How long can you leave partly exposed film?

[David Mitchell]

Hi all,

I know that unexposed film keeps for a fairly long time, but I do know that exposed film does start to degrade as soon as you have shot it. My question is: what is the longest you should can a partly exposed roll of film before it starts to degrade? I am only asking as usually with a 36 shot roll I would only shoot about 20 frames when walking around at any one time, meaning I still have lots more of the roll left. Due to not having that much time to actually go out shooting it might be a while before I would continue to shoot the rest of the roll. I did however decide to take my camera into work and shoot the rest of the frames this time on the FM2n which are currently being processed.

Do certain films degrade faster than others? I am looking at getting an Olympus Pen EE at some point which is a half frame camera, so I would have 72 shots on a 36 shot roll lol compounding the issue lol

Just wondering what peoples thoughts are on the matter

 

[Hamish Gill]

I wouldn't worry too much ... The worst I have had is a film go a bit more pastle coloured ... You would probably like the effect ...
And that was on a out of date film that I shot and then left in a camera for a couple of years.

ive deved black and white film yard after shooting and not really noticed any problem ... Depends how picky you are ...

basically, I wouldn't concern yourself!

 

[David Mitchell]

Ah ok, its only due to the fact that when I got some black and white shots back from imaging north wales it was noted that the film was apparently old - it was brand new Kentmere 400, unless its due to the fact I was shooting it through an older lens.

I guess its something that can be fixed in lightroom though, would just need to bump up the colours slightly.

 

[Pete Askew]

As Hamish says, a long time - decades even. As film ages, the fog level (non-exposure related production of Agº) will increase, reducing contrast. This will be greater in exposed film than unexposed as the clusters of silver atoms reduced by the photochemical effect of exposure will catalyse further reduction around them. Thus, in theory, apparent sharpness may be affected and, again, contrast will be lowered. In most instances the effect is not significant and can be compensated for during printing.

 

[David Mitchell]

Thanks guys, I knew that it degraded a bit over time when exposed but wasn't sure how long it would take, I don't really plan on leaving partly shot rolls laying around but I feel a bit happier knowing that its not too bad.

 

[Dan Cattermole]

As Hamish says, a long time - decades even. As film ages, the fog level (non-exposure related production of Agº) will increase, reducing contrast. This will be greater in exposed film than unexposed as the clusters of silver atoms reduced by the photochemical effect of exposure will catalyse further reduction around them. Thus, in theory, apparent sharpness may be affected and, again, contrast will be lowered. In most instances the effect is not significant and can be compensated for during printing.

What a reply!
Half of that I didn't even know..... That's what makes this place top dog!

 

[David Mitchell]

What a reply!
Half of that I didn't even know..... That's what makes this place top dog!

Its also why im on this forum as this is for real photographers, not people who take a photo of their lunch and instagram it *shudder* lol

 

[Larry Bolch]

• B&W—very forgiving.
• Consumer colour negative and slide—not quite so forgiving, but still designed to be used over a period of time.
• Pro-colour—aged to perfection and refrigerated to arrest any further changes—to be thawed, shot and processed immediately. Only needed when absolutely predictable colour is vital. Pro-film does not necessarily provide better results than consumer film—it is just predictable, thus essential for something like product photography. Unless you have a portable refrigerator and a portable colour lab, pro-film is a bad choice for a six-month tour of the tropics.

 

[Adam Lewis]

You can never leave your film! It'll get all sad and it suffers badly from seperation issues...

- Another worthless post.

 

[David Mitchell]

• B&W—very forgiving.
• Consumer colour negative and slide—not quite so forgiving, but still designed to be used over a period of time.
• Pro-colour—aged to perfection and refrigerated to arrest any further changes—to be thawed, shot and processed immediately. Only needed when absolutely predictable colour is vital. Pro-film does not necessarily provide better results than consumer film—it is just predictable, thus essential for something like product photography. Unless you have a portable refrigerator and a portable colour lab, pro-film is a bad choice for a six-month tour of the tropics.

Thanks Larry, I think this is why I like to shoot black and white lol I won't ever own pro-grade film, I have no justification to use it. Also I guess as I am going to be using the hybrid method of film shooting I can always tweek things in post production if the film hasn't 100% captured the colours perfectly.

 

[Pete Askew]

Good points Larry. I should have made it clear that I was talking about B&W films. The stability of colour couplers etc is far different.

 

[David Mitchell]

Good points Larry. I should have made it clear that I was talking about B&W films. The stability of colour couplers etc is far different.

I guess that leaving colour film will do the same though as it still has the B&W layer on it but bleached out when processing which is why you can develop colour film in Rodinal for a black and white image. I guess any image will start to degrade once its been exposed but not fixed. But it seems that unless you are shooting pro film you should be ok for a bit between shooting trips.

 

[Larry Bolch]

Good points Larry. I should have made it clear that I was talking about B&W films. The stability of colour couplers etc is far different.

I assumed as much, but I thought it worthwhile to toss in a bit more information. Over the years, I have noticed a lot of people do not understand about pro-films, expecting to get better results than with the consumer versions. They head off on an extended holiday, leaving the film in a hot car and end up with much poorer results than if they had been shooting cheaper consumer-level film.