What happens if exposed 35mm color film is left in a hot car trunk for a few weeks?
Asked 9/8/2018
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I left a couple of exposed Fujifilm disposable 35mm 800-speed color film cameras in my car trunk for about three weeks during summer heat. How much can heat affect the latent image on exposed color film, and what kinds of issues should I expect when the film is developed and printed?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
2 Answers
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Film is perishable! It spoils when storage conditions include high temperatures and the latent image (undeveloped) degrades when their is a prolonged period between exposure and processing. That being said, amateur films are designed to be more robust than those slated for professional use. What I am saying is, your film will still display an image. The color balance will be weird but --- when the film is printed, the automation of the printing machine will recognize this off-color and attempt to mitigate by applying correction factors. Nevertheless, the results will be substandard. When you pickup the film from the processing lab, don't leave without looking at the content of the package. Ok to complain if the color is bad. A reputable lab will re-print with manual corrections applied at no charge. If they don't --- next time choose a different shop.
Originally by user44949. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user44949
7y ago
0
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Exposed color film can be affected by prolonged heat, because film is perishable and the latent image slowly degrades before processing. After three weeks in a hot car trunk, you should still get images, but expect some loss in quality.
The most likely issue is mild color shift or odd color balance. Consumer films and disposable-camera film are generally fairly robust, so the damage is often less severe than people fear. A trunk is also usually cooler than the passenger cabin in direct sun, which helps.
In many cases, standard lab printing/scanning can correct much of the color shift automatically, and a good lab may be able to improve results further with manual corrections. Even so, the final images may still be somewhat substandard compared with properly stored film.
So: you’ll probably still get usable photos, but with a higher chance of off colors and reduced image quality. Have the film processed soon, and if the first prints/scans look poor, ask the lab whether they can reprint or rescan with manual color correction.
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