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Old 5th February 2019, 03:04 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Default Storing exposed film (undeveloped)

I have a friend who is undertaking a long trip (6 months), and wants to shoot film. What is the longest time that a film can be stored after being exposed but undeveloped, without suffering any loss of image quality? And how should it be stored? Is a fridge OK? Or must it be in a freezer?

Do all B&W films have similar stability (or lack thereof)? I know that Pan-F is well known for needing development ASAP after being exposed, but what about HP5, Tri-X or Tmax-400? (which are the films being considered here).

I don't have much insight into this, so thought I'd ask the group here. Any help greatly appreciated.

Svend
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Old 5th February 2019, 03:11 PM
mpirie mpirie is offline
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I think the thing to avoid is extreme temperature changes before and after exposure.

If he has access to a fridge, then i'd use it, but if not, keep it in a constant temperature and dark place. Another alternative may be to take equipment for processing with him?

Pan-F is well known for being sensitive to storage.....i've suffered from it myself.

Mike
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Old 5th February 2019, 04:07 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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I have successfully developed film beyond 6 months but have not tried to do Pan F after this length of period. Given that even the Ilford rep on a site now known as Photrio admitted that more than a few weeks after exposure and before development was "problematical" for Pan F, I'd be inclined to avoid its use if development had to wait 6 months

However like most things there will be users who had had no problem but it is not a chance I'd want to take if the Pan F stuff was of scenes that might be difficult or impossible to re-take

Mike
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Old 5th February 2019, 04:24 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mpirie View Post
I think the thing to avoid is extreme temperature changes before and after exposure.

If he has access to a fridge, then i'd use it, but if not, keep it in a constant temperature and dark place. Another alternative may be to take equipment for processing with him?

Pan-F is well known for being sensitive to storage.....i've suffered from it myself.

Mike
Thanks Mike. A fridge should be available in most places he goes, but not a freezer. He is travelling light, so bringing along developing kit is not going to work I think.

Just to be clear, Pan-F is not one of his preferred choices here. He is looking at either HP5, Tri-X or Tmax-400. He is leaning toward the Tmax for it's finer grain, but I know nothing about longer storage of exposed TMY and whether it is problematic. I am guessing he'd be OK with Tri-X or HP5, if kept refrigerated, but again I have limited experience here.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray View Post
I have successfully developed film beyond 6 months but have not tried to do Pan F after this length of period. Given that even the Ilford rep on a site now known as Photrio admitted that more than a few weeks after exposure and before development was "problematical" for Pan F, I'd be inclined to avoid its use if development had to wait 6 months

However like most things there will be users who had had no problem but it is not a chance I'd want to take if the Pan F stuff was of scenes that might be difficult or impossible to re-take

Mike
Mike, do you recall what film that was? And how did you store it? Did you notice any image problems?
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Old 5th February 2019, 05:14 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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Hi Svend, Pan F won't last more than a day or 2 without the undeveloped latent image going bad, I can tell you that from personal experiane, I developed a roll of Pan F after a week and virtualy nothing on the film, also developed some HP5+ and FP4+ after the taken at the same time, and no problem, I have developed HP5/tri X after a month or 2 and fine, same goes for Fomapan, latent image keeps well, as far as storing film, personally I don't keep any of mine, either exposed or unexposed in a fridge, I mostly keep exposed film in my darkroom until I develop it with no problem, and un exposed film on a shelf untill I need it again no problems, as you know I mainly use Fomapan these days, but the films latent image keeps well but I would not suggest Pan F unless it is developed within 48 hours, the rest should keep fine, judgeing from my own experiances
Richard
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Old 5th February 2019, 05:30 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Sounds good Richard.

Do you think 6 months would be OK, if kept refrigerated?

Any insight as to how Tmax-400 responds to storage? Any different than, say, Tri-X?
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Old 5th February 2019, 05:59 PM
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photomi7ch photomi7ch is offline
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I would use an air tight container to store the film containers in. If he is going to be taking it in and out of fridges as it could attract condensation.
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Old 5th February 2019, 06:06 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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I would use an air tight container to store the film containers in. If he is going to be taking it in and out of fridges as it could attract condensation.
Excellent point - will pass that along. Thanks Mitch.
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Old 5th February 2019, 07:00 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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Originally Posted by SvendN View Post
Sounds good Richard.

Do you think 6 months would be OK, if kept refrigerated?

Any insight as to how Tmax-400 responds to storage? Any different than, say, Tri-X?
I have never used T max, but I would think it should keep well enough, keep in an airtight container, for 35mm don't throw away the tubs the film come in but use them to store the exposed film, for 120 then use a sealed plastic bag and stored in a fridge should keep well enough, but they must be kept dry, hence the airtight container, such as a tupperwere tub
Richard
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Old 5th February 2019, 07:28 PM
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skellum skellum is offline
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Film is a bit tougher than many of us seem to give it credit for.
The only film which has ever given me trouble is PanF in 120. Never had an issue with HP5 even months after exposure.
If I was going on a six month trip I would not be putting my film in and out of fridges or freezers. Even 135 in it's little tub has some moisture in the air surrounding it in the tub. I'm wary of repeated cycles of warming and cooling, with the possibility of condensation appearing then drying off.
Also, how much film might I shoot in 6 months of touring? Enough to become a problem carrying it. Is your friend using 135 or 120? 135 will be easier on space.
Personally, I'd keep 135 in the tub, avoid extreme temperatures, and if I had a sympathetic friend at home I'd post rolls home regularly to be safely stored. Is there a risk of loss- maybe, but how about lugging around 20 or 30 rolls, exposed to all sorts of changes in climate, and the risk of total loss if something catastrophic happened?

ps- If you'e worried about posting precious film, just remember Kodachrome. How many hundreds of millions of rolls of that safely made it through the post?

Last edited by skellum; 5th February 2019 at 07:41 PM.
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