Taking care of acetate super 8 ...

[Osi Osgood]

We can really thank Kodak for coming out with Kodak Vision and they're other recent brand new film stocks, but before that, we were stuck, ever since Derann's film lab closed, with prints coming from Germany, and largely on what I like to call, "that dreaded yellowed acetate". I have no idea as to how old that acetate already was, but I had a print of Return of the Sith, on that yellowed acetate, and the film stock was already brittle to begin with. A brand new print, and while rewinding, it snapped! Now, if yellowed acetate is already a fairly brittle film stock today, imagine what that film stock will be like in twenty, maybe even ten years?! OK colors for the moment, which will worsen as it becomes more yellowed, but brittle. So, the question is, how do we make these yellowed acetate prints, last as long as possible? I would highly suggest a good film lubricant, to be sure, but does anybody have any other suggestions?

[Rob Young]

I've some prints from CHC that are now about 20 years old an on that acetate from Andec (bought 2004 ish). Apart from an initial treatment with Filmguard they don't seem any worse for wear yet. Certainly no more brittle than they were to start with. So that's some good news.

Slightly off topic, but wasn't it WDHM that refused to print the 200ft extracts on polyester because they would rather have the film snap than cause damage to someone's projector, which polyester could do if threaded badly. Funny the different attitudes to things.

[Shane C. Collins]

The current Kodak Ektachrome (7294) is quite strong. The older version of this stock (7285) is also quite strong. I have home movies shot on Ektachrome dating back to 2005 that all look, and play like new. I would imagine the formulas with acetate are different from stock to stock? I have yet to come across any yellowing or brittle acetate Kodak films for home movie use. I even have someone's home movie from 1958 shot on Kodachrome that looks, and plays like new. I wonder what they used for this formula coming out of Germany?

[Osi Osgood]

Another thought occurs to me ... Do any of us know what KIND of film stock this yellowed acetate, is? Is the image printed on it, a low fade film stock? Perhaps we should monitor these yellowed acetate film prints. From others I have talked to about this film stock, is that the film lab bought up a whole lot of this film stock and kept it in cold storage for the longest time. What kind is it? For instance, Kodak SP kept on being used for the Optical sound features all the way to the end of those prints, long after LPP had been introduced six years earlier. It's an important question as, for every feature printed on this, at around 1,000.00 dollars a feature, what are it's fade properties? I can say, however, that I am VERY glad that the film lab is using the newest Kodak film stock available for today's prints.