How long does film keep?

[alw]

I have some film from the early 2000´s that has been kept in deep freeze/fridge. Any idea how long can film be stored after the expiry date? I recently shot some Fuji X-Tra 1600 that dated from 2003 (kept in room temperature) and the grain was terrible (although I expected veiling). Could have something to do with the lab too, I guess.

[budrichard]

Frozen B&W unexposed film will keep forever and exposed, one could raise an image after many many years. They are still looking for Irvine's camera on Everest to see if there is an image of the top! Color film unexposed certainly could go for 10 +years and exposed who knows what the image would be like?
Have you ever shot X-Tra 1600 before? I would expect the grain to be huge and not be affected by the storage or the lab.
You really need to do a comparison with fresh film at the same lab. My guess is there will be no difference.-Dick

[alw]

Thanks. Do you feel there´s much difference with deep freeze versus fridge?

[marke]

Originally Posted by alw

Thanks. Do you feel there´s much difference with deep freeze versus fridge?

I can't say from experience, but I've always heard that deep freeze will keep film fresh indefinately, where as fridge storage might extend it "several" years.

[darkstar2004]

Originally Posted by marke

I can't say from experience, but I've always heard that deep freeze will keep film fresh indefinately, where as fridge storage might extend it "several" years.

That's the way I've always heard it.

I keep my film frozen till I'm ready to use it and then re-freeze it after use if there is going to be a delay in processing it, which there usually is. I tend to save up film till I have 10-20 rolls to process and then send it off in a batch (E-6 film anyway).

[Ronazle]

It certainly will keep for quite a long time. I have had unexposed film in the freezer for years and it was like new when SLOWLY defrosted (to preclude condensation). Long, long, ago in the world I still to a great degree live in, Freestyle (then of New York) bought properly stored WWII film and paper and continued to store and sell it for years (certainly into the 1960's). Generally speaking what they sold was good and, also, cheap.

[budrichard]

Originally Posted by alw

Thanks. Do you feel there´s much difference with deep freeze versus fridge?

Fridge is short term and for mechants, I have always frozen my film.
Just remove two hours before shooting and you will be fine. I have been doing this for 40 years with no problems. -Dick

[Double Negative]

I've got a bunch of film that's been in the fridge and/or freezer that I bought in 1999-2000 that expired in 2001-2002 and it still works perfectly. Either way, you're good for at least a decade if not more...

[Chuck Albertson]

Really fast stuff (Kodak P3200 or Delta 3200) will not look too good beyond its expiry date, no matter how cold you keep it. It gets fogged by background radiation, which is why Kodak (for one, don't know what Ilford does) keeps fresh stocks of P3200 in a deep salt cavern before moving it into retail channels. Radiation catches up with slower films, too, it just takes longer.

Of the color films, raw Kodachrome tends to last longer in storage because it doesn't have color dyes incorporated into the emulsion. It's essentially a 3-layer B&W film, with the color dyes added in processing. I'm down to my last few rolls of K25 (with an expiry date of 2002), and it hasn't experienced any loss of speed or color shifts.

[alw]

Wealth of information, thanks again! Seems I don´t have to worry about those films.

[arpey]

On a somewhat related topic, I was cleaning out my father's apartment this past weekend and came across a box containing his stuff from WW-2. Among other interesting objects, I came across 2-3 rolls of what appears to be exposed -- but never developed -- B&W Kodak film. The film cannisters were even U.S. Army olive drab color.

I'm guessing the film was exposed in 1944, which was about the time he was stationed overseas, on the Isle of Wight. Insofar as I know, the film always has been stored in reasonable conditions, without being exposed to extremes of temperature or humidity. Nevertheless, the film is at least 64 years old.

Would anybody venture a guess as to whether it would be a waste of both time and money to have this film developed ? It might be interesting to find out what's on the film, but I'd hate to waste a lot of time and effort on a futile exercise.

[andybarton]

I would have one roll processed by someone who knows what they are doing. The base of the film will not be the same as modern film, so will need careful, professional handling. Then, if that's OK, have the others done too.

Could be very interesting though.

[KM-25]

Originally Posted by arpey

On a somewhat related topic, I was cleaning out my father's apartment this past weekend and came across a box containing his stuff from WW-2. Among other interesting objects, I came across 2-3 rolls of what appears to be exposed -- but never developed -- B&W Kodak film. The film cannisters were even U.S. Army olive drab color.

I'm guessing the film was exposed in 1944, which was about the time he was stationed overseas, on the Isle of Wight. Insofar as I know, the film always has been stored in reasonable conditions, without being exposed to extremes of temperature or humidity. Nevertheless, the film is at least 64 years old.

Would anybody venture a guess as to whether it would be a waste of both time and money to have this film developed ? It might be interesting to find out what's on the film, but I'd hate to waste a lot of time and effort on a futile exercise.

Maybe approach dr5 chrome labs and see what they think, I agree with the treat it with care notion. Also look to APUG for answers, I know I have seen it there before.

Back on topic, I keep the majority of my film, some 2,000 rolls in a dedicated film freezer set at -5. I pull out batches as needed and put them in the kitchen freezer and eventually the fridge in smaller amounts.

I rarely stock films faster than 400 for very long either way, they just don't like Gamma rays no matter how cold it is.

[robsteve]

Mark Anthony, a member here, has developed some older film. You might want to try contacting him.

Photo Utopia

Robert

[pgk]

Originally Posted by arpey

Nevertheless, the film is at least 64 years old. Would anybody venture a guess as to whether it would be a waste of both time and money to have this film developed ? It might be interesting to find out what's on the film, but I'd hate to waste a lot of time and effort on a futile exercise.

Old, exposed film suffers from 'latent image regression' which in effect means that the undeveloped image 'fades' over time. This was a real problem in early, extremely fast filmstocks, some of which had to be processed soon after exposure. If you think that the images on your films may be of 'value' for whatever reason, then I'd suggest searching for a specialist with experience in processing old films (perhaps Kodak might suggest someone) and its more than likely that one film may have to be cut up into 'test' sections to see if a particular processing method will yield something. This might be expensive though so it depends on whether you think that the potential images are worth spending on. Alternatively you might contact an institution like our (UK) Imperial War Museum who may also offer advice and may even be interested in helping - a possible news story?

[alw]

I´d do anything to get the rolls processed!!!

[mhulbert]

On flickr there are a bunch of people seemingly obsessed with using old film. I saw a shot recently that was not half bad that someone had taken recently with some 1973 Russian film. Here is a link to one shot with 1959 film. Awfully grainy but sort of cool really. on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[Stephan_Chandler]

Oho!... How long does film last? Browse the web for "Lost Films" (or "Found Films") and you will discover images retrieved from "ancient" exposed film dating back sixty or seventy years; none of which had ever been stored in any careful way (NOT frozen, etc.). The images were developed by a gentleman who made a hobby of collecting from junkshops and yard-sales old delapidated cameras that still contained exposed film within; and then developing those films! The images are not all that wonderful, of course; and many did not succeed; but I must say I was impressed. PLUS, the images he was able to render had that "otherworldly", nostalgic look. Altogether, it was quite an amazing web experience.