[Pieter12]

All they really do is not require you to keep buying ice and having to deal with melt water.

You need not use ice. Gel packs work fine and not do not leave water. I put mine inside a ziplock bag just incase they develop a leak. But I never even use anything beyond an insulted bag or box to store film. No need for ice, just prevent the film from getting too warm. Camera stores use refrigerators set at 60ºF or so, like a floral refrigerator. Long-term storage (years) is different. Just make sure to properly allow the film to come to 60-65ºF before opening it.

 

[mshchem]

I have a dedicated refrigerator/freezer, very efficient model. This unit sits in a basement storage room, the room is cool. Works great.

 

[eli griggs]

All they really do is not require you to keep buying ice and having to deal with melt water.

Good enough for now but thanks for the info.

 

[koraks]

a small USB powered cooler/heater

Hm. USB is practically limited in most cases to around 10W. That makes for roughly the cooling capacity of an asthmatic mouse breathing across a wet paper napkin

 

[Vaughn]

I have a dedicated fridge for my film (B&W sheet film; 4x5 to 11x14). But since it is my only fridge, I keep some food in it, too.

Whatever I'm gonna use is carried in the camera bag and the rest is stored in the vegetable/fruit drawers in the fridge

They're for fruit and veges?!

 

[MattKing]

Hm. USB is practically limited in most cases to around 10W. That makes for roughly the cooling capacity of an asthmatic mouse breathing across a wet paper napkin

How did you find an asthmatic mouse to test this? Can we see the data?

 

[BrianShaw]

How did you find an asthmatic mouse to test this? Can we see the data?

I questioned the very existence of an asthmatic mouse until I googled and found this... it's a real thing!

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/resp.13052

Murine models of asthma

In vivo animal models can offer valuable information on several aspects of asthma pathogenesis and treatment. The mouse is increasingly used in these models, mainly because this species allows for the application in vivo of a broad range of immunological tools, including gene deletion...

erj.ersjournals.com

https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(19)31624-0/fulltext

 

[koraks]

How did you find an asthmatic mouse to test this? Can we see the data?

It's in our backyard somewhere

 

[Pioneer]

Haven't put any film in a fridge or a freezer for a long time. I like to eat so I decided that I would rather keep food in my freezer and fridge. As I remember I quit storing film in the freezer about the time my wife unwrapped a neat foil package of 4x5 film that was resting comfortably in our small freezer and threatened to cook it if I didn't come up with a different method of storage. Since I assumed that film lasted longer if it was not put into an oven at 350F I decided it was best to keep it separate from the steaks.

Now I store mine in the spare bedroom where I keep all the books on how to properly store and use film.

Come to think of it the cameras are all in there as well.

 

[MTGseattle]

You need not use ice. Gel packs work fine and not do not leave water. I put mine inside a ziplock bag just incase they develop a leak. But I never even use anything beyond an insulted bag or box to store film. No need for ice, just prevent the film from getting too warm. Camera stores use refrigerators set at 60ºF or so, like a floral refrigerator. Long-term storage (years) is different. Just make sure to properly allow the film to come to 60-65ºF before opening it.

I strayed from the main topic a bit, The whole point of a 12v or 24v fridge/freezer is to keep from having to use ice or gel packs while traveling.

 

[Helge]

Tightly packed freezer drawer in double Ikea zipbags with desiccant in the inner. When possible stored in original packing to avoid direct contact with any metal or ice that could lead to condensation and freezer burn.

 

[Prest_400]

Room. Mostly BW.
I have recently been using some HP5 expired in 2013 kept at room - not planned - but I see no difference from my fresh HP5.
So no need for me to refrigerate/freeze.

Interesting insight. I do room for B&W. Sometimes think about the "should I have". 2020 Delta 100 is fine, my 400 (Delta 400 and HP5) expired 2022 and 2023. A way to feel time passing fast is to notice that the film expiration date has arrived when you bought it fresh, and then thinking it was a couple years into the future.

Bonus points: I have a shelf with some cameras, framed prints leaning on the wall and the film, it's at the same time "styling" and decorating so it looks as if I have a small photo store. Ilford boxes are pretty.

Color film I freeze. After exposure and waiting to batch up for send out/dev run (can take 6-9 months) it tends to be refrigerated.

 

[benjiboy]

All My film is kept in the freezer.

 

[Sirius Glass]

All My film is kept in the freezer.

Almost all of mine is in the freezer.