How long does film last? (Page 3): Still has the "tails" so I assume it is not exposed.

DeeAndre Loc: Boyertown PA

Joe Blow wrote:

If they are still in the plastic containers, I would check to see if they have been exposed. If there is the tail of film hanging out of the cartridge then it has not been exposed. If there is no tail then the film has been exposed and rewound back into the cartridge. Exposed film has a shorter shelf life.

Still has the "tails" so I assume it is not exposed.

DeeAndre Loc: Boyertown PA

rpavich wrote:

The film will be good unless it got over heated. I... (show quote)

Thank you for the web sites. Will check into them.

wmurnahan Loc: Bloomington IN

DeeAndre wrote:

My brother-in-law passed away this past Aug. He had a lot of old film cameras and lots of film. I imagine the film would be at least 2 yrs. old if not older. Would it still be good? I shoot digital now and have not used film for years; so should I just toss it? Hid daughter asked me about it and I said I would ask the UHH family for their opinion. Thanks for your help.

You never know, take them someplace and see, it shouldn't cost all that much. Worth a try.

Scouser Loc: British Columbia

I took the attached image in 1956 in Oberweisal am Rhine, West Germany, on a roll of 120 film that came from a consignment of WW11 surplus photography stuff. That would make it a minimum of 11yrs old and possibly even 15 yrs or more. I continued using film from this consignment for long after 1956, but this is one of the few remaining shots that I can date accurately.

DeeAndre Loc: Boyertown PA

trackmag wrote:

25 years ago, after my mother passed away at age 8... (show quote)

That is so interesting. You just never know what you might find after the passing of a loved family member. I never realized that exposed film would have such a long shelf life, and apparently, unexposed film does also.

DeeAndre Loc: Boyertown PA

Scouser wrote:

I took the attached image in 1956 in Oberweisal am Rhine, West Germany, on a roll of 120 film that came from a consignment of WW11 surplus photography stuff. That would make it a minimum of 11yrs old and possibly even 15 yrs or more. I continued using film from this consignment for long after 1956, but this is one of the few remaining shots that I can date accurately.

What an interesting photo! Again, I am amazed at the " life" of unexposed film.

Just Shoot Me Loc: Ithaca, NY

jmccl wrote:

www.thedarkroom.com is one of the best places to develop film.

Agreed. The darkroom just developed a roll of Fujicolor 800 that I found in a box in the basement.
Photos go back more years than I care to remember.

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

Some film shooters like the look of outdated and faded film. There's a market out there somewhere for it.

EdR Loc: Gig Harbor, WA

One thing to consider is that if the film has been shot, there may be great family memories their.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

DeeAndre wrote:

My brother-in-law passed away this past Aug. He had a lot of old film cameras and lots of film. I imagine the film would be at least 2 yrs. old if not older. Would it still be good? I shoot digital now and have not used film for years; so should I just toss it? Hid daughter asked me about it and I said I would ask the UHH family for their opinion. Thanks for your help.

Till the end of the roll.
Actually storage conditions determine the time it lasts from frozen for decades I would guess. To hot not even to expiration date.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

sumo wrote:

I recently had developed at a local pharmacy, 4 rolls of Kodachrome film that had been in a safe 12 years.
The picture quality of that old film was very poor, washed out, colors bleeding.

I would not use old film for many reasons

and the real kicker is it cost me $60 to have four 24 exposure rolls developed. Thank heavens for digital. I now take 24 shots of a subject at a time and delete 23

Recent processing of Kodachrome film is IMPOSSIBLE -- that has not been available for some time. Extachrome, it could have been.

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

DeeAndre wrote:

My brother-in-law passed away this past Aug. He had a lot of old film cameras and lots of film. I imagine the film would be at least 2 yrs. old if not older. Would it still be good? I shoot digital now and have not used film for years; so should I just toss it? Hid daughter asked me about it and I said I would ask the UHH family for their opinion. Thanks for your help.

I have used B&W film that has been frozen for 20-years in it's factory sealed foil pouch and it worked fine. As long as the film was factory sealed and the seal is not broken, the film will survive years in your freezer. When you are ready to use the film, you must move the sealed package to room temperature for at least a few hours before breaking the seal to ensure that condensation does not occur.

gchapell

DeeAndre wrote:

Still has the "tails" so I assume it is not exposed.

Watch out. If the tail has about 1/2" of the full width of the film sticking out, then it's probably not used. Some cameras rewound leaving a portion of the 1/2 width sticking out, some rolled it all the way in. These have been exposed.

drmike99 Loc: Fairfield Connecticut

sumo wrote:

I recently had developed at a local pharmacy, 4 rolls of Kodachrome film that had been in a safe 12 years.
The picture quality of that old film was very poor, washed out, colors bleeding.

I would not use old film for many reasons

and the real kicker is it cost me $60 to have four 24 exposure rolls developed. Thank heavens for digital. I now take 24 shots of a subject at a time and delete 23

I think you’re referring to Kodacolor. Kodachrome was only ever processed by special labs, and not at all since 2011. It can be processed now to B&W but not to color because there is no color dye in the film— it was all coupled in during processing.

sendero72 Loc: Candler, North Carolina

When I was in photography school in the late 70's, someone brought us rolls of plus-x and tri-x plus Kodak paper that had been frozen since the 50's. It was gorgeous.