Aloysius Loc: Tampa, FL

At the beginning of the pandemic I bought quite a bit of film, thinking I would resurrect the old cameras.
Of course life got in the way, and right now I have approximately 15 rolls with October/November 2022 expiration dates.
If I freeze the film now, how long will that extend the expiration date?

bebop22 Loc: New York City

That will extend the dates for years, if black & white.

Aloysius Loc: Tampa, FL

Actually color negative and color slide as well.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

It depends. Will the film be sealed in an absolutely air-tight, waterproof container? Is the freezer in the basement? A cave? Covered in two feet of lead?

RADIATION in the form of heat (infrared), light, ultraviolet, x-rays, gamma rays, and cosmic rays is what damages (fogs) film over time. There is also some chemical instability in the silver salts used, and the dyes used in color film, so those are other considerations.

The most important things to do are to prevent moisture intrusion and to keep the film in a dark, cool, or cold place. If you can, put it in a basement freezer underneath a lot of other things. Just leave yourself a reminder it's there!

There are various online resources that tell you how much of an exposure increase you need for old films. Google 'using expired film' and you should find plenty of information. There are also several services that specialize in developing old, EXPOSED film that people find in cameras, drawers, etc.

therwol Loc: USA

Refrigeration and freezing doesn't reduce the effects of the low level, background gamma radiation that passes through everything. High speed emulsions are most vulnerable.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

No real need to freeze it. Refrigerate it will work just as well. Black and white is less susceptible to old age issues than color.
--Bob

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

That's why I mentioned storage under a couple feet of lead... Many archives are in caves to reduce gamma and cosmic radiation exposure.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

There are marginal returns to refrigeration below 55°F/13°C for short term storage. Colder is better for long term storage, but only if it's dry.

When I worked at Delmar Studios, our photo supply department kept a half a freight carload of film and two freight carloads of paper in cool rooms. We kept the paper at 55°F and the film at 45-50°F. But we were using all of it in a matter of months. Kodak replenished our supply in mid-summer, usually late July, and again in February or March. (We had a high volume school portrait lab.)

Our professional portrait studio customers used long roll film cameras that took 100' or 200' rolls of unperforated 35mm, 46mm, and 70mm wide films. They also used a lot of 120/220 and some 35mm perforated (size 135) films. They usually ordered film for a season, based on their contracts with schools and other clients.

Professional films were unstable and very sensitive to heat. We could always tell which customers refrigerated their films. Their jobs printed at or near the standard color balance for the current emulsion numbers of film. If the film sat at room temperatures for most of a year, it took an analyzer reading and a bit of testing to get a printer lamp house setting that worked.

Aloysius Loc: Tampa, FL

Thanks for the great info! I imagine there will be 10+ rolls left when they hit expiration, but that I’ll get to them before they’re more than several months out of date (the real kicker here is the rise in processing scanning costs, which limits how quickly I can get through this stuff. Oh yeah, and that my wife bought me a D850 last Christmas, which through a monkey wrench in the “film renaissance.)

For arguments sake, if the last rolls are refrigerated and used within 3 months of expiration, would that be safe? Or should I freeze it all now(suitably protected from moisture,) and use it up as I get around to it?

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Just refrigerate it if you’ll use it within a few months of the expiration date.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I shoot almost exclusively expired film, some decades old. Don't treat the expiration date like a spoilage date for dairy products. If the film is kept refrigerated, always, it will be nearly as good as new (fresh), even years later with nothing but refrigeration. Freezing is better, but I've found it's hard to tell the difference between always frozen vs always refrigerated.

Add a bit of positive exposure compensation for expired film. This is more of a concern when the expire date gets in the range of 10+ years, not just a few months or years. I like to add +0.3 EC even to fresh film, example ISO-100 shot as ISO-080. Your just-slightly expired film might be +0.3 or +0.6, somewhat more dependent on the specific film rather than the age.

If you don't know if / when you'll shot the film, that film should be frozen. I only keep what I think I'll shoot in the next 6-months in my fridge. Anything I move from frozen to fridge, I let the roll(s) 'warm' in the fridge for at least 24-hours before using. From the fridge, I plan to have it at room temperature for at least 1-hour before loading and using. Anything I then don't actually shoot, I put back in the fridge when I get home.

What specific film are you hording, as the community might have better exposure recommendations for that specific film type.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I'll add that "exposure index" (ISO scale, but adjusted for actual film speed) can vary even with fresh film. It was not uncommon for Portra 160 to be 2/3 stop slower than the 160 ISO "box speed". When I used a lot of Ektachrome, it was often as much as a full stop different between two emulsion batches of the same film! One batch would be a half stop fast, the other a half stop slow. Usually, though, I had to UNDER expose Ektachrome by 1/3 stop. Negative films usually go the other way.

That's the thing with film... especially slide film. You have many variables. Meter accuracy, shutter accuracy, diaphragm accuracy, metering technique, metering reference, over-the-lens filtration for color correction, emulsion speed, process control... And then there is rendering intent. No wonder I love digital imaging!

Aloysius Loc: Tampa, FL

Brings back memories of perpetually exposing Kodachrome 64 at ASA(remember that?) 80.

gwilliams6

It will extend its life for years beyond its listed expiration date, really. Keep it frozen until you are ready to use it, and only thaw out the number of rolls you plan to use. I have frozen film from years ago which still gives good results.

Cheers

Aloysius Loc: Tampa, FL

Thanks for the tips about expired film. I have a cache of various emulsions that expired around 2015. Not refrigerated, but kept in a moisture proof bag in a dark closet in an air conditioned room. Using your revised exposure guidelines, do you think it’s worth a shot?
My film set to expire in several months includes Extar 100, Portra 800, Extachrome E100, and 400 Tmax.
Enjoy your provocative humor, BTW. Every time I read one of your mirrorless screeds I pull out my Hasselblad 500 c/m and listen to the sweet slap of that Swedish whoop-ass mirror!