Short question on Film storage - Refrigerate or Freeze?

[matroskin]

<p>i'm kind of new to film (been trying for the past year) and not sure what is the proper way to store it. is it a good practice to put unopened film boxes in the freezer for extended periods of time - like a few months? or should i just keep them in refrigerator? i have a couple dozen rolls of various film (Superia Reala, Neopan 1600, Astia, Kodachrome 64) and i've been keeping in the refrigerator, but recently read somewhere that the person was freezing film. could somebody clarify this for me.<br>

thank you.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Freezing is better for long-term. If you are using the film within a month or two, refrigeration is fine. Some nonprofessional films, <em>if purchased very fresh</em> , should be left at room temperature for a while to allow them to age into their peak performance. Films labeled "Professional" should always be refrigerated or frozen as soon as you get them.</p>

[vincent_peri]

<p>If you don't think you will use the film for a long time (months), it wouldn't hurt to store it in the freezer. If you expect to use the film within a few weeks, the refrigerator should be fine.</p>

[matroskin]

<p>thank you. and how long should i give a roll to unfreeze when taking it out of the freezer?</p>

[andylynn]

<p>So how do you know if a consumer film is very fresh? It usually comes from stores where the people don't exactly know things like when the film was made.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>How long?:<br /> until the canister or wrapper no longer feels cold to the touch. For frozen film, somebody here suggested taking out an ice cube at the same time and waiting until it is melted. The danger is condensation inside the film cassette or roll with spots on the film, etc.</p>

<p>Fresh?:<br /> It's hard to tell, but the best indication is how far off the "use before" date on the box is. If it's coming up real soon, you don't need to worry about "freshness."<br /> It's always a good idea to check the use before date anyhow these days of slow sales for film. I have seen lots of film in stores recently that is already past the date. That may not be a problem, but you shouldn't be paying "fresh" prices for it.</p>

[James G. Dainis]

I would remind you that you don't really freeze film by putting it in the freezer section. No change of state takes place, you are merely storing it at a low temperature. Just a few hours out of the freezer compartment should be enough to warm it up.

[matthew_newton]

<p>For out of freezer time, I tend to try to pull the film out at least an hour or two before, but I have shot with 'frozen' film as quick as 10-15 minutes out of the freezer with no problems. Condensation is the chief concern (so leave it in the film canister till it is up to temperature). Genereally I keep most of my film in the freezer and 5-6 rolls in the fridge for a quicker grab if I need it. I now have something like 40 rolls in the freezer (~25 Reala, ~10 Superia 400, ~5 Ilford XP2 super, 2 of Sensia 200) and 5 or 6 in the fridge (2-3 Superia 400, 1 Reala, 2 Ilford XP2 super).</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>If you live in a dry climate, the problem is less irksome, but in a swampland like my environment, it's really good to make sure it's warmed up before letting humid air into the film roll.</p>

<p>And while it's just a technicality, it is the "freezing" of the film that stops the chemical reactions of aging.</p>

[patrick_mont]

<p>If your house is really warm, keep them frozen or refridgerated but other wise I wouldn't bother. They only thing I freeze is PKR and that is it.</p>

[matroskin]

<p>thank you all. i transferred most of my film to the freezer leaving a few rolls in the refrigerator. for the next year i i'm in Tucson, AZ and it's pretty dry here, but i'll keep in mind the condensation when i move.</p>

[john_shriver]

<p>The only film that might need aging would be Kodachrome 64. But that was reformulated some years ago to not shift much in aging. (The sensitizing dye in the green-sensitive layer is subject to oxidation.) If you shoot a roll of Kodachrome 64, and the results are greenish, age the rest of the batch at room temperature a few months and try again. It's very unlikely you'll encounter this problem, I suspect the latest batch of Kodachrome 64 has already aged enough in the salt mines where they store the master rolls from the last annual production run.<br>

There is <strong>no other film</strong> that improves with age. At all. Only Kodachrome, and only if really fresh.<br>

Also, there is one film you should not freeze: Ektar 25. Some batches crystallize badly if frozen. Just refrigerate it. This doesn't apply to the current Ektar 100, this is for the long discontinued (and very twitchy) Ektar 25.</p>

[kelly_flanigan1]

<p>The Extar 25 tale about it going bad when storeing it in a freezer surfaced long after many of us had no issues at all with storing Ektar 25 in a freezer; ie a decade or two later. One might as well say one should not store Marthas Brand fruitcake from 1990 in a feezer too. You cannot buy any new 1990 fruitcake or Ektar 25 thus it really doesnt matter if somebody preaches that it doesnt work storing this way decades later; when others of us had no issues at all storing it that way. Films are also subject to gases; ie coal cgas; natural gas; outgasing from weird foods too; thus an unsealed film can degrade do to a 3rd component gases; besides temperature and radiation.</p>