how long can slide film stay good in fridge?

I have a large amount of film roughly one to two years expired,

though all of it has been kept in the fridge. I hate to throw it

away, and am happy to make any slight color adjustments in Photoshop

(I'd do it anyway...) Am I at all likely to get anything worse than

color shift? If I do a test roll with each lot, will that likely be

representative of the whole?

 

Thanks!

Worse than color shift? Probably not; maybe slightly increased grain. For the amount of time that has been in there, and considering that it has been refridgerated, you probably won't see any change in effective speed; in fact, in all probability you won't see any changes from a brand new roll. Assuming all of the film is from the same original batch, then yes one test roll should be decently representative of the whole.

James, put your film in the freezer.

Why put it in the freezer? You freeze film in order to preserve it and I don't see James

saying when he expects to use it :-)

 

What's with this freezing obsession, guys?

Sometimes some of the slower C41 emulsions will accept crack from the mayo if you allow it to hang out too long and go bad.

Macman, are you serious? Or...

i would say majority of the film i shoot on is expired. my only reason is i like really quality film, and they come so much cheaper when expired, and i notice hardly any difference. ive also been known to purposefully leave film in the sun, or by a heater for a week and then shoot on it just to let it come out however it does. i guess it all comes down to how anal you are about the film behaving like a textbook.

I am very serious.

 

Let me reformulate: you freeze film with a purpose: long term preservation. Long term

implies you're not going to use it right away. James hasn't specified when he was going to

use it. Therefore, why recommend freezing?

The original question relates to expired film. If the practice of freezing was done in the first place, there would be no concern. Is two years long term preservation for you? It is for me. Why do we put it in the fridge in the first place? The freezer is one step better than the fridge. Maybe you put some in the freezer for long term, separating your batches up like wine. I just store all my film in one place. I have seven bulk rolls of 100 foot stock at various lengths, boxes of 4x5, bricks of E-6 and C-41, and bags and bags of 120. I have three year old Provia that behaves like today's stock. Freeze and ignore. Understand?

I recently shot some Provia that expired last year. It had been either frozen or refrigerated since purchased. All the film turned out fine, no color shifts, etc.

 

A test roll is likely to be representative of each lot so, sure, that's a good idea.

 

If you're not sure when you'll be using up the film it might be a good idea to move it from the fridge to the freezer if you have the space.

>> Is two years long term preservation for you? It is for me.

 

You don't know how long the term is. James didn't know when he plans to use it. "Put your

film in the freezer" is a recomandation made now, in present, to be executed now or later.

The long or short period will follow starting the moment he follows your advice :-) It hasn't

happened yet.

 

Which makes me ask again: why recommend freezing if you don't know when he's gonna

use it? :)

In a photo chat group several years ago (I forget which one) some one expressed the opinion that freezing was bad for film, the emulsion and base would shrink different amounts causing reticulation. Whether this applied to a specific brand or all film wasn't stated. Any comments?

<<Let me reformulate: you freeze film with a purpose: long term preservation. Long term implies you're not going to use it right away. James hasn't specified when he was going to use it. Therefore, why recommend freezing?>>

 

I freeze all my film (I have the remnants of a 500 roll bulk purchase of Elite-II back around 1997, still perfect), even here in humid S Florida it's safe to open the plastic cannister and load the film after an hour at normal room temp (72F)or a half hour in a pocket next to your body warmth. I don't see any reason to keep any quantity of film in the fridge as opposed to the freezer.

You do not "freeze" film by putting it in the freezer compartment. No change of state takes place. You are merely storing it at a lower temperature.

I store all my color films in the freezer,and put them in the refrigerator a day or two ahead of their use.The refrigerated films,get warmed to room temp for 3-4 hours before they are unsealed.After shooting,film is kept in a cold pack on location,then its refrigerated untill the lab gets it.Any use of out of date films is taking a chance,even its been sealed in lead & kept at absolute zero(in a mayo jar at Funk & Wagnalls).Often there is nothing wrong with stored old films,but if the subject is important or a paying gig,I would use new fresh stock.On the other hand,for experiments,playing,lighting tests etc old films are a great value,since many stores price this 50% off.

Ditto what Jay said. I've used film within an hour or so after it's been pulled from either the freezer or fridge here in Texas (pretty humid on our lakefront). No problems with any of my film, color negative, slide or b&w.

I buy fresh film, freeze it and pullout a few rolls at a time as I need it. Once used some k25 five years old and always frozen. It was perfect. Been doing this for decades withiut problems.

 

Film thaws or warms up fast in your pocket, a little cold at first but if you have to

I?ll answer the Macman?s question directly. You freeze the film precisely because you do not know how long it will be before you use it. ?Freezing? or storing it at a much lower temperature than 55 degrees will keep the film from shifting better than storage at 55 degrees. That?s per Kodak. Call them at 1-800-242-2424 ext 19.

 

When I know that I will use film in a week or two, I put it in the fridge; otherwise it goes into the upright freezer.

 

I buy my film fresh when it is ?ripe? (both pro and consumer versions). Freezing keeps it there until I am ready to use it.

>>> Which makes me ask again: why recommend freezing if you don't know when he's gonna use it? <<<

 

Sheesh. From James' post it seems likely that he stores film for long periods in the refrigerator. Eric suggested it's better off in the freezer, which isn't particularly controversial. Presumably James isn't so spectacularly stupid that he'll put film in the freezer that he plans to use in the next ten minutes just because Eric suggested it. In the meantime, what in the world is your problem?

Well, I don't think I'm that stupid--but probably some would debate it. At any rate I'll move 90% to the freezer and leave the next batch to shoot in the fridge. Thanks for all the comments.

James, Mark was refering to the macman.