Re: Freight Victoria Black

[Greg Triplett <triplett@hotkey.net.au>]

Hi Frank,


> >>One thing in Kodachrome's favour despite its relatively less
> 'exciting' colour, is that it is excellent in terms of its archival
> quality. I read somewhere that it has a *minimum* life of 50 years.<<

I've heard that too. Many Kodachromes from the sixties look like they were
shot Yesterday.

>>This is because, unlike all other films, the colour dyes are notactually
in the film as purchased - Kodachrome is initially basically several layers
of colour-sensitive B/W film. The colour dyes are added to the appropriate
layers at the colour processing stage. Kodachrome processing is quite
different and considerably more complex than other processing, which is why
only Kodak do it in Australia.<<

Problem I hear is that the processing has serious environmental waste
disposal issues with it and there's been rumors of discontinuing this film
although Kodak says no. Eventually I expect we'll all have to be using E6
films or digital.

> >>Certainly all of my Kodachromes of the early 70s have retained their
> colour admirably, whereas other brands of film (Agfa in particular)
> have deteriorated considerably.<<

My Agfa stuff from 1963-67 is absolutely RS. Just faded out. However some
Ektachrome shot in 1967 looks perfect. Storage is important and fortunately
my stuff has always been stored in cold dark conditions.

> >>I also wonder about the longevity of colour prints - sometimes you
> will get them back reeking of chemicals and you have to wonder whether
> they have been washed properly. Have you ever been to a 21st and seen
> the usual collection of baby photos, and noted how often many of them
> are badly faded?<<

I would expect slides would fade like that too if left out in the light.

Regards

GT