Re: [APML] To freeze, or not (Was: The good Supra 400 price reduction...)

[Philip Perkins <philip@astrocruise.com>]

Alan,

I think the reason the verdict is 50/50 between fridge and freezer is that 
there is no real difference, except that film stored in the freezer should 
last longer because chemical reactions are slower the colder the 
temperature.  There are sometimes claims that film stored in the freezer 
will have more graininess but I have seen no evidence to support this.  For 
several years I used film stored in the freezer and did not see any 
evidence to support this either.  In some cases I used film that had been 
stored in the freezer for up to 4 years and some of the results are still 
on my web site.

However.. film contains water and the process of freezing it may cause 
undesirable effects if done repeatedly.  So I think it would be wise to 
freeze it once only and keep it frozen until needed for use.  Avoid 
repeated thawing and re-freezing, and for this reason strongly avoid 
freezers which have an automatic defrost cycle (I didn't know there was 
such a thing until recently - sounds as though it could be dangerous for 
food, let alone film).  It's possible that some reports of increased 
graininess are due to film stored in such freezers.  The freezer I use 
keeps the contents permanently at -30 C.

--Philip


>I'd think that should be fine. In my limited experience I've never had
>problems moving film back and forth, or in and out. Maybe you should
>just leave it where it's at until you see what kind of response this
>thread gets this time.
>
>I've changed the subject line above, so let's see if anyone else has
>experience, or advice regarding this problem.
>
>It's funny, this subject has come up numerous times in the 3 years I've
>been a member of this list. People were usually split about 50/50 on
>whether to store film in the freezer or the fridge. Until about 3
>months ago when, in the middle of another film storage discussion,
>Tony, Chris Schur(?) and someone else put forth very strong reasons to
>not use the freezer for film storage.
>
>Seeing as new people are always popping up, maybe it's a good idea to
>see if there are any new opinions out there.
>
>Alan


Philip Perkins - philip@astrocruise.com
Wiltshire UK & Luberon France
Astrocruise - http://www.astrocruise.com

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