Time Between Shooting and Developing?

Jon Boguslaw · February 7, 2007

Hi, I'm new to this Super 8 thing. I bought 3 rolls of Tri-x and 2 rolls of Ektachrome 64t to test it out.

I shot a roll of ektachrome about a month and a half ago and haven't had it developed yet. Will it still come out alright? Should I put it in a fridge even though I don't have the packaging anymore.

I also have a roll of Tri-x that has been out of a fridge for the same amount of time. Will it still shoot/process well?

Thanks

Nick Norton · February 8, 2007

I'm also curious about refrigerating film.

Should i always keep super 8 film in a refrigerator? (Before shooting it, time between shooting it and developing it?)

Is there a particular temperature i should store it at?

What are the results of not keeping the film in a refrigerator?

Thanks-

Nick

Bernhard Zitz · February 8, 2007

I had a roll of Tri-X for nearly a year in a camera and it turned out perfect.

I stocked my last rolls of K40-sound for about 5years before exposing and processing and there wasn't any noticeable difference between newer ones. On one roll I started to film five years ago wrapped it in cellophane kept it cool and finished it last autumn and it was still good...

Some people say that you shouldn't expose it to too many temperature changes...

cheers, Bernhard

Terry Mester · February 9, 2007

"Heat" will cause everything to decay more quickly, and Film is no exception. In particular, the concern is the stability of the Dyes. However, Film is perfectly good for years without refrigeration. When you get into Temperatures above 85 Fahrenheit / 30 Celsius, that's not desirable, but it would take some time to affect the Film. The Film will be perfectly good past its "Freshness" Date. I've also used unexposed Film many years old. When storing it in the Fridge -- preferably the Freezer, you need to keep it in an "air tight" package to protect it from excess humidity and dehydration. For a used Cart, you can wrap it tightly in Saran Wrap, and put it in a Ziploc Bag to place it back in the Fridge. When taking a Cartridge out of the Fridge, let it warm up for 6 hours before removing the plastic seal. You don't want condensation forming on it.

If you're in North America, you can have your Cartridges developed by Kodak's subsidiary "Qualex Photofinishing". They're affiliated with Photo Shops everywhere -- including every Wal-Mart. Just drop it off in the Qualex Envelope at Wal-Mart indicating in Special Instructions that its a Super8 Cartridge, and what type of Film.

Mark Dunn · February 9, 2007

The deterioration is worse when there's a latent image. We all know that. So how do animators cope with a roll of film which must spend weeks or months in the camera. IS the deterioration an issue or not?

Terry Mester · February 10, 2007

Deterioration is not an issue over the course of months as long as the Film is not subjected to unacceptable heat levels. When you're getting over 90, 100 Degrees Fahrenheit, you could possibly suffer consequences with Negative Film over the course of a few months. With exposed Film, a Silver Atom could possibly lose its extra Electron -- thereby returning it to an unexposed state. This would only really be a concern with Negative Film -- with Reversal (Positive) Film this wouldn't matter. At room temperatures under 85 F, I wouldn't be worried about six months of storage. Under 70 F, I wouldn't worry at all. If you want to be completely safe, you could place the Camera in a plastic bag, and just refrigerate the whole Camera and Film therein at about 50 F. If you live in a colder climate, a Kitchen Cupboard on an outside wall wouldn't likely go above 60 F. You need to decide for yourself how cautious you want to be. I personally don't worry about my Camera being kept at room temperatures during summer months. Since the S8 Cartridges are so small, why not keep them in the Fridge. They're worth more money than most of the food!

Nick Norton · July 31, 2009

Anyone else with an opinion on the topic of storing processed and unprocessed film?

K Borowski · July 31, 2009

Get it processed as soon as possible after shooting it.

Until then, store it in a freezer, double-bagged.

Dominic Case · August 2, 2009

Because film stock is designed to be very sensitive to light, it tends to be a little sensitive to other forms of energy as well. These include radiant heat, cosmic radiation, x-rays, etc. Silver halide crystals also have a greater tendency to spontaneously become "exposed" at higher temperatures.

What happens is that photons of energy collide with silver halide crystals in the emulsion and knock an electron out of place in the crystal, forming a non-ionised atom of silver. Crystals with several such atoms of silver will be converted entirely to silver in the developent process (forming an image): those without them won't be.

If you wait around for too long after exposure, a few of those non-ionised atoms of silver will settle back into the regular crystal structure, and the effect of the exposure will be "forgotten". This is latent image fade. As with exposure and heat fogging, higher temperatures will make this happen faster.

As it happens, latent image fade starts off fiercely, then slows down. However much of the latent image is lost in the first day, it will take two days for the same amount again, then four days etc.

So in practive, laent image fade isn't a serious problem. Better to keep exposed fill cool if it's goijng to be weeks before processing - but don't worry about a couple of days - and if you've had the roll for weeks and weeks before processing, still don't worry: at worst it'll probably turn out as if it had been half a stop under-exposed. Almost always it is easily corrected.