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Author Topic: Oldest un-exposed home movie film?
Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005


 - posted April 17, 2017 11:24 AM      Profile for Osi Osgood   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Check this out ...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1933-UNOPENED-ROLL-of-PANCHROMATIC-REGULAR-8mm-KODAK-MOTION-PICTURE-MOVIE-FILM-/262937598704?hash=item3d384d5af0:g:gewAAOSwpP9Y8V-z

Granted, no doubt not good after all of these years, but wow, un-opened, 1933 ... 84 year old home movie film stock.

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Tom Spielman
Master Film Handler

Posts: 339
From: Minneapolis, MN, USA
Registered: Apr 2016


 - posted April 17, 2017 12:20 PM      Profile for Tom Spielman   Email Tom Spielman   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Perfect, I've been looking for some film for my father's old 8mm camera. ;-)

Seriously I know people who have shot color film that expired in the 60's and still got some decent images. Not perfect mind you but not awful either.

I'd think with B&W the results would be better if still not perfect. What I've heard is that you set the ASA 1 stop slower for every decade that a film has been expired. I don't know what speed that film is but I would bet anything it's still possible to get an image assuming that the film is intact. Who knows what it looks like inside that package.

Whether you'd want to do that or not is a different question.

Now that I think about it, I might just do it if the price doesn't get ridiculous. But before doing so, I'd like to get your collective opinions. Would it be wrong to open a factory sealed package from the 30's to try something like that?

I'm not at all an expert and as of yet have not developed any 8mm film. Just stills. My father's camera hasn't been used in 30 years. I would definitely clean it up first but maybe it would be better left to somebody with a proven camera who's is more likely to get decent results.

Update: I've asked the seller if it has a vinegar smell at all. They said no, but I know that doesn't guarantee anything. So far it's only $9.00 and for that I wouldn't mind gambling on it.

I've since seen a blog by somebody whose made a hobby out of shooting and processing vintage film. It's not unreasonable to hope that one could still coax something out of that 84 year old spool.

[ April 17, 2017, 10:14 PM: Message edited by: Tom Spielman ]

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005


 - posted April 18, 2017 12:27 PM      Profile for Osi Osgood   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
That would be really fascinating if someone could actually expose that and get results, say it was someone doing a historical drama film and just to add that extra level of "accuracy", they filmed flashback sequences with actual film from way back when! [Smile]

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Tom Spielman
Master Film Handler

Posts: 339
From: Minneapolis, MN, USA
Registered: Apr 2016


 - posted April 18, 2017 01:17 PM      Profile for Tom Spielman   Email Tom Spielman   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Yes it would be fascinating. I've been doing a little research and what complicates matters a little bit is that film was made before there were ASA ratings. I've found some things that suggest what it *might* be but nothing definitive.

Besides that, my father's camera is from the late 50's to early 60's and was designed to work with only two types of film, kodachrome regular or Type A. There are no ASA settings. The shutter speed is also fixed so the only adjustment possible is the aperture.

Given the age of the film, I think wide open or nearly wide open on a sunny day is the only way to get images out of that camera and film combination.

That's a long winded way of saying that I'm a little leery of trying it without experimenting on some film that's not quite so aged first. [Wink]

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Brian Fretwell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1785
From: London, UK
Registered: Jun 2014


 - posted April 18, 2017 04:35 PM      Profile for Brian Fretwell   Email Brian Fretwell   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
If home developing you could expose a few feet and develop that to see how good the exposure was and compensate. Though development times for an emulsion that old probably would not be available.

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Tom Spielman
Master Film Handler

Posts: 339
From: Minneapolis, MN, USA
Registered: Apr 2016


 - posted April 19, 2017 01:19 AM      Profile for Tom Spielman   Email Tom Spielman   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
That's a great idea Bryan. I've seen development steps for film almost that old, - from the 1940s. I think it was Kodachrome cross-processed as a B&W negative in one case and B&W reversal in another.

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Bill Brandenstein
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1632
From: California
Registered: Aug 2007


 - posted April 19, 2017 01:40 PM      Profile for Bill Brandenstein   Email Bill Brandenstein   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
To quote Indiana Jones:

IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!

[Cool]

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