Frozen film

[Jeff Kubach]

How long do you have to wait to 'thaw' out B&W film after it has been in the freezer.

Jeff

[BradleyK]

Jeff,

I don't know if a shorter time would do it, but with a deep freeze set at -25, I have always let the film come to room temperature overnight. While perhaps erring on the side of caution, I have yet to experience any problems...

[Poisson Du Jour]

One hour at minimum from say common fridge freezer temp of –10°C. I'm not in a hurry and take what film I will need out in the night before. Very deep freezing / thawing and re-deep freezing of film can cause embrittlement (my own experiments). Film has to be allowed to reach ambient temperature. Any sooner and you risk condensation forming, which can manifest as spotting on the developed negative (also high humidity after exposure in the storage prior to processing stage).

[markbarendt]

I've heard people put specific times to it, like 1-hour, but it seems to me that it a situational thing.

Film works at most temperatures we will ever work in.

The problem is I believe, condensation.

On a hot humid day in Viginia it very well could be an hour.

But if you are grabbing an extra roll to go on a winter morning's walk with the dogs it may actually be colder out side than in the freezer, so no defrosting required.

[tomalophicon]

On the old Kodak film boxes it suggests 3 hours.

[wildbill]

here's a list of threads from all the other times it's been asked:
http://www.apug.org/forums/google.ph...ozen-film.html

[EASmithV]

Sometimes an hour. Sometimes overnight. Sometimes immediately. I've done all three with 8x10 sheet and 35mm with no ill effects yet.

[Doremus Scudder]

The problem is cold film and warm moist air. When the two contact, you can get condensation on the film surface. The object is to bring the film close enough to ambient temperature so that condensation doesn't form. If you have 0% humidity, you could probably load the film still frozen. If you have 90% humidity, the film needs to be really, really close to air temperature or you will get condensation. There is a range of acceptable temperature discrepancy in between. A couple of hours seems to work well for me.

Best,

Doremus

[ozphoto]

I usually take my frozen film out the night before and the rolls in the fridge an hour before.
I'd rather err on the cautious side, than tempt fate with a condensation attack. . . . . . .

[Jüri]

I once took a roll of 35mm film right out of fridge and tried defrosting it in hands before putting in camera. The result was stange black spots and lines on some frames.

Anyhow, this topic made me wonder about using film in extreme temperatures. For instance, I'm planning to shoot film at the weekend and weather forecast predicts -25 degrees Celsius. Won't the frozen film or emulsion crack, when I wind it?