I’ve heard of people putting their 35mm film in the freezer to make it last longer. Is this safe? It seems to me that once the film was taken out, it would cause condensation and ruin it. On a related note, how does putting batteries in the freezer make them last longer?
*“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while you could miss it.” - Ferris Bueller
*
“My mind reels with sarcastic replies!” - Snoopy
Unless you buy more film than you plan to use in a reasonable time there is little benefit to refrigerating it. Pros who need consistent color will buy large quantities of the same film lot and keep it in the fridge to minimize changes and deterioration. If you take it to one-hour places to get it developed the differences in processing will probably be greater than differences in film lots anyway. Don’t store film in hot places and get it developed soon after exposing it so the latent image doesn’t deteriorate.
Padeye: Yes, but Why does refrigeration help film last longer?
Everyone else: How does refrigeration help batteries last longer?
“A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time. When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, The one I feed the most.” – George Bernard Shaw
Because heat, like light, causes chemical changes in the film. The less heat you expose the film to, the more of those little chemical specks are ready to receive light WHEN you decide to open the shutter, ergo better film and image quality.
The same way walking backwards chanting “ongo bongo boonga woonga yabba dabba diddle daddle dang” keeps the elephants away. I’ve never heard that claim. In fact, I can attest from personal experience that batteries really don’t like cold very much. Please tell us where you heard this claim.
Dee da dee da dee dee do do / Dee ba ditty doh / Deedle dooby doo ba dee um bee ooby / Be doodle oodle doodle dee doh http://members.xoom.com/labradorian/
The answer is quite simple for both film and batteries:
Both these items depend on chemical reactions to perform. And, these reactions can happen quite readily. Also, bear in mind that chemical reactions occur faster as temperature increases. Voila! If you lower the temperature of the environment in which film and batteries are stored, the chemical reactions are slowed, and thus the life if said items is preserved.
However, please recall when going to use the film or batteries…allow to reach room temperature by slow warming. (Not forced warming like running the items under hot water, for example.)
“They’re coming to take me away ha-ha, ho-ho, hee-hee, to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time… :)” - Napoleon IV
Actually, the battery thing makes me think…
I’ve also heard it’s good to keep batteries in the refrigerator when not in use to preserve their life, on the basis that it slows whatever chemical reaction takes place. But why then, do you see ads for car batteries that are ‘specially designed’ to work in cold temperatures? (like a mid-West winter) Wouldn’t ALL car batteries perform great under these conditions using the refrigerator logic?
No. As someone already said, cold slows down chemical reactions. That’s a good thing when a battery is being stored, as the battery willl take longer to go dead. It’s a bad thing when you want the battery to do its job and generate power to start your car.
Reason I put film in the freezer: If it’s close to the expiration date, freezing will put the film into a kind of suspended animation. You can leave it in the freezer for months at a time, as long as you defrost the film properly, then use and process it immediately, i.e., within 24 hours of exposure.
To defrost: Remove film can from freezer. (you did leave it in the can, right?) Place film can in refrigerator for at least two days. Remove film can from fridge, leave at room temp for at least one day. Shoot and process immediately. (See above for definition of ‘immediately’)
Also, DO NOT open the can until you are ready to load the film in your camera.
Opening the can before it gets to room temp will definitely lead to condensation; that is why I’ve suggested you leave it at room temp for at least one day
You’d think that Superman would be a good person to invite to a barbecue but trust me, he’s not. I mean, sure he can cook the hot dogs fast with his heat vision, but they all taste of charred eye boogers.
I buy my film at the Price Club (in huge bulk 40 rolls at a time - buck a roll too, it’s great) and I have managed to get away with being fairly reckless with the stuff.
I do kep it in the freezer when I’m not using it, just because I only go once a year or so, and I haven’t needed to do any crazy prep work like leaving it in the fridge or anything and I have yet to see any kind of image degradation.
"Elmo knows where you live! – Elmo, after Homer stiffed PBS for $10,000
If you need a graphic solution, http:\ alk.to\Piglet
Unless film chemistry has changed a lot in the 20 or so years since I used to read rags like Popular Photography, the reason for freezing, or at least refrigerating color film is as follows:
There are multiple dye layers in the film.
The dye layers have varying sensitivity to light and heat. As the film ages, the response of each dye layer changes unevenly. For consumer film, the strategy is to assume that the film will sit on the shelf for a long time, sit in the camera for a while, and then get developed. So they fiddle with the chemistry so that the most heat sensitive dye layer is initially at one end of the spectrum that can be corrected for and the film is considered to have expired when the dye layer reaches the other end of the adjustable color bias. Refrigerating the film slows the degradation of the dye layer.
Professional film is assumed to be used immediately, so the film is sold with the correct color balance. Professionals won’t accept a film that has an unpredictable color
bias. So it’s actually pretty important to keep professional grade films refrigerated until use.
I keep my unused film refrigerated simply because it says right there on the package: “Keep in a cool, dry place.”
My refrigerator satisfies both requirements.