Keeping film cool in a hot car?

wilonstott

wilonstott

Wil O.
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Apr 24, 2008
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I'm going on a road trip.
I'm will be keeping it in a cooler.
However, there will be extended periods where I cannot put ice in/replenish coolant.

Need to come up with something.

Any solutions that you guys have come up with?

Will be mostly c41 color.

Thanks in advance.
 
There are 12v coolers on the market. Plug into the car.
Barring one of those, an Igloo and some blue ice. Refreeze when you can. That combination will keep things below ambient temperature for quite awhile. Don't put the Igloo in the trunk if possible.
Be advised: Film isn't nearly as fragile as the marketing folks would like you to think. Even a padded camera bag has enough insulation to keep the film happy. I'm not suggesting that you can leave film on the dash in Death Valley in July. A bit of caution goes a long way. My 1992 batch of Ektar 25 is proof of that.
 
Check the glove box of your car. My old Honda accord (91) had an ice cold glove box if the AC was on. I think it stole the air from the passenger vents. On roadtrips you could usually find a variety of film, cheese and drinks in there. Our Subaru sadly doesn't have that feature.

But really, i think you'd have to go on a pretty long road trip with your film sitting on the back dash all day for there to be an issue. My Fiancé shoots color slide in Uganda, and usually stores her film in her backpack (for as long as 2 months - next year will be our 7 month test), in a hut, or on her body. No problem.
 
A small cooler with frozen blue ice will keep film chilly for 3 or 4 hours in a hot car. Try to keep cooler away from direct sunlight. How much longer should you need it cool? When driving keep A/C on. At night usually not a problem. Voila!
 
I've been sticking my film in a Lowe Pro lens pouch. The pouch is lined with neoprene, which insulates pretty well and keeps the heat out. But I wouldn't suggest that for more than a day.
 
All good ideas.
Keep them coming.

And Sparrow, yes I will have the airconditioning on when I am in the car.
Unfortunately, I will not be remaining in the automobile for the duration of the trip.
 
If it's a day or two, a cheap cooler and blue ice will do the trick. For an extended trip, you will need something like this. I have a small one, and it's perfect.
 
Water is very stable when it comes to temperature. If you freeze two bottles of water and put them in a cooler they will remain cool long after thawing out. Just keep your film in a zip bag next to those bottles. I do this all the time. Even leaving the cooler in the trunk it's no problem in 100degree Montana highway driving.
 
Traveling in the Australian Outback years ago - I used to fill 4 big softdrink bottles with water - deep freeze them solid and stick them in the "Esky" (Coleman type cooler) with the film and food. Occasionally they would all thaw out - but short term exposure to heat was not a problem - it is the long "bake" that does it. Dont put the cooler in the trunk! The sun baking on the trunk lid turns the trunk space into a oven!!!!
The advantage of the 2 liter softdrink bottles is that you can drink the cool/cold water too (dont try that with "blue ice" packs). Most motels/camp grounds are willing to stick your bottles in the freezer overnight too.
In 6-7 month of travel, with temperatures exceeding +50 C for days on end, I had no problem with color shift in the C41/K-Chrome 25. Black and white can tolerate heat well and rarely show any problem. Under extreme circumstances it can soften the gelatin layer and get sticky. Had some PanF literally sticking to the filmrails in a M4P. I was a bit paranoid about pinholing the shutter and kept placing the camera "face down" - and didn't realize that the sun was baking on the backdoor!!! Messy clean up - aceton and Q-tips!!!
 
I don't know if it is relevant but I shot half a roll of colour in 2002, I left it in the camera. I moved house in 2003. Last year I found the camera in a wooden box which was next to my central heating radiator so I shot the rest of the film and had it D&P, to my surprise every shot came out ok. So it looks as if film is less fragile than you would imagine.
 
Ziploc bags are great to keep the film dry if the ice melts. (But, film comes with its own plastic case, anyway.) I have never had a problem with film when out all day in 90+ Fahrenheit weather. I found that a cooler in the trunk with some ice or other coolant will work just fine. A/C in the car is just fine. Think about what combat photographers did before digital.
 
Consensus: Film ain't fragile.
Picture D.D.D. in Korea and Vietnam.
Do keep the film dry. Double ziplock bags.
When removing the film from cold storage (cooler) or a frigid air conditioned motel, leave the film in the ziplock bag until it reaches ambient temperature. Thus preventing condensation inside the roll. That will harm the film. Same applies to optics. I learned the hard way in house on the beach in Destin.
 
You could combine some of these ideas. Use Blue Ice or frozen bottles of water and put them in an electric cooler. The electric cooler runs while you are in the car and keeps the film and the ice chilled. That way the cooler does a lot of the work while the car's engine is running, and the ice does the job when cooler would drain the car's battery. This would also prolong the periods between having to stick the Blue Ice or bottled water in a freezer for refreezing.
 
Howdie neighbor! My home is just east of Quitman. One of these days I need to get to Alba with my big camera. My film manages just fine in camera bags. In Texas. All summer.
 
The floor behind the front seats is the coolest place. Leave the windows slighty opened if you can and cover the stack of films with reflective material (winshield protector does the job).
 
Grinning. Close enough. That's east of Quitman.
The zip code says Hawkins. We live at Holly Lake Ranch, on the corner of FM 49 & 2869.
 
goodtimes said:
The floor behind the front seats is the coolest place.
Click to expand...

Usually true, but there are a few cars with awkwardly situated exhaust pipes.

Silver or white cases warm up a lot slower than dark coloured ones, but sooner or later, conduction takes over from radiation and they also cool down slower. Open them and let them cool overnight.

A wet towel over a picnic 'cooler' (or any other case) can help (latent heat of evaporation).

Park the car in the shade. We carry a compass to make this easier after nightfall, so that the car will be shaded at sunrise.

Insulation helps. When we go motorcycle touring, film goes in the middle of the pannier inner cases, insulated by clothes.

Cheers,

R.
 
I was going to suggest to put a blanket over the cooler to keep any direct sunlight from hitting it... the windshield light guard is a great idea... and leaving a rear window open 1/2 inch will allow any "Humility" build up to escape the interior.
 
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