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Can we talk about how fast old film degrades? | Analog Adventures - Babble Community

Can we talk about how fast old film degrades?

I was digging through my grandpa's attic last month and found a box of undeveloped film rolls from the 70s. I got curious and looked up how long unprocessed film actually lasts. Turns out color film starts losing its chemical stability after about 10 years even in cool storage. Those vacation photos he never developed are just blank strips of plastic now. Has anyone else had luck saving old film or is it pretty much a lost cause once it hits a certain age?

2 comments

2 Comments

christopher9433mo ago

Yeah man, that's a bummer about the undeveloped rolls. I had a buddy who found a whole box of his mom's old film from the 80s, like a hundred rolls, all Kodak Gold and stuff. He was so excited thinking he'd uncover some family history. Sent them off to a specialty lab that does expired film, spent like 200 bucks. Every single roll came back completely blank, just faint orange shadows where faces should have been. The lab guy told him color film basically has a chemical clock ticking, and once it stops, there's nothing you can do. Black and white can sometimes survive longer if it was stored right, but color is just toast. So yeah, I think once it's past 20 years unprocessed, you're pretty much out of luck.

the_shane3mo ago

Yeah that "chemical clock" thing really nails it. I've heard the same thing from lab guys, they say once the latent image fades there's just nothing left to work with. It's rough though, especially when you think about the stories that were on those rolls. Your buddy must have felt sick dropping that much money and getting nothing back. Honestly that's why I tell people to just process old film as soon as you find it, even if the results are bad. At least you know for sure instead of wondering.