8mm Forum: Smoke Free films? Hmmm ...

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Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on May 06, 2013, 11:25 AM:

OK, this may well have been talked about before, but I do notice an occasional seller on ebay stating ...

"These films come from a smoke free environment"

... does it really matter if the films were collected originally by a smoker or not? Can smoke actually affect the films? I would suppose not, but I don't know everything.

However, if it's a title that I've wanted for years, if someone told me a smoker owned it, I sure as heck wouldn't say ...

"Owned by a smoker?! Hell no!"

... I mean, doesn't that sound rediculous?

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on May 06, 2013, 11:35 AM:

If you come and see my mothers roof, she's a heavy smoker ... Imagine that yellow tar things on the films ... I'd say it's big plus if it hasn't been in a smoker's home, but still would buy it.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on May 06, 2013, 11:41 AM:

I could imagine a film that was regularly projected in a smoke filled room being a little dingy from the smoke particles getting on the film, but I would think they'd clean up nicely.

If it was a title I really wanted, I'd give it a shot.

I've had films show up with the cardboard boxes smelling of cigarrettes, but they air out pretty quickly and I saw no evidence the film itself was effected.

Posted by Dan A. Caprio (Member # 2089) on May 06, 2013, 11:56 AM:

Paul Ecenina a Veteren collector from Tampa Florida...I visited quited ofter back in the day he was a Cigar smoker 24/7...you could tell when you entered screening/vault room [Eek!]

Never really affected anything... [Eek!]

Posted by Alan Rik (Member # 73) on May 06, 2013, 12:05 PM:

I never understood why they put that there as well until I received a book and a laptop which came from a smokers' home. They smelled so badly that they stunk up the room they were in!
I put dryer sheets in between the pages of the book and stuck it in a zip lock bag to no avail. I ended up dumping the book in the trash.
The laptop went back to Apple and they said the smoke ashes were so bad they found ashes inside the laptop. I couldn't stand it either and sold that too. If the person was a heavy smoker I would imagine that films would reek of smoke when you took them out.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on May 06, 2013, 07:39 PM:

My first GS1200, which I purchased off ebay, smelled of smoke when I received it. When I opened up the back of the projector the PC boards and innards all had gunk on them. I had to essentially strip the machine and hand clean everything. Just imagine what smoking a pack a day for 20 years can do for your lungs! [Eek!]

I can certainly believe that a smoke environment could make film brittle and damage the color dyes. And you definately do not want to have a digital projector running in a smoke filled environment, which will ruin the complex optical system pretty quickly.
Tobacco is just plain bad news all around.

Posted by Joe Balitzki (Member # 438) on May 07, 2013, 02:53 PM:

There is no doubt in my mind that tobacco smoke can affect film. To what extent naturally depends on the level of exposure. I have allergies and I have always had a hyper sensitive nose. In fact, it has become worse as I grow older. If I see something advertised as coming from a smokeless environment its a plus to me. And I certainly wouldn't want to expend any energy and time cleaning a film that had heavy smoke odor.

Posted by Rob Caspers (Member # 3646) on May 10, 2013, 02:59 PM:

I used to smoke a lot myself before I quit 22 years ago. Nowadays I even hate the smell of it, like most ex-smokers do. And when it comes to second-hand equipment that belonged to a heavy smoker, yes indeed, the smell can really ruin your fun! BUT! 1)A film can normally not be expected to have been exposed to a smokey atmosphere for a longer time than 25 seconds, which is the time it needs to get run from one reel to another while it is being projected. 2)Where does one keep the reel before and after projecting? Right, in a closed box. 3) Even if the reel is kept out of the box, the smoke particles can not reach the image part of the film. On one side of the reel there is the sound track, on the other side is the perforation. 4)Every filmcleaner will take away dirt and grease - and tar and nicotine as well. Anyone out there who wants to dump smoker's films? Send them to me. I'm not afraid of them!

Greetings and have a nice day, Rob Caspers

Posted by Timothy Ramzyk (Member # 718) on May 10, 2013, 03:07 PM:

I'd think it would be rather hard for a boxed or canned film to soak up too much tar. Reels are only exposed to the air a fr a brief time during projection, so I'd say. Meh? I was smoker for a decade, nothing I owned during those years still has any smell of smoke.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on May 11, 2013, 12:56 PM:

Very good points made. I can see the need for that disclaimor on films. Hey, maybe I ought to put that on my future auctions ... as I have never been a smoker myself.

(note: this series of posts is not a dumping on smokers, just to clear up any potential rancor that could develop due to this series of posts).

Posted by David Ollerearnshaw (Member # 3296) on May 11, 2013, 04:03 PM:

My dad smoked up to about a year ago, and since he stopped the house smells a lot better, in my case the films were not kept in the same place as he smoked (spare room).

What is proberly worse is "Found in the loft" extremes of temperature is not good for storing film.

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