How to store exposed B/W film

[bjarni_m.]

<p>I might end in a situation, where i will have to wait a year or so, before i can develop my films, mainly 135-36 T-Max 400 & Tri-X 400.<br>

Any suggestions how i should store my films, that have been exposed but not processed?</p>

[Fotohuis RoVo]

<p>A zip-lock bag some Silica Gel inside in a package, original plastic film boxes and put them in a freezer (-10 till -18C). -10C is an optimum temperature to store films but most regular freezers are -18C. Put a label on it that they are exposed for not mixing up after one year. Especially for 120 roll films take care not to have moisture between film and backing paper.</p>

[Lou_Meluso]

<p>Storage conditions should be Cool-Dark-Dry-Stable. A year of storage of BW film is not really that long a time. While freezing BW film is fine for unexposed film stored for an extended time (years), mostly to help stabilize exposure variables, exposed film with a latent image I would not freeze/unfreeze. The latent image is very stable already and development variables shouldn't change that much over the course of 12 months, give or take, which is well within normal operational parameters of those emulsions.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>If the film was normally exposed it probably doesn't need any special storage. Just keep it cool and dry. The latent image is stable for most normally exposed b&w films.</p>

<p>If you have a frost-free refrigerator/freezer, and enough room to store the film in the fridge indefinitely, go ahead and put it in a ziplock bag and store it there. But I wouldn't store opened film in a freezer that needs to be defrosted occasionally. And film may be degraded by cycles of repeatedly freezing/chilling and thawing/room temperature. So if you don't have room to commit to cold storage indefinitely, it's probably better to keep it at room temperature.</p>

<p>If it was underexposed it should be processed as soon as possible. The more underexposed, the sooner it should be processed. An ISO 400 film rated at 800 for push processing is probably okay and can be stored awhile. But if it was underexposed more than that, it should be developed as soon as possible.</p>

[glen_h]

<p>For other than tropical temperatures, one year isn't much. <br>

Most often, humidity is more important than temperature. The silica-gel inside a zip-lock bag sounds like a good suggestion. Then keep it where it isn't heated directly, or slightly indirectly by the sun. In most houses, a basement will stay cool, even on hot days. <br>

My favorite for car trips, including sunny areas, is a small plastic insulated ice box, with no ice, but some sealed food cans. The cans supply thermal mass. That is, they take a lot of heat to warm up. (Water and wet food take about 10 times as much heat per unit mass as most other materials.)</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Likewise,<br>

but if you do choose to freeze make very sure all the moisture is out of the film, can and all, before sealing and freezing.<br>

Having a latent image on the film makes it less resistant to problems than unexposed film. When you do get around to processing it, perhaps clip off some film from a test roll and try processing to see if any adjustments need to be made for the rest (and how much adjustment in time, etc., if the first clip shows problems).</p>

[mendel_leisk]

<p>If I can butt in: I've a roll of 120 format (paper backed, on spool) of Tri-X, exposed in 1978. I'm embarrassed to say, it's NOT found film, I shot it. I have HC110 and sundry chemicals on hand, just need to get a 120 format reel/canister.</p>

<p>Any suggestions for processing this?</p>

<p>Also, exactly how do you do a "clip test"? Is that a portion of the leader? How to proceed, and assess the results?</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>A clip test is a portion of the deliberately exposed film - usually one end or the other, but not the leader, although the leader and tail will often be included.</p>

<p>Clipping is guesswork and usually risks cutting into another frame. You'll have to decide whether it's worth the risk of damaging one frame in order to get a better estimate of the appropriate processing. I do clip tests only when the film is completely unknown to me - type of film, how it was exposed, etc. If I can identify the film type I usually won't bother with a clip test. I'll just estimate development that's appropriate for that film type, exposed at the box ISO, under average conditions.</p>

<p>In this case a clip test probably isn't worth the risk. I'd suggest developing that roll of Tri-X in HC-110 Dilution H for 9-10 minutes. Dilution H is not officially listed on Kodak's data and is twice as dilute as Dilution B. So, 1:63 or 1+63, at this dilution the difference between the two is negligible <em>(one part HC-110 syrup concentrate plus 63 parts water for a total of 64; or one part syrup and 62 parts water to make a total of 63 - hardly any difference at this dilution, and historically darkroom chemical manufacturers have used the ratio : symbol to mean plus +)</em>. Or use whatever dilution you're comfortable with at the standard time for that dilution for Tri-X. HC-110 activity and characteristics don't seem to be influenced by dilution (unlike D76, ID-11, etc.) so it doesn't matter much.</p>

[mendel_leisk]

<p>Thanks Lex. Think I'll just take a deep breath and go with my usual time (I think I was using 6.5 minutes, will look it up) in dilution B, per your second to last sentence.</p>