The final word on the longevity of film?

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media...ann_06-10.html

According to this interesting article from a real case report about a most
valuable photographic archive (Bettmann's 11 million images of the 20th
century, owned by Bill Gates' Corbis), it seems that if stored in room
temperature (Broadway, NYC) film disintegrates in not too long (a few decades,
some older ones already did, though modern film is implied to be better) but if
frozen below zero it lasts "thousands of years; not hundreds, thousands".

"Wow".

Once i get my 4870 I'll start scanning films at its maximum and just use the
scans, then get a good quality tightly-sealed tupperware-like container and
small resealable freezer bags, individually put each set of film negatives in a
small freezer bag, stick an identifying label on it from the digital database
on my computer, and stack em all in the container.

This will hopefully protect it from moisture and freezeburns in case that'd be
a problem. Something generic like this would probably do perfectly

http://www.ziploc.com/freezer.asp
http://www.ziploc.com/container.asp

Given that almost everyone has access to a freezer already to store their food
and that the cost of ziploc is negligible, i find this is quite phenomenal.

posted:
"...
Dunno if freezer bags are in this category,
...."

They are NOT.

IMHO: Stick with the vendors that actually work toward, and claim, archival properties for
their products. Companies like ... but not limited to ...

Print File, Inc., Orlando, Florida

Light Impressions, Brea, California

Keep in mind that some plastics outgas, destroying whatever they can
around them. Archival photo materials are selected to minimize
outgassing. Dunno if freezer bags are in this category, though it may not
matter when frozen (just when at room temperature?).



Yeah, wouldn't the fumes just freeze, and therefore there'd be no fumes? That's
probably the whole idea out of freezing film, 'cos the film plastic itself
fumes noxious gases that destroy the film itself.

I'm not sure though.

Anyway, there's a good page

http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byaut...r/negrmcc.html

They are NOT.


Can you post a reference please to support the strong assertion that they are
not?

This Standford article states...

"For cold storage, boxes containing negatives (packed in conformance with
recommendations described above) should be put into heavy "zip-lock"
polypropylene bags."

http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byaut...r/negrmcc.html

IMHO: Stick with the vendors that actually work toward, and claim, archival
properties for
their products. Companies like ... but not limited to ...

Print File, Inc., Orlando, Florida

Light Impressions, Brea, California

In article ,
says...


This will hopefully protect it from moisture and freezeburns in case that'd be
a problem. Something generic like this would probably do perfectly
If you really want to freeze your images, Kodak used to sell (maybe
still does) special bags for freezing film. I think they have an
aluminum layer in the sandwich.
They also had a publication on how to prepare the images. This includes
removing extra humidity. Check their web site or call their info number.

Also try the online store Light Impressions for storage solutions. Long
term storage should be below
zero F. I don't think most home freezers go that cold.

--
Robert D Feinman
Landscapes, Cityscapes and Panoramic Photographs
http://robertdfeinman.com
mail: