Film exposed to extreme heat?

ziyanglai · Jun 5, 2014

It is really starting to warm up here in AZ.. We just had a high of 107 this past weekend I think.. I accidently left 10 sheet of 4x5 RVP 100, 6 sheets of Ilford FP4 125 and 4 rolls of 120 Ilford FP4 125 in my car. For....... At least 3 weeks now. I just realized it was in my back trunk tonight when I was getting something out. They were really really hot.. Burning hot. From all the heat built up during the strong afternoon sun. I don't really care about the B&W, but do you still think the E6 is still usable?

ziyangphoto.com

summicron1 · Jun 5, 2014

worth a shot. Try one and see what happens. I read somewhere that pro photographers used to leave their professional film in the sun to age it if it was too fresh.

I never did understand why people live in Arizona ... my son was there for a while, when i flew down to help him move it was 120 at midnight while we loaded the truck. It rained hot water.

Kawaiithulhu · Jun 5, 2014

But it was OK because it was a dry hot water

Jeff Kubach · Jun 5, 2014

I geuss you can use a cooler of some sort.

Jeff

BetterSense · Jun 5, 2014

I think it will be affected, but to make sure you should PM me and I will give you my address so you can send it to me for testing.

When I lived in TX I kept a beater Canon SLR in my beater SUV glovebox with tri X even though it gets 135F inside every day in Dallas. When I developed the rolls at the end of the summer, they would be viciously fogged but still have usable images.

Poisson Du Jour · Jun 5, 2014

Discard the Velvia after that much time in such high heat.
Velvia 100 sheet film has a very poor stability in high temperatures; casting/colour shift, loss of contrast and speed would all combine to ruin it. Had it been 35mm or unopened 120 rolls you would have a margin of safety (though not much!)
Invest in fresh stock and store it properly, not anywhere in the car.

snapguy · Jun 5, 2014

ARIDzona

I lived in ARIDzona for several years. There was a newspaper columnist in Tucson who pointed out that "112 degrees gets rid of the riff raff."

Xmas · Jun 5, 2014

Yes but the trunk of an auto is not where the met people keep their max thermometer.

We were unhappy with the mil spec temperatures so instrumented a vehicle... you get a greenhouse effect.

gone · Jun 5, 2014

I also lived in Arizona, and no matter what the summer temps were, Tucson riff raff were everywhere! So much for that. As for the film, there's only one way to know.

When we lived in Tucson and later Las Cruces, New Mexico (not as hot in summer by maybe 5 degrees, but way colder in winter) I used to be out on my bike for hours at a time w/ cameras on a strap. The cameras would get so hot they were difficult to hold. Never had any problems w/ Tri-X or C41, but I never left the cameras in the sun for weeks either. I would just start fresh, myself.

Below is a shot of our back porch in December, and it's what ran us out of Las Cruces. The summers are brutal here in Florida too, but winters....ah, what winter?

Film exposed to extreme heat?

ziyanglai

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