Exposed Film Perservation?

[AaronLLockhart]

So I take my film to Walmart to have it processed (before everyone says awwww, don't do that... let me explain). I don't have them print photos, just process my negatives. Walmart doesn't develop in house, and since I don't develop my own negatives, nor do I have a room available to start, I take them to walmart because they send it to Fuji and fuji processes my negatives and sends them back (without cutting) in the original plastic container..

Now, I know that after the film has been processed, it can be exposed to light. However, does it matter if they are exposed to a lot of light? What can I do to preserve these negative rolls after processing to make them last longer? Do I even need to worry about it?

 

[timor]

Keeping negs in direct sunlight for long time (months) will eventually bleach out some of the dyes. The best way will be to keep them in airtight containers in vacuum (no oxygen, no moisture) That would preserve them for centuries. Otherwise keep them in those well closed containers in some quiet spot with no temperature extremes and you still will be fine for very, very, very long time.

 

[AaronLLockhart]

Keeping negs in direct sunlight for long time (months) will eventually bleach out some of the dyes. The best way will be to keep them in airtight containers in vacuum (no oxygen, no moisture) That would preserve them for centuries. Otherwise keep them in those well closed containers in some quiet spot with no temperature extremes and you still will be fine for very, very, very long time.

Thank you for replying. I just started shooting film about 3 weeks ago, so I know pretty much nothing about it. I know how to shoot, and the results are pretty good. I just don't know all of the details in caring for the film.

 

[JAC526]

If you look on amazon you can buy plastic sheets that hold negatives and then put them in 3 ring binders.

 

[timor]

Thank you for replying. I just started shooting film about 3 weeks ago, so I know pretty much nothing about it. I know how to shoot, and the results are pretty good. I just don't know all of the details in caring for the film.

Your welcome.
Congratulation for trying film. Yhat's the "real thing" photography. JAC526 is right, the best way to keep film is how he/she said. But not ant sheets will do, look at this, they are in Texas:
Vue-All Archival Storage Pages - Photo Accessories
That also make easy to find particular pic without scratching it.
If you started to shoot color film, maybe you should look at transparencies like Velvia or Provia. I belive Sensia is gone from Fuji lineup. They deliver unsurpassed quality and will be always ready to scan, can you imagine the scanning technology in 30 years ? Might be awesome. Look at this:
Color Slide Film 35mm | Freestyle Photographic Supplies

 

[amolitor]

Black and white film (the real stuff, not the C-41 process stuff which is just color film with black dye) is going to be more stable. The silver is pretty much immortal. The plastic film strip isn't going to love sunlight forever, though.

Archival pages are good.

If you're shooting full rolls of 36 they won't fit in a single page, for most pages. This is maddening. There are some oversized pages out there that go into an oversized binder, though.

 

[timor]

Black and white film (the real stuff, not the C-41 process stuff which is just color film with black dye) is going to be more stable.

If you're shooting full rolls of 36 they won't fit in a single page, for most pages. This is maddening. There are some oversized pages out there that go into an oversized binder, though.

Do you mean: b&w film with color dye ?
Aaron, don't worry about fading. Color movies shot 60 years ago are still color today.

This pages are for 42 frames:
100 Vue-All 8040 Negative Pages 35mm - 7 strips of 6 - Vue-All Archival Storage Pages

 

[Ysarex]

Black and white negative film can last a very long time, but the reduced silver in the film is susceptible to attack from our modern industrial atmosphere which can turn the silver to colloid silver and ruin the negs. If you shoot B&W film and really want it to last many lifetimes then treat it with selenium to protect the silver.

Color films both C41 and E6 should be stored in the dark and kept cool and dry. The dye however will fade. They will begin fading immediately and show a measurable degree of loss in under 5 years. As noted you could freeze dry them, but in that case they're kind of hard to use. You absolutely do not want to freeze dry/thaw and re-freeze dry/thaw. A typical C41 color negative stored in the dark in cool dry conditions might still be useable after 20 years but it will not print at all as it did when new. Electronic scanning and recovery/repair efforts will be necessary to get an image at all similar to the original print which will also have faded by then.

I'm 60 years old now and have been actively taking photographs for nearly 40 years. Kodachromes (discontinued film) from my youth have survived. All of my C41 and E6 film that is more than 15 years old now requires scanning remediation. It's not worth printing otherwise. All of my C41 and E6 film that is more than 25 years old has turned to crap. About ten years ago I undertook a major effort to go back through decades of color film (all stored in archival poly sleeves in a dark air-conditioned environment) in a desperate attempt to save maybe 10% of it by scanning. I have thousands of scans now that require work but at least I have those. In the ten years that have past as I scanned furiously the film has continued to degrade. I will outlive it all.

....What can I do to preserve these negative rolls after processing to make them last longer? Do I even need to worry about it?

Yes you do need to worry about it starting now and what you need to do if you want to keep those images is get the film scanned.

This is somewhat dated information but it's from the best source; the authority on photographic materials permanence: Wilhelm Imaging Research

Assume that it the past 20 years C41 and E6 films have improved by 100% (they haven't). This data suggests you start scanning now.




Joe

 

[gsgary]

Another problem with sending them away is you dont know how well they have been washed after development under washing them can have a big effect on long life

 

[AaronLLockhart]

Thank you for replying. I just started shooting film about 3 weeks ago, so I know pretty much nothing about it. I know how to shoot, and the results are pretty good. I just don't know all of the details in caring for the film.

