How long can you keep 35MM film and still develop good pictures?

Answer 1

Yes. It can sit on a shelf for about a year before it'll expire. However, you can stick the film in a freezer to extend its lifespan.

All 35mm. film should have an expiry date on the box. For color film it is a pretty good guide as color will shift on expired film. Black and white will last longer than it's expiry date by a year or so.Refrigeration will make a difference but not much.Store you new film in the refrigerator.We always did in the studio.

Some photographers use expired film to achieve certain effects. When film is aged, it can result in unpredictable color, saturation, and contrast shifts, Often giving photos a vintage look. I've shot with film that was five years expired. The shots came out desaturated(color not as vivid) but others wise developed well.

Bottom line, don't use expired film for weddings, or other important photographs, unless your willing to take the risk.

Addendum by InunoTaisho:

I spent 18 years as a photo technician and saw just about everything happen to film that you could think of during that time. Here's how it works, as I understand it:

Once you expose film to light, a chemical reaction is started. That reaction will not fully stop until you process it in the proper chemical baths. This means that unexposed film has a longer shelf/refridgeration life than film that has been used in a camera and exposed.

If you expose film but don't process it right away, it will very gradually degrade in quality until the entire frame of each image is nothing but grey in color with no discernable image at all. How long that takes varies by how the film is stored, and in some rare cases, very old film (five+ years) will still process okay with reasonable images. Typically, those will at least be very grainy and unsatisfying.

Nearly all labs store their unexposed film in very cool dry location like a special refridgerator made for the purpose. This can and does extend the useful life of the film. However, if you choose to keep film in your home refridgerator for any reason, use a sealable (zip) plastic bag and keep them in the dark if you can. Just don't forget they are there!!

The very worst thing you could do would be to expose your film and toss it in a drawer or in the bottom of a purse. It's most likely to be forgotten there and you don't want to trust precious baby pictures, vacation pictures, or wedding pictures to such locations. Process those event pix right away, and use a good lab to do the work.

Answer 2

That's a gamble. Refrigeration of film is meant to stabilize the characteristics (usually color response) of professional film, but it should still be used up by or near to the expiry date. Freezing film, like any food, can produce 'freezer burn' which is characterized by loss of moisture due to the very low humidity level. It's not a practice I would encourage unless you don't care if all your vacation pictures don't turn out and are willing to take the risk. Note that you would have to permit refrigerated (thus, especially frozen) film to acclimatize within the packaging before opening. Failure to do so will likely induce spotting due to condensation. Still want to try?

Answer 3

It depends how it was washed after dev and how you store it.

If it was washed of all the fix and stored in a cool dry dark place, maybe 5-10 years or more..