Frozen film !

Can anyone help with the following problem I have?

I have about 50 rolls of film, mostly 120 tri-x, but with about 10

or so odd b/w 35mm films, which have been in my freezer for 25 years,

since 1978. Don't ask me why but I never got around to develop them,

and I would appreciate any suggestions as to what methods I should use

to deal with this situation.

Regards

Bruno

I would suggest purchasing one fresh roll of Tri-X and developing it along with one of the old rolls. You can shoot some things if you like, but exposure is not necessary.

After processing, compare the "clear" leaders of the two films. Old films tend to fog, which is what makes them less than ideal.

If the bd+f of the two films is close, you will probably be okay. I expect, however, that the old film leader will be much denser (fogged). I have had HP5 4x5 exhibit moderate fog after five or six years in the freezer.

I assume, you didn`t expose them in 78. If so, I don't know, but unexposed film in the freezer lasts virtually forever (compared to human lifetime, and if kept dry).

My father used to work for a company wich used the old Adox factory, and they had frozen samples back from the 50s wich still were usable.

Just shoot and develop, maybe give some 2 or more hours to warm up.

Unexposed slow films keep indefinitely. Faster films degrade because of cosmic radiation. This is particularly true of ultra-fast films, ISO 800 and faster. Efke 25 would probably keep for decades.

If the film is exposed, it has likely lost some shadow detail, but you have little to lose by processing it. Try one roll, and if it's very badly fogged you might want to use a little benzotriazole to tame the fogging - or just live with it.