I know the digital revolution in photography is upon us, but if you’re still using film, here are a couple of tips for the upcoming summer months. Store your unexposed color film in the refrigerator to protect it from changes due to heat and humidity. This includes any Polaroid film packs.
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Before using unexposed film stored in refrigerator, be sure to allow to come to ambient room temperature for at least an hour before opening sealed canister and loading in camera. This will prevent any condensation on film surface which would result in fuzzy photos. If after exposure there would be a delay in processing, it is recommended to return exposed film to its original canister and place under refrigeration until time for development. We use a cooler during field trips for this purpose. At no time should any film be frozen!
Phillip Hughes
Woodstock, GA
Thanks for these tips! I wasn’t aware. Now I am.
Goodday all –As we all know anything put in a refrigerator will dry out over time & I would think this could happen to film as well & cause it to be brittle.I suppose if you can find a(realey) seal tight bag it would be safer! Good luck–I think I’ll still keep mine in a dark even heated (cooler) area of the house.
Thank you for putting this in print!! Now I can show proof why I have always done this. ‘Some people’ think I am just a fussy old woman.
I was going to add the freezer as a place to store film. I was told many years ago that one could freeze film and extend the the expiration date by the number of months frozen. I would like to hear more from Phillip Hughes and others about why not to freeze film. I have one roll in the freezer now because it was scheduled to expire late last year after vacation.
Bruce Vernor
Herndon, VA (Washington DC suburb)
I just recently found out that film should be stored in a cool place. Will it be ruined if it wasn’t for 2 months?