[Leica] OT: Film (er) Cache

[henningw at archiphoto.com (Henning Wulff)]

>Film and other obsolete bits have been arriving by the truckload 
>here every day this week and now the wife, the postman, the UPS man 
>and the Purolator guy are on a first name basis waving to each 
>other, etc.
>
>Now I've got to store a considerable amount of film. Kodak, Ilford 
>and Fuji can up their film prices 20%, and/or discontinue certain 
>lines and I'll be reasonably immune.
>
>My question for the other film hermits out there is: when to freeze 
>vs refrigerate? Do you freeze almost everything right away or wait 
>until you film gets closer to the expiry date before freezing, or 
>some combination. If you freeze too much, can you subsequently move 
>film to the fridge with impunity?
>
>Regards,
>
>Greg

In general, freeze it. Colour slide film is usually best when it's 
about 1-1/2 to 1 year from expiration; store it at room temperature 
until then. Colour negative film isn't quite as sensitive, and slow 
negative film will last longest if frozen right away and kept cold.

Stuff with a sensitivity of 800 and more doesn't get the same benefit 
from freezing as slower stuff, even though the rate of chemical 
activity slows just as low. It just responds to ambient radiation to 
such an extent that it will fog even when cold. Don't try to use 
ISO800 or higher colour film more than a year past its expiry date, 
even when frozen.

If you still have some ISO25 Agfa B&W, don't bother freezing or 
anything. Its effective expirey date is long past yours. Pan-X, Pan 
F, and even Tri-X aren't far behind. 30 year old Tri-X is generally 
still eminently useable. T-max 3200 isn't much use 1 year past it's 
expiry date, if processed to 1600 or more.

-- 
    *            Henning J. Wulff
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