I am considering buying a large quanity of TMax 100 sheet film as a hedge against Kodak discontinuing the film. What is the best way to store it and how long do you think the film would last?

-- Jerry Cunningham (jkc@digisys.net), November 02, 2000

Answers

You could freeze it and it should last for years, but I don't see any signs of Kodak stopping production of T-Max 100. It's precisely the emulsion that's replacing everything slower. They even make T-Max in glass plates.

-- David Goldfarb (dgoldfarb@barnard.edu), November 02, 2000.

Dave, the last time I was at Calmet in L.A. they told us that Tri-x (4x5)was selling about twice as much as T-Max (4x5, being a Tri-x fan that was good news. I agree that cold storage 40-F or less will keep the film for years. But why not store the top film (Tri-X). I just couldn't resist putting that in. Pat

-- pat krentz (patwandakrentz@aol.com), November 02, 2000.

Freeze it. With such a slow film that'll extend the useful life pretty much indefinitely.

I really doubt it'll be discontinued anytime soon except perhaps in some specific very slow-selling formats; Kodak has nothing to replace it and since they're doing no r&d in silver-based b&w materials they probably won't have a replacement for a _long_ time.

-- John Hicks (jbh@magicnet.net), November 02, 2000.