Freeze-Defrost-Refreeze?

lindsay

lindsay

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I'm looking for guidance please: I currently have a lot of film stock in the freezer and some in the fridge. However we will be moving house (hopefully) in a few months time, at which point everything will come out so that the fridge-freezer can be defrosted and dried for removal. The removal will take a couple of days, so it could be 2 to 3 days before I have a running fridge freezer again, too long for a toolbox to keep things frozen.
What is the likely effect of the temperature changes on the film do people think? There's no way I can use it all between now and moving, so I'm hoping either the impact will be minimal, or that I should just plan to gradually bring it back to ambient temperatures during the move and aim to use it asap thereafter? Or?
Thanks
 
Done similar when taking film on holiday. I used to take about 10 films away and they'd come out of our freezer here, get taken on a 4 hour flight (in hand luggage) and a 2 hour coach ride (in 30°C) before going into the apartment's fridge then freezer/ice compartment. A selection of 100-400 ASA neg and slide films went through it with no adverse affects (that I could see!) Just let all temperature changes happen as slowly as possible. For a house move, I'd be tempted to use a cool bag with as many ice blocks as possible - handy way to transport the ice blocks too!

Good luck with the move.
 
It should not signifiantly affect it - just don't let it become damp with condensation (but you knew that already).
 
I've never had a problem and I've been doing it for more years than I can remember - since the late seventies at least. :tumbleweed:

I've just considered its time spent in the freezer as a 'pause' in its longevity. When it's out, it starts again, but when you put it back in it pauses it again. (y)
 
Cant you bung it in a mates freezer for the duration? You might get a funny look unless he/she is a photographer, but personally I dont fancy thawing and refreezing. It'll probably be fine having said that, I just dont fancy the idea myself.
 
swanseamale47 said:
Cant you bung it in a mates freezer for the duration? You might get a funny look unless he/she is a photographer, but personally I dont fancy thawing and refreezing. It'll probably be fine having said that, I just dont fancy the idea myself.
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Not really an option, sadly - the move involves a sea crossing. I'll say no more until it's done unless I jinx it.
 
The simple answer is that as long as there is no high humidity or standing water/condensation, it will be fine; the act of changing just the temperature alone should have no effect on the film.

My advice would be to let it come up slowly in the fridge, and then from there bring it to room temp. How are you storing it all in the freezer? I personally store sealed boxes in sealable plastic bags to mitigate water reaching it in the event that the power is cut unintentionally for a long time, but also to limit condensation when changing temperature (moving from colder to warmer). If you don’t do this, my advice would be to quickly place all the film into sealable plastic bags, and put back in the freezer with the bag unsealed for over night. Seal as quickly as possible once you open the door in the morning. The idea here being that the freezer is an incredibly dry environment, so you can then seal in (as best as reasonably possible) a dry air environment. That way when you raise the temperature, no condensation should form inside the bag.
 
Worth mentioning, there is nothing to freeze in a domestic freezer. The emulsion is a touch-dry material and the only moisture will come from condensation. The film can warm gently, but probably doesn't need to.
 
Thanks for all the advice folks, I'm reassured. The roll film was in sealed wrappers to start with, the 35mm likewise, and sheet film in unopened sealed packaging. I think I'll plan to move it all wrapped in a carrier bag (unsealed) in a freezer bag with ice blocks around, so as to keep any water out of the bag, and then over the 24-36 hours or so off the move it should be ok to stick back in the freezer once reinstalled. All the fridge-stored film I'll put in the fridge of the camper van we'll be using for the initial move (I'll be returning to collect the other car and the cats from the cattery after we've settled in), so it sounds like I have a viable plan that shouldn't see any deterioration in the film stocks.
Thanks folks.
 
