8mm Forum: Kodak Estar ... low fade?

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Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on April 06, 2017, 10:57 AM:

Hello all of you happy campers.

Is "Kodak Estar' a low fade film stock, or is that just the name of a stock without being low fade necessarily? I'm asking as there is a print I am wanting to bid on, but I just want to be sure as to wether it's a low fade print, becauswe what I usually know of low fade is that it actually says "Agfa" or "Eastman L.P.P." or something along those lines, but "Kodak Estar" confuses me.

I appreciate you're feedback, folks!

Posted by Fabrizio Mosca (Member # 142) on April 06, 2017, 11:07 AM:

Hi Osi,
Estar is the name for Polyester in Kodak terms, but it is not linked to a particular stock.
Also in current Kodak Price List, print and intermediate films have the indication of "ESTAR Base" when it is on polyester

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on April 06, 2017, 11:15 AM:

Hmm, so that doesn'r necessarily mean that it's low fade. Thank you for you're feedback, anybody else?

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 892) on April 06, 2017, 10:18 PM:

That's very much correct, Osi. I have multiple examples of film on Estar or equivalent polyester stock with color fading, both in 16mm and Super 8. Estar is simply the base, and a replacement for acetate. It's great since it can't go to vinegar and is very strong, but it scratches more easily and can't be glued.

So LPP Estar is the gold standard for longevity. There's also LPP on acetate, for example some late TV prints I have because it made station editing easier. But someday those, like me, will decompose.

Anyway, the base and the emulsion are fairly independent, as you can see.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on April 07, 2017, 11:16 AM:

Thanks for the feedback from you fellows, i do appreciate it. I think I'll ask the seller exactly what type or "color preservation" is used on that Estar stock.

OSI

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 892) on April 07, 2017, 02:08 PM:

There you go. And we're always game for a good story! [Smile]

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on April 08, 2017, 09:21 PM:

Anyone collecting Derann releases in the 1980s could easily imagine that polyestar prints were all low fade, simply because the low fade LPP era had begun shortly before polyestar became the norm for all their releases. I can still remember an open day around 1983 at which Derek explained the differences. But even with Derann releases I think I've come across one or two faded polyestar prints, probably because the lab was using up some older stock.

At least in my experience, it took longer for polyestar to become the norm in relation to 16mm prints, which is annoying because I had a perfect LPP 16mm print of 'The Mummy's Shroud' that was ruined by VS!

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