Storing Exposed Film in Fridge

<p>I will be unable to process my film for a few months this summer so I will be keeping my 120mm Kodak 400NC film in the fridge. Is it okay to have one Ziploc bag in the fridge that I keep adding rolls of film to, i.e. that I keep opening and closing (while in fridge)? Or will opening and closing the Ziploc bag allow moisture to seep into film? Should I individually contain/seal each roll or set of rolls to avoid opening and closing of bag?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>120mm? That’s an unusual width for film.</p>

<p>Exposed film will keep for months, even years, in cool storage. The exception is pushed film - the latent image loses what little shadow detail it had fairly quickly. But normally exposed film is remarkably resilient.</p>

<p>One problem, tho', with medium format film (I'm assuming that's 120 you've got): you really need to avoid moisture being trapped between the film emulsion and paper backing. A handful of times I've seen odd splotches formed on both the film and paper backing after I've processed old film. My best guess is that sometime moisture was trapped in there. Seemed to happen only with my film that was stored in a non-frost-free deep freeze chest. So far I haven't noticed this problem with film stored in frost-free fridges.</p>

just a small point: 120 and 220 films are not 120mm wide. The film is something like 60mm wide, but the frame is only 56mm wide. On a 6x6 camera, the frame is only 56mm x 56mm. On a 6x7 camera, the frame is 56mm x 70mm.

 

Ziploc bags are cheap (alot cheaper than your film). I would use a new plastic bag for every batch that you introduce. That should ease your mind. Even if you don't introduce moisture (and there's plenty of that in the fridge) you could introduce smells, bacteria, and fungus if you don't protect the film. Remember, modern fridges use air circulation to cool everything, so your film will share air with any foods you put in the fridge.

<p>I'd double bag each roll and store them in the freezer, not the refrigerator, inside a larger bag. A freezer is much better at slowing down deterioration of a latent images. When the time comes, let them thaw slowly in their bags for at least a day to eliminate condensation. And then soup them promptly.</p>

<p>I've accidentally frozen exposed Portra 4x5 sheets for over a year, and they were fine.</p>

One does not freeze film by placing it in the freezer section; no change of state takes place. One is simply storing it at a lower temperature than in the regular refrigerator section. Colder storage is better for longevity. I would just keep the zip lock bag in the freezer and wiggle waggle a roll of film in the low moisture content air of the freezer to knock off any clinging moisture laden outside air and then drop it into the bag and seal it.

<p>I would use one large bag to keep them together but would put each batch in a seperate but smaller bags. I think that this would protect the rolls better and would also let you label each set as to where and when you took them so you could process the more important ones first. John</p>

<p>Thank you to those of you who provided helpful responses. I think I will bag each roll individually.</p>