Exposed film longevity?

In a fit of rampant financial optimism (and sheer pleasure with a new 55mm lens for a Mamiya C330S), I

exposed over 25 rolls of color & B&W film, only to find that a new and disturbingly long-range financial

setback will preclude any processing, for weeks, certainly. Will popping it in a sealed bag into the fridge

(not freezer) help at all to keep this stuff from going south in the interim?

Yes. Kodak says process asap but b&w holds up fine refrigerated and exposed for some time.

Agreed. Put the film inside of a sealable sandwich bag, squeezing excess air out. If you're really paranoid, wrap the baggie(s) in a bathroom towel, or place inside of a soft-sided lunch box. This will help, to some extent, the temperature to level out less violently- and reduce the amount of condensation that hits the rolls in some circumstances.

 

IMExperience black and white gets contrasty with high ambient heat. Color tends to shift one or more directions and get a bit grainy. Someone else here probably knows better the more precise effects. I've let TMAX and other films in the glovebox on purpose to increase contrast rather than process them that way. (Of course these were just "fun" rolls of nothing that couldn't be re-shot.)

I'm having very good luck with film from 2000 and 2001. Can't wait to get to the film from 1989-1993! ;^) (all sheet film, mostly Tri-X and a little FP4 & HP5)

In 1977 I shot six rolls of a Kodak 35mm color print film (the spec of which I don't now recall) and indifferently kept them sealed in my kitchen ice box vegetable drawer until summer of 1986 when, having forgotten what the subjects were, I had the six rolls developed. There was then no discernible color loss on printing to my unaided eye.

The film still gets slowly exposed with cosmic rays even if frozen. There are at least 3 componets to quash, heat, gases, cosmic rays. Freezing (ie in laymans wording in a freezer)just halts one of the devils. <BR><BR>Thus the faster films will get increasing fog before the slower films. Thus if one has iso 800 films; iso 400, iso 200, iso 100 films that are exposed; develop the color and fastest films first; and the asa 6 stuff in B&W last. <BR><BR>Here I just use a plastic jar like a peanut butter jar with a screw top lid. One can see whats inside; they dont pass gas like a lunch/freezer bag; they did leak during a Katrina flood like the all the whussy zipper bags did.<BR><BR>With a color image the dye layers degrade at different rates; aging thus chauses color shifts. With B&W one just has the single DlogE curve that rises with aging. Details in the deep shadows get hidden as the base fog rises. <BR><BR>Here I have mothballed exposed films and developed them later by storing the films in the freezer. I have done this since the late 1950's.<BR><BR>Gases like certain foods, coal gas, moth balls etc degrade films too. Thus one really wants a sealed container, not one that bonds with mystery burgers, not with Christmas cookies from the Reagan era. <BR><BR>With UN exposed films the freezer radically reduces the heat component of degradation. Here I have asa 6 35mm sprocketed microfilm from the 1960s that still works well, but is stored in the freezer. A 620 Tri-x roll thats from 1968 here only is about an asa 80 to 100 item now; even if frozen. The cosmic rays add base fog quicker to an asa 400 product than a asa 6 product. <BR><BR>With old color films one can use a color swatch at a start of a roll to allow a lab or yourself to force the colors to be close to true.

Keeping film and plates "cold" is really nothing new. Its common in astronomy and spectral work; even almost a century ago. Plates and films custom made for astro work are kept cold; one had them shipped in dry ice. <BR><BR>Like food; nothing really lasts forever in a freezer. Your nice aunt that squirels away leftovers and forgets what year the "July" mark was might think the food lasts great, you might just think its really bland due to freezer burn, and wonder if its from 2005, or 2006. With film stuff thats well exposed can last along time in the freezer. That iso 1200 stuff like Kodak 3200 or Delta 3200 that you shot at an EI of 3200; and develop 5 years from now will have more base fog; even in stored in a freezer. The details barely recorded in the toe of the DlogE curve of the film will be slowly lost in the base fog; as it gets exposed by cosmic rays. Thus important and faster films should be developed first.