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Can I use the Super 16mm film that was kept in fridge for 5 years??


Prasad Kumar

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Hi:

 

I shot my first short film in 16mm in 2011. I bought 7 rolls (Kodak) and used only 6. I kept the remaining one in the fridge (not in the freezer). After that I shot my short films in Digital. Now I am planning to shoot in film again. Can I use the one that is in the fridge? When I bought the film roll, I was told that I can use it within 7 years if it is kept in the fridge. Now I am seeing in some forums that it is not advisable to use it if it is more than 6 months. What is the general time frame?

 

Thanks.

Edited by Prasad Kumar
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Take one of the rolls to FotoKem and have them to a fog test. This will tell you how far the stock has degraded and it will give the stock a physical grade, so you know how it's doing.

 

Generally speaking, stock starts to go bad in 5 years if stored in the refrigerator. So you should be fine.

 

Do a the fog test and let us know what it comes back like.

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I have used colour negative film that old that had been stored in a fridge, I over exposed the stock about a stop and it came out fine. I have just used older film I have no idea how it has been stored over the years. I have over-exposed the stock by one and half stops, I have seen the results yet but the lab tells me it's all come out fine.

 

Pav

Edited by Pavan Deep
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clip test will tell you the stock's condition as others suggested. alternatively you can shoot a small test roll of it, maybe 15m or so, if you are processing other films soon and can include the test to the same batch. that will show you the overall quality you can expect from the stock in your project and if you have to take elevated grain etc. into account.

 

old film usually has elevated base fog and the sensitivity may be little lower. I tend to overexpose all old stock by about 1 stop (5 - 8 years old) and it usually works very well. background gamma radiation may sometimes be a problem with very old stocks, it happens at about the same rate even with frozen film so one can't store the cans forever, though long times are of course possible. you can also experience colour shifts with old film but usually nothing so extreme that it can't be corrected rather easily in grading.

 

most of the time I purchase all films over 200 ISO new because it is easier to see the age and storing conditions with them, especially in smaller formats. storing a 500T film for several years is not ideal I think, even if it's 35mm. but if you have something like 50D it is not a problem at all

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one thing which may need to be checked is that the film has been in stable temperature from all the sides, one can sometimes have problems if the other side of the can has been warmer than the other and the film has been stored like that for longer time. it may lead to "pumping" grain which intensifies every turn of the feed roll. Some of the old EXR 50D I purhased from eBay had this problem: "pumping" red grain which intensifies at regular intervals of every couple of seconds. if you suspect the roll might have developed this problem you should do a small test shoot with lots of middle gray and black subjects (or gray charts) so you can spot it out. it usually affects first the most sensitive layer, with daylight film the red layer and with tungsten film the blue...

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