Your welcome.
Congratulation for trying film. Yhat's the "real thing" photography. JAC526 is right, the best way to keep film is how he/she said. But not ant sheets will do, look at this, they are in Texas:
Vue-All Archival Storage Pages - Photo Accessories
That also make easy to find particular pic without scratching it.
If you started to shoot color film, maybe you should look at transparencies like Velvia or Provia. I belive Sensia is gone from Fuji lineup. They deliver unsurpassed quality and will be always ready to scan, can you imagine the scanning technology in 30 years ? Might be awesome. Look at this:
Color Slide Film 35mm | Freestyle Photographic Supplies

I love film. In fact, I'm starting to favor it more than I like shooting digital. It has a stronger feel to the outcome.

I'm not looking for a 30 year time frame. I'm really just trying to reach 15 or 20 years, so that I can show them to my son that we have his photographs on negatives . I know at the time he is old enough to understand, film photography will most likely be obsolete. So, I'm simply wanting to preserve a piece of history for him to be able to see 15 to 20 years from now. I've got these things stored in an empty Fed Ex box "storage closed" (where you fold the flaps intertwined to hold it shut) in the top of my closet. The closet has one 13w fluorescent bulb, but it's on a lot of the time. I could move it to my outside storage room, but it's not climate controlled, so the heat would destroy it over a fairly short amount of time.

Black and white film (the real stuff, not the C-41 process stuff which is just color film with black dye) is going to be more stable. The silver is pretty much immortal. The plastic film strip isn't going to love sunlight forever, though.

Archival pages are good.

If you're shooting full rolls of 36 they won't fit in a single page, for most pages. This is maddening. There are some oversized pages out there that go into an oversized binder, though.

I will look at these, but I'm not so sure that I am interested in something to display the negatives. I'm looking for something more along the lines of a big storage capsule that will hold this stuff for MANY years to come without destroying the image on the film. A safe would even work for me.

Black and white negative film can last a very long time, but the reduced silver in the film is susceptible to attack from our modern industrial atmosphere which can turn the silver to colloid silver and ruin the negs. If you shoot B&W film and really want it to last many lifetimes then treat it with selenium to protect the silver.

Color films both C41 and E6 should be stored in the dark and kept cool and dry. The dye however will fade. They will begin fading immediately and show a measurable degree of loss in under 5 years. As noted you could freeze dry them, but in that case they're kind of hard to use. You absolutely do not want to freeze dry/thaw and re-freeze dry/thaw. A typical C41 color negative stored in the dark in cool dry conditions might still be useable after 20 years but it will not print at all as it did when new. Electronic scanning and recovery/repair efforts will be necessary to get an image at all similar to the original print which will also have faded by then.

I'm 60 years old now and have been actively taking photographs for nearly 40 years. Kodachromes (discontinued film) from my youth have survived. All of my C41 and E6 film that is more than 15 years old now requires scanning remediation. It's not worth printing otherwise. All of my C41 and E6 film that is more than 25 years old has turned to crap. About ten years ago I undertook a major effort to go back through decades of color film (all stored in archival poly sleeves in a dark air-conditioned environment) in a desperate attempt to save maybe 10% of it by scanning. I have thousands of scans now that require work but at least I have those. In the ten years that have past as I scanned furiously the film has continued to degrade. I will outlive it all.

....What can I do to preserve these negative rolls after processing to make them last longer? Do I even need to worry about it?

Yes you do need to worry about it starting now and what you need to do if you want to keep those images is get the film scanned.

This is somewhat dated information but it's from the best source; the authority on photographic materials permanence: Wilhelm Imaging Research

Assume that it the past 20 years C41 and E6 films have improved by 100% (they haven't). This data suggests you start scanning now.


View attachment 15696

Joe

I know that ultimately they are going to fade a little color, but I don't want to scan them. I would much rather keep them in their original state. As said in my first reply, I want to show Landon (my newborn son) what 35mm film is and that we have his photos recorded on it. ***EDIT*** I will say thank you for this information. it's very intuitive and it was every single bit of what I was looking for. I know, as a designer, that dyes wash out over long periods of time when exposed to UV lighting. Some of the signs I have made have to have a special laminate coating put over the top of it so the dyes don't wash out.***EDIT***

Another problem with sending them away is you dont know how well they have been washed after development under washing them can have a big effect on long life

Please explain further.

 

[gsgary]

http://www.philpankov.com/-/philpankov/article.asp?ID=2310

 

[Ysarex]

I know that ultimately they are going to fade a little color, but I don't want to scan them. I would much rather keep them in their original state. As said in my first reply, I want to show Landon (my newborn son) what 35mm film is and that we have his photos recorded on it.

You'll be able to do that, but by the time Landon has your grandson, there will be a lot more than a little color faded away. This photo is from my family and was taken in 1970 (the process and dyes are still similar). I caught it after it sat 30 years in dark storage and scanned it. Had it ever seen any light the fading would be much worse. I used this example in class to show what happens if you NEVER LOOK AT THEM AGAIN. This is really good for 30 years, but that's because it was put into the bottom of a box and shut off from all light for 30 years. Your film will fade worse.

Another problem with sending them away is you dont know how well they have been washed after development under washing them can have a big effect on long life

Please explain further.

How the materials are handled has a huge effect on how long they will last. The chemicals that are used to process the film and prints will cause them to fade while you watch. It is critical that they be treated with proper stabilizing chemicals and washed properly. For example if you check with Wilhelm Research you'll see that Henry identifies Fuji Crystal archive paper as having around a 50 year life span in theory and less than a 25 year life span in commercial practice.

Joe