Storing Processed Films

[khall64au]

Before I moved to Phuket, I lived in Australia's tropics. I found that many of my processed films were ruined by fungus. The climate is similar here in LOS. What is the best way to store negatives?

Edited March 6, 2006 by khall64au

[rcm]

Before I moved to Phuket, I lived in Australia's tropics. I found that many of my processed films were ruined by fungus. The climate is simular here in LOS. What is the best way to store negatives?

I would assume a cool,dark and dry Place will do...but then i'm not a Photographer. You won't have this issue if you use Digital Camera

rcm

[Nordlys]

I keep all my negatives/positives in dry cabinet. Same storage designed to protect lenses/cameras from fungus.

[Khun Jean]

Before I moved to Phuket, I lived in Australia's tropics. I found that many of my processed films were ruined by fungus. The climate is simular here in LOS. What is the best way to store negatives?

I would assume a cool,dark and dry Place will do...but then i'm not a Photographer. You won't have this issue if you use Digital Camera

rcm

I had the same problem with photo paper. I used to buy it in bulk. Once opened the quality got worse. I bought a small vacuum sealer from lotus. The one you can use to put food in a plastic bag, vacuum it and then seal it, all in one.

It might work with films too. At least the absence of air will stop the fungus to grow.

[Kan Win]

Interesting post “khall64au”

The same could be implied to “Slides” as well, yes/no ?

I have never had that problem with my negatives, maybe, because I never lived by the sea ?

I Kan not answer this one, but hopefully someone Kan.

Help us all, so that one day we Kan and will help you Dear Members.

Yours truly,

Kan Win

[astral]

The problem affects slides and negatives.

One reason I am busy scanning all my negs to disk.

[daleyboy]

You could always try putting your negatives in a cardboard shoebox along withthose little bags of silica gel you nornally get with your shoes. I had a mold problem in the flat i used to live in, so i managed to get some large bags of this and they sucked all the moisture out of the air and did a great job of sorting the problem out.

Check this site out

http://www.geejaychemicals.co.uk/silicagelsachets.htm

[Tywais]

You could always try putting your negatives in a cardboard shoebox along withthose little bags of silica gel you nornally get with your shoes.

Could only think of the word desiccant but I guess yours is the same thing. Dry is the key word here. All my slides are in boxes with bags of 'desiccant' also.

Edited March 7, 2006 by tywais

[xty]

If you always/often turn on your apartment/house AC and keep the windows closed, normally the environment should be rather dry, even if you live in tropical country either by the sea or mountain.

Can't afford professional dry box. So I just create my own cheapo dry box using:

- food container with lid & clip I found at hypermarket (40x20x20 cm)

- double tape with foam for sealing the box

- room/closet dehumidifier to make the air in the container dry

- small thermometer & hygrometer to monitor the temperature and humidity

With this I can maintain room temperature & very dry environment (about 20-40%) which is good for cameras/gadgets/optics/battery/tapes without spending thousands of Baht. I think I spend around 300-400 Baht only

[hughden]

You can buy a dry box for a couple of thousand baht. This is a sealed plastic box with a small device which contains silica. Once the silica has absorbed moisture, you plug it into the mains for a couple of hours to dry it out. There is a meter on the side of the box which tells you how moist the air inside has become.

I use it for storing my lenses and camera; guess it would do the same job for film.

Fotofil in Bangkok have a large selection.

[Nordlys]

I have the same dry box hughden has which I also bought at fotofile in MBK. One for cameras/lenses and another for negatives/postives/prints. Cost me around B2,500 for 380 X 275 X 265mm box. Unless you open the box frequently, you can keep it dry at hygrometer reading humidity of 20 - 50% for up to two months, with one extended drying of dehumidifying device. Silica gel and other moisture-absoring substance won't do much good unless kept in a sealed box. You'd also need a hygrometer, so you'll know when to replace it. I also use reusable silica gel that you can dry and dehumidify in microwave oven which I use to preserve tea and dry food stuffs.

[Kan Win]

The problem affects slides and negatives.

One reason I am busy scanning all my negs to disk.

astral

What software do you use ?

Yours truly,

Kan Win

[astral]

It is not so much the software, it is the scanner.

I have a dedicated negative/slide scanner from Canon. FS2700, quite old now

using scsi for connection.

The Canon drivers allow scanning of negatives and the filtering out of the film base colour.

The resolution is 2700dpi and gives superb rendering, even of

negs the labs have said were unprintable. Expensive, but worth every penny.

After scanning it is over to Photoshop.

Here is a link so you can see some of the more up to date offerings.

[ourmanflint]

keep all your film stock in the fridge, used or unused. Negatives would probably do best kept cool as well try ziplok bags and a sachet of dessicator ( dry rice will do!)