8mm Forum: Mylar Base Film

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Topic: Mylar Base Film

Dan Lail
Film God

Posts: 2110
From: Loganville, Georgia, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted April 23, 2004 08:39 PM

Are most or all 16mm tv prints from 1980 forward on Mylar? How about Super eight also? [Confused]

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Mark Todd
Film God

Posts: 3846
From: UK
Registered: Aug 2003

posted April 24, 2004 04:28 PM

Hi I think generally most Tv 16mm stuff is usually acetate so that if things jam up the film is damaged not the machine in the TV studio or broadcast spot.
Certainly most colour super 8 stuff is mylar from derann they went to SP mylar first about 80 or just before and then on to LPP mylar.
The TV 16mm stuff in Australia is often on mylar funnily enough though I gather generally it tends not to be elsewhere.
Much TV stuff has been left for years away in cans so you need to give it a good sniff.
B+W was acetate into the 80`s then silver prices went banana`s so much B+W from about 83/84 on is often on colour stock.
In the 90`s Agfa did some quite nice B+W Mylar that tends to be slightly lighter in appearance but generally very nice.
I prefer mylar but of course a good acetate print is usually better as a bit sharper.
Both Kodak and agfa now do very nice and tight grain B+W mylar film stock.
best Mark.

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Dan Lail
Film God

Posts: 2110
From: Loganville, Georgia, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted April 25, 2004 01:23 PM

Thanks Mark, I can always depend on you guys for much needed info. [Smile]

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Steven Sigel
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 701
From: Massachusetts
Registered: Jun 2003

posted April 25, 2004 02:35 PM

Hi Mark --

A few points:
Mylar was originally used for mostly airline prints, and later was used more generally. TV prints happen to be mostly acetate because they were printed earlier on. Heavy use of mylar didn't start until the '80s and by then most TV was no longer on film. I don't think the projection equipment had anything to do with it...

By the early 90s, almost everything was printed on mylar. Acetate stock became quite rare.

I don't think acetate prints look any better than mylar.

Austrailia TV stuff is no more likely to be on mylar than any other TV stuff as far as I can tell -- I've had a LOT of Australian TV prints, and they've pretty much all been acetate based.

B&W stock still is used to this day -- B&W on color stock is sometimes done to save money, but there are plenty of '80s and '90s B&W prints on B&W stock...

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Mark Todd
Film God

Posts: 3846
From: UK
Registered: Aug 2003

posted April 25, 2004 06:04 PM

Hi Steve there seem to be a lot of older films on LPP acetate stock from around 85 and 86 also a good few TV shows like Kung Fu, had a few of those on 86 LPP acetate.
The machine thing was quote from a dealer and I had heard it before just depends where you hear it I suppose.
Funnily enough all of the 16mm LPP ex Tv stuff from OZ i`ve had was on LPP mylar, some nice stuff, I think on balance more than the states.
You don`t seem to see the airline prints come up on ebay 16mm as much as you used to or maybe its just people not mentioning them as such.
Once had a copy of Greystoke with loads of cuts on LPP mylar. of course no mention from the seller.Nice nick though.
I think on the acetate poly print thing its also a bit who did it as the disneys on super 8 from the early days the acetates definately beat the polys on sharpness but are of course now fading. But i suppose its all down to how much effort goes in to the printing after all.
I think the kodak B+W poly is nicer than the agfa myself.
Best Mark.

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John Whittle
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 791
From: Northridge, CA USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted April 26, 2004 01:01 PM

Not that it matters much since everyone knows what is being talked about here, but film is not on "mylar". That is a tradename for a product made by DuPont. The material DuPont made for a film support was Cronar, the Eastman material is Estar and the Agfa material is just polyester which is the generic name for the material.

All current Agfa materials (one color positive and two sound track films) are only on polyester, DuPont makes no motion picture products and Eastman has a limited number of emulsions coated on non-Estar base.

John

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Steven Sigel
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 701
From: Massachusetts
Registered: Jun 2003

posted April 26, 2004 03:11 PM

John,

I use Mylar for Polyester just like I use
Kleenex for Facial Tissue and Xerox for Photocopier. It may be a brand name, but it's pretty much come into common use.

E.g. When you go to a party store and buy polyester based balloons, they're generally called mylar...

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John Whittle
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 791
From: Northridge, CA USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted April 26, 2004 11:03 PM

Steve,

The generic name for the film base is PET. But you're free to call it what you want.

John

(Sorry I don't buy film in party stores)

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Dan Lail
Film God

Posts: 2110
From: Loganville, Georgia, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted April 27, 2004 01:28 AM

Remember Sears Mylar slacks? [Eek!]

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Kevin Faulkner
Film God

Posts: 4071
From: Essex UK
Registered: Jun 2003

posted April 27, 2004 12:13 PM

Dont forget Fuji, thats all on POLYESTER (PET)
Actually I have to back Mark up on his sharpness thing.
When I worked for Ilford Films in R&D many tests were carried out between Poly and Actetate film substrates and he is correct about the sharpness issues. Acetate coated with the same layer makeup was sharper than those coated on Poly. This was allways put down to the transmissive qualities of the 2 substrates.
Of couse these days Film technology has come such along way that any differances are probably out of the window.

Kev.

--------------------
GS1200 Xenon with Elmo 1.0...great combo along with a 16-CL Xenon for that super bright white light.

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