Shelf life.

Grandpa Ron · Aug 18, 2018

For a medium that is supposed to be dead, film certainly has its following. There is still a plethora of film, paper, chemicals and techniques.

For new comer unsure of the hobby or an oldster wanting to play with is collection of toys without spending a lot of money. I have been mulling a few choices.

Since my intent is to shoot black and white photos of the four seasons with my old 4x5 view camera, I need to know;
* Will a 25 sheet box of b & w Arista EDU 200 speed film last a year once it is opened. I assume it will.
* What is the shelf life of the film developer concentrate once opened or mixed? Famous Photos has a one step liquid concentrate good for so many sheets, there are a number of standard develop, stop and fix products, both liquid and powder. My guess is the powder would be the least worrisome about storage time if mixed on an as needed basis. But that is just a guess.

* Like wise I would like to know the shelf life of the photo paper and its developing chemicals.

I believe this project will be stop and go for at least a year so there will be a flurry of photo activity then considerable down time. I just want to be sure that six months from now if the opportunity presents itself, I am not stuck with out of date materials.

Probably not an issue for the dedicated film buff.

Designer · Aug 18, 2018

I think anything in its original packaging, (film, paper, and chemicals) should be good for at least one year, but nothing that you have mixed up to use. Read and follow the storage recommendations on the package (like cool dry place, protect from temperature extremes and high humidity, and of course, no light)

Have fun with it!

Derrel · Aug 19, 2018

The film will be good for a decade or more. Seriously.

I dunno....air is bad for developer...stored in mostly air-free bottles (meaning full-up, or the accordion-type,squeezable bottles) developer has decent shelf life. Kodak HC-110, the film developer I have the absolute most familiarity with, has given me well over two years' worth of opened-bottle shelf life for the concentrate or "syrup", and I also had success with one very old bottle of HC-110 syrup.

HC-110, for those that are unfamiliar, is a slightly thick concentrated liquid, which requires only 1/4 ounce for developing one roll of film, or 1/2 ounce for a two-roll tank of film, for its pretty well-known "Dilution B" strength. HC-110 is a handy, compact-bottle developer supply, and it can easily be measured in a small graduated cylinder, and the cylinder rinsed out three or four times with the water used to make the developer solution, so as to get ALL of the syrup into the developer mix. That is the beauty of HC-110....it is indeed Highly Concentrated liquid, which keeps very well, and which comes in a bottle that can be squeezed down a bit, to eliminate air for longer-term storage.

Just as an aside know that HC-110 will develop enlarging paper...I do not recommend it, but I have actually developed enlargements in HC-110 developer...

Dave Colangelo · Aug 19, 2018

+1 for what @Derrel mentions.

The film (even open) will outlast the project. For that matter the Ilford 4x5 boxes are not necessarily air tight so it can't be that big of a concern.

Oxygen is the enemy for photo chemicals. Film developer is mostly single shot (at least the DD-X I use is). Ilford lists some shelf lives on their website you can also grab individual data sheets for your chosen developers. Like this one for Ilfords Multigrade which quotes 2 years unopened and 6 months opened but tightly capped as well as 3 months "loosely capped". The stuff varies and the consequences tend to be higher with film developers as you really only get one shot at a negative but can always make lots of prints. I have stored DD-X concentrate for my ilford films in the provided 1L bottle for at least 8 months and had no issues.

The paper should be good for the year. Again Ilford paper boxes are not air tight so air is not the concern. you issue there is light and possibly exposing a stack of paper accidentally.

Development technique, temp control, and agitation method can all effect the outcome so to limit impact you should try and keep all those things as constant as possible.