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A depressing experience I had last week with vinegar syndrome and A-D strips. First my film collecting history. Like many of us, I bought 8mm 50’ Castle shorts as a kid. I still have most of them. Advanced to S8 sound then to 16mm. Purchased from local camera shops, the Big Reel, and then eBay. Say 1968 to today. Basically from all different sources from all over the country, Brand new and old. Have maybe 200-300 reels stored mostly in plastic cans or cardboard art boxes. Living in Northern California in what I would say fairly ideal storage conditions. Not too hot or damp. Films are stored in many different areas.
Now to VS and the strips. I purchased 250 A-D from RIT Image Permanence Institute to test a few prints that had a vinegar smell. Within minutes of placing the strips, they turned from blue to yellow. The worst end of a test. The prints are gone. I had already separated the films a long time ago and was getting ready to destroy them anyway, so I wasn’t surprised. Then I decided to test a U8 16mm print of the Mummy’s Ghost 800’ I purchased directly from U8 back in 1979. After a day I opened the can to my dismay it had turned green. A middle state of VS according to the VS card provided by RIT. I then decided to try a Castle Films print 16mm I had purchased new. Same green. At this point, I was in a state of increasing dismay. So I decided to spend a few days and place 150 strips in 150 films. Again from all different years and stored in many different places. After a week I started opening the plastic cans and Blackhawk/Castle cardboard boxes and was “shocked” to find every single film strip was green. Even the Castle 50ers I purchased as a kid in the 60s. Nothing came up blue with no change. None of the films had any smell whatsoever. None! After a sleepless night or two, I’m left with 2 conclusions. My entire collection is dying or the A-D strips are not quite what they say to be. Sure the known vinegar prints respond quickly. But are all my prints dying? Or do almost all everywhere show green after 10 years or so? Would love to hear from others about their experiences with these test strips and testing. Is our collecting hobby doomed and if so how long do we have? Thanks and hope to hear something positive. :-(
Now to VS and the strips. I purchased 250 A-D from RIT Image Permanence Institute to test a few prints that had a vinegar smell. Within minutes of placing the strips, they turned from blue to yellow. The worst end of a test. The prints are gone. I had already separated the films a long time ago and was getting ready to destroy them anyway, so I wasn’t surprised. Then I decided to test a U8 16mm print of the Mummy’s Ghost 800’ I purchased directly from U8 back in 1979. After a day I opened the can to my dismay it had turned green. A middle state of VS according to the VS card provided by RIT. I then decided to try a Castle Films print 16mm I had purchased new. Same green. At this point, I was in a state of increasing dismay. So I decided to spend a few days and place 150 strips in 150 films. Again from all different years and stored in many different places. After a week I started opening the plastic cans and Blackhawk/Castle cardboard boxes and was “shocked” to find every single film strip was green. Even the Castle 50ers I purchased as a kid in the 60s. Nothing came up blue with no change. None of the films had any smell whatsoever. None! After a sleepless night or two, I’m left with 2 conclusions. My entire collection is dying or the A-D strips are not quite what they say to be. Sure the known vinegar prints respond quickly. But are all my prints dying? Or do almost all everywhere show green after 10 years or so? Would love to hear from others about their experiences with these test strips and testing. Is our collecting hobby doomed and if so how long do we have? Thanks and hope to hear something positive. :-(
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