shel_belinkoff2 Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 How long can unexposed slow to 400 speed B&W film be kept frozen without losing speed or fogging? Is there an ideal temperature for freezing film? It's been suggested that a frost-free freezer is less than ideal because of the frezzing-thawing cycle. Any truth to this? Comments from experience? shel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0002a Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 The periodic heating of the coils to defrost a frost-free freezer does not raise the temperature of items in the freezer enough to make any difference (probably just a few degrees if at all). It does not thaw the freezer compartment, just the coils. Most freezers are about 0 degrees F, which is fine. The film will eventually be exposed by atmospheric background radiation, but that will not be noticeable for quite a while. But it does depend on the speed of the film. How long do you thing you need to store it before use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shel_belinkoff2 Posted January 16, 2004 Author Share Posted January 16, 2004 The film will be stored for more than five years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 Michael Smith and Paula Chamlee bought and froze Kodak's stock of Super XX sheet film when they quit making it (20 years?) and apparently it still performs perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_goldfarb Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 Slow films do better than fast films, b&w does better than color, and neg films do better than slide films (because small shifts can be corrected at the printing stage). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth_harper Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 If you are planning to live a thousand years then start to worry about the longevity of frozen film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0002a Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 Gareth, it does depend on the film speed. Kodak stores its inventory of TMAX P3200 in deep underground caves to avoid the background radiation (they only make a few production runs per year). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winfried_buechsenschuetz1 Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 I currently use Kodak Tri-X-Professional (TXP) 320ASA films. The films have expired in 1997 but the previous owner claims to have kept them in a freezer. The semi-pro photographer who bought this large box of films and gave some of them to me said that they look like new - no fogging, no loss of speed. I am not so critical about b/w films but I could not find any flaws with the TXP rolls I used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aguilabrava Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 I have used 10+ years old film stored in my freezer with no problems at all, as perfect as brand new fresh film...!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank.schifano Posted January 18, 2004 Share Posted January 18, 2004 Whoever suggested to you that a frost free freezer would be a problem was clearly not thinking. Do the other contents of the freezer thaw out? I think not. Why would film be any different? High speed films don't do very well when stored for long periods of time, even if frozen. However, I've used some Plus-X and Tri-X that had been either frozen or kept refrigerated to up to 5 years past expiration and it was just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0002a Posted January 18, 2004 Share Posted January 18, 2004 I discovered that I have some chicken that has been in my freezer for about 6 months (hidden behind my film and paper). I have a frost-free freezer. Does anyone know if the chicken is OK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hans_beckert Posted January 18, 2004 Share Posted January 18, 2004 The chicken is dead by now, so I doubt it..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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