OK to Wait 4 Months to Process Exposed Sheet Film?

[nicolas_block]

I use TMAX 400 in 4x5 sheets and I process in PMK using a Jobo. I'd

like to collect all of the film from my travels as I go and then

process it at home using this Jobo when I get back to SF. What's

going to happen, anything bad from storing exposed film that long?

Is there a prefered way of storing. Temperature? Sheets all stacked

up in a box and black-bag? I might also subject some NPS 160 sheets

to this sort of treatment. Thanks, Just wondering what the common

wisdom is on this work-method.

NICOLAS BLOCK

san francisco CA

[ellis_jordan]

If you store it in a cool place you should not experience any problem.

[lex_jenkins]

If the TMY is exposed nominally or close to it you should have no problems. Pushed TMY, like most b&w films, will lose shadow detail with age. Learned that myself the hard way. Otherwise your film should be fine.

[michael_briggs2]

<p>Nicolas, you don't say how long your travels will last. Exposed B+W film (of ASA below 1000) should do very well kept at room temperature for weeks. It would be best to avoid temperatures uncomfortable to humans. Lower temperatures should slow the decay of the latent image. When I have B+W sheet film that I can't develop within a couple of weeks, I put the three-part cardboard box with the film into a metal container with a small amount of desicant, and then the metal container into the freezer.</p>

 

<p>A recent related thread is pertinant: <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=005qkB">Does unprocessed film go bad with time?<a/></p>

[harry_seldon_____aka____fl]

I would worry more about airline x-rays than a few months. 35MM film in metal cans slide right through x-ray machines without damage, but I have had problems with 120 roll film getting mysterious flares after multiple passes through airline x-rays.

 

My advise is to buy it there and process it there, or drive. Can you pack up the jobo and a black bag. Photojournalists used to use hotel bathrooms all the time. I guess now they just download the "negatives" into their laptop.