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This thread has been worrying me; I recently had to defrost an under-counter fridge freezer which hadn't been done for years (it's on the same switch as the oven, so turning it off kills the oven clocks, that's my excuse). In the freezer compartment I found 3 rolls of 135 Sensia 100 encased in ice, boxed but no additional wrapping. Of course by the time I'd got them out the boxes were sodden. I dried them out over the next few days (room temperature), then put them in sealed bags back in the freezer. I'm wondering how much risk there is that I've sealed significant condensation in there! They are (and were throughout) of course inside their plastic tubs in the boxes, so I'm hoping they're safe.

This is another episode of "Chris abuses film and hopes to get away with it". A couple of months ago I was looking for some film to photograph autumn colours for a U3A tog group outing, and I found 2 rolls of 2017-expired Provia 100F in a bottom drawer. After some advice I decided to use it at box speed, and it came out really nicely!

Not quite the season for defrosting a Sensia roll though...
 
ChrisR said:
This thread has been worrying me; I recently had to defrost an under-counter fridge freezer which hadn't been done for years (it's on the same switch as the oven, so turning it off kills the oven clocks, that's my excuse). In the freezer compartment I found 3 rolls of 135 Sensia 100 encased in ice, boxed but no additional wrapping. Of course by the time I'd got them out the boxes were sodden. I dried them out over the next few days (room temperature), then put them in sealed bags back in the freezer. I'm wondering how much risk there is that I've sealed significant condensation in there! They are (and were throughout) of course inside their plastic tubs in the boxes, so I'm hoping they're safe.

This is another episode of "Chris abuses film and hopes to get away with it". A couple of months ago I was looking for some film to photograph autumn colours for a U3A tog group outing, and I found 2 rolls of 2017-expired Provia 100F in a bottom drawer. After some advice I decided to use it at box speed, and it came out really nicely!

Not quite the season for defrosting a Sensia roll though...
Click to expand...

I think that 135 film canisters are pretty much air-tight, so I think you'll be fine. None of my frozen film is bagged with the exception of some unboxed rolls (and they're bagged to keep them together, rather than to keep out moisture). The main risk of moisture is using a film before it's warmed up to ambient temperatures as vapour from the atmosphere could condense onto the emulsion.

I think that, as long as the film is in it's plastic canister, or sealed in the wrapping in the case of 120, then it will be fine.
 
ChrisR said:
This thread has been worrying me; I recently had to defrost an under-counter fridge freezer which hadn't been done for years (it's on the same switch as the oven, so turning it off kills the oven clocks, that's my excuse). In the freezer compartment I found 3 rolls of 135 Sensia 100 encased in ice, boxed but no additional wrapping. Of course by the time I'd got them out the boxes were sodden. I dried them out over the next few days (room temperature), then put them in sealed bags back in the freezer. I'm wondering how much risk there is that I've sealed significant condensation in there! They are (and were throughout) of course inside their plastic tubs in the boxes, so I'm hoping they're safe.

This is another episode of "Chris abuses film and hopes to get away with it". A couple of months ago I was looking for some film to photograph autumn colours for a U3A tog group outing, and I found 2 rolls of 2017-expired Provia 100F in a bottom drawer. After some advice I decided to use it at box speed, and it came out really nicely!

Not quite the season for defrosting a Sensia roll though...
Click to expand...


I wouldn't worry too much. As said, 35mm plastic tubs are pretty much airtight and film's reasonably forgiving!
 
lindsay said:
I'm looking for guidance please: I currently have a lot of film stock in the freezer and some in the fridge. However we will be moving house (hopefully) in a few months time, at which point everything will come out so that the fridge-freezer can be defrosted and dried for removal. The removal will take a couple of days, so it could be 2 to 3 days before I have a running fridge freezer again, too long for a toolbox to keep things frozen.
What is the likely effect of the temperature changes on the film do people think? There's no way I can use it all between now and moving, so I'm hoping either the impact will be minimal, or that I should just plan to gradually bring it back to ambient temperatures during the move and aim to use it asap thereafter? Or?
Thanks
Click to expand...

So long as the contents of the film boxes and foil wrappers are intact and do not allow an ingress moisture than you should be fine. The moisture content of sealed packets/tubs will be next to nil and of no consequence.
 
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