How should I handle 10-year-old exposed 35mm film from the refrigerator before development?
Asked 11/9/2015
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I have several rolls of exposed 35mm film that have been stored in a refrigerator for about 10 years. Before sending them to a lab or developing them myself, should I keep them cold during transport, or let them warm to room temperature first? Should they stay sealed/in their canisters until they warm up to avoid condensation, and is there anything special I should expect when processing older film?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
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Are you going to develop the films yourself or are you going to take them to a lab? If they're exposed films, you don't need to worry about condensation if they're not going to be in warm temperatures for too long before development. Remember that the first stage of the actual film processing is submersing the film in developer, so they're going to get fully submersed anyway.
If you're going to process them yourself, then condensation may pose a problem is when you're loading the film onto the developing reel. I've found if the developing reel is still wet from a previous development, then it can be a bit more tricky to load. I think to minimise risk, you should either process them absolutely as soon as possible after removing from the fridge, so that they are in the developing tank before condensation can form, or, keep them at the same temperature, perhaps with an ice pack in a cool bag until you can take them to be processed. If processing them yourself, get everything ready including the chemicals, film canister opener and reel etc, so that in the minimum amount of time you can get the film from the fridge and into the developer solution.
If you're going to a lab, talk to the lab first; I'm sure they'll have experience with rescuing films and will advise on what to do in order to take the films to them.
Most importantly, don't go in for getting them all processed at the same time. Pick one film out, and deal with that as a test, whether going to a lab or doing it yourself. See the results from that film and see whether anything needs to be done differently, then at least you're only losing one instead of all of them.
I'm sure that a specialist lab will be experienced in dealing with films that have been dropped in rivers, the sea and washing machines etc, so they would probably be able to give the best advice.
Note here that I've not given any advice on whether to use specific chemicals, changing the dilution etc may or may not help expired films to develop better. It may be worth looking for separate answers on here about developing expired films, which would answer that part of the question, eg: What's the best way to develop old, exposed film?
Originally by user24522. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user24522
10y ago
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Let the film warm to room temperature before opening any sealed packaging or loading it for processing. A common recommendation is to leave cold-stored film sealed for several hours, even up to about 8 hours, so condensation forms on the outside of the package rather than on the film.
If you’re sending it to a lab, you generally do not need to keep it cold during normal transport as long as it won’t sit in heat for long. Once processing starts, the film is submerged in chemistry anyway.
If you’re developing it yourself, condensation matters most when loading the film onto the reel: damp film or a wet reel can make loading difficult. Make sure reels are dry, and either load the film after it has fully warmed up or process it immediately so moisture doesn’t become an issue.
Also expect possible age-related changes, especially with color film: color shifts or weaker results are possible, and older slide film may show noticeable color bias. A good lab may be able to compensate somewhat when printing or scanning, but results can vary.
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