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When film gets hot...


curtis_nelson

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What happens to unexposed film when it gets hot? I'm asking because

I left several film holders loaded with HP5+ in my car all day and

the temperature inside got pretty high. Is the film ruined, or

should it still be usable? If the film IS bad, how would I know? I

don't think my untrained eye would be able to spot any difference

unless it was major.

 

Thanks

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B/W film these days seems to be rather forgiving, though I can't speak for HP5. The most likely bad effect would be some overall fog , making the d-min areas (like the unexposed edge) more dense; thus lowering your overall contrast. I use Kodak film, and have not experienced any type of problem when circumstances have meant my film has been overheated. I do travel with my sheet film in a cooler. Color film, however, is another matter entirely. If you bake that, you can expect unpleasant color shifts.
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I keep a camera in the car at all times, and every day in the summer it bakes at 100F or more. I've NEVER noticed any problem with the negatives (Neopan 400).

 

I don't know how much heat it takes to ruin film, but one summer's worth doesn't seem to do it (at least in Charleston).

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The general concensus appears to be that allowing film to get hot does no harm. That's reassuring - many of us have faced the quandary of what to do with the film while traveling a car and we stop to go shopping.

 

However, I had an experience a couple of years ago that causes me to question this collective wisdom. I purchased a couple of bulk rolls of TMY from one of the major NYC distributers, and found that both rolls were fogged. The only thing I could attribute this to was that no one was home when the UPS guy delivered the box, and he left it by the side door - in the sun on the blacktop driveway.

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