Newbie

[Kent Sanders]

I'm new to the forum. I have question about shelve life of home movies. I bought a lot 8mm on ebay half were decent the rest had splices brittle.Using b&h 456a. any thoghts restore repair.Thanks

[Brian Fretwell]

If they are cement spices the only thing I would do is replace them but re-spicing with tape splices.

[Shane C. Collins]

To answer your question about shelf life of film. That really depends on how the film was stored, etc. Film is pretty tough but can age quickly if stored in a hot location like an attic for example. Film also needs to breath so a cardboard box is a great way to store film. There are also plastic canisters with air holes that you can buy that help film long term. I shoot regular 8 and super 8 as my method for home movies. I've done this for the last 15 years when I discovered how fun it was to shoot film and then project. I've stored my movies in a drawer in the living room for years. All my movies still look, smell, and project like new. Most of my films are Kodak Ektachrome. Modern Ektachrome uses E-6 processing which is said to be fare superior to the Ektachrome films of the past, say those shot 30 years ago. I have no doubt my films will retain their colors for 50 more years. Kodachrome films shot during the 50's, 60's, and 70's have aged quite well over the years. I have someone's home movie shot on regular 8mm from 1958. It looks like it could have been shot yesterday, and is not brittle. So as mentioned it really boils down to how one's films are stored.

[Kent Sanders]

Thank You. Thought it was storage and had many spices the were from 50s-60s fun to watch

[Paul Adsett]

Shane is spot on in his reply. A few years ago I had the opportunity of going through a collection of films from a deceased collector here in Florida. What I found was an eye opener. All the films that were stored in metal cans smelled of vinegar syndrome and were just about useless, whereas all the films in cardboard boxes were fine. