Transparency film for tropical use

[Ian Stanley <ian@mos.com.np>]

"In a related vein - Does anybody on the list have any experience with any
ASA/ISO 400  transparency film that will survive abusive treatment (being
stored in tropical climates for up to 3 weeks w/o special treatment) and not
suffer from colour shifts. Again, all exposures will be 1/2 second or less,
so reciprocity shouldn't be a problem."

Hello David,

        Before I moved to Nepal I lived in Ghana, West Africa for two years.
We were 4 degrees from the equator and living next to the ocean - read hot
and humit 365 days of the year.  I worked with a variety of films there -
colour negative, tranparency, B&W, 35mm and 4x5.  Many times it was
impossible to store the film at optimal conditions especially when
travelling but I never really noticed a colour shift.  A lot of the colours
in Ghana were very sublte and some very bright (clothing) but I never
noticed a problem as they all semed to be acurately rendered.  I was using
mostly Kodak film at the time.  Some of the film was actually in a container
for what turned out to be a six month period before it arrived in Ghana
where is sat on the dock for another month before it was finally delivered.
I had some b&w film (TRI-X Pan) in the container that had been exposed but
not developed as I had ran out of time before we laft Canada and it was fine
as well.

        What caused more problems for me was the storage of
negatives/transparencies after they had been processed.  I remember getting
some information from Kodak on the storage of films in the tropics and the
use of special fixers and such for the b&w and that was a help.  I regularly
check through all of my negatives and slides and so far there has been no
problem.  I would recommend zip lock bags and silica gel though as I have
experienced more problems with humidity and dust than colour shift.  A white
plastice cooler also helps.  It's also a good idea to use regular film
rather than "professional" as I think it keeps better without being
refrigerated.  I don't know where you are going but I never buy local film
as it is usually dated and has been stored under the most appalling
conditions.  Let me know if you have any questions about a specific country
as I might be able to give you more information on local conditions.

Ian Stanley

Kathmandu, Nepal