Storing exposed negatives

[john_horvath1]

<p>Rookie question here:<br>

How to store exposed medium format negatives (Portra 400) after exposing them? I'm going on a summer trip, and the exposed ones will have to wait a good 5-7 days before being developed. I shouldn't put them into the freezer, right?</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Cool is good, but since the film is 'open' - exposed to the ambient air - air condensing moisture onto the film when it is taken out of really cold conditions is possible. Under anything like normal temperatures and humidity, I've had exposed film with latent images on it show no obvious flaws from more than a week of more-or-less room temperatures. When the film was going to be held in a car with higher than normal temperatures, I used a foam cooler, but any icy stuff not in direct contact with the film.</p>

[JosvanEekelen]

<p>During travel I had exposed film for four weeks or so, in hot/humid climate without ill effects. Still, keep an eye on the expiry date.</p>

[bethe_fisher]

<p>I have frequently left exposed film in my camera bag or in the pile in the kitchen for months before I had enough to send them off for processing. I haven't seen anything in the results to make me think I should send them sooner. 5-7 days shouldn't be an issue as long as they aren't in humid/hot conditions most of that time.</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>Are you talking about storing the film after it has been shot but while you are traveling? Generally speaking, nothing special is required. Just don't leave it baking in a hot car. If you keep it with you and you are comfortable the film should be comfortable. There's no need to put the film in a refrigerator or freezer and as others have said the risk of getting the film wet with condensation if not properly sealing probably outweighs any benefits.</p>

[john_horvath1]

<p>Thank you guys for all your helpful responses! Yeah, that's what I was afraid of, getting the exposed film wet with putting it into freezer.</p>

[allen_ross1]

I don't know anything about 4×5. But in the reserves (i

just finished my contract) we usually end up someplace

sweltering hot, either dry or humid, little to no shade,

living in tents or hooches for 2 weeks with no electricity

and I've always taken my smaller camera bag/outfit and

a gallon zip lock bag of film for any of the almost no

downtime we would have. I've always been sure to

make sure the film never went through X-rays no matter

how safe the TSA people say it is (i don't trust it) keep

my equipment in a waterproof bag (seriously we went to

AFRICA for 2 weeks, they hadn't seen rain in 10 months,

we show up, 3 days later there's a gigantic storm that

caused a flash flood in a matter of minutes that flooded

our camp in the middle of the night) and even though it's

generally mostly sweltering hot and dry I would always

ensure the film was in the middle of my seabag or pack

with everything else packed tightly around it for

insulation. The jungle, dense forrests and rain forrests

are probably the only climates you'll encounter where it

do not get get at least cool or cold at night. If you keep

the film in the middle of your suitcase and pack all your

clothes around it and keep the suitcase in the trunk

rather than the cabin of your car you should have no

problem. The only places (LeJeune, 29 palms/Mojave

desert, Mississippi in july, AFRICA in july, etc) that I've

ever had an issue with the film being subpar was Africa

and 29 palms and even then I think it was mostly a

matter of old film and it took me month or 2 to get to

processing it afterwards. I would recommend using

your suitcase and clothing as insulation and getting it

processed as soon as you can get back. Not only is it

almost sure to keep it cool, but it also causes very very

subtle and gradual temperature changes. There were

times I went digging for something in my seabag where

it's 115F outside 130F in the hooches and it's like 70

degrees in my seabag.but not only very subtle

temperature changes but humidity, moisture, water,

dampness all has to get through all the insulating layers

of clothes before it can get to your film and such and if

you unpack it all for about a half hour in the middle of

the day while you eat lunch and keep it in the shade it'll

dry it out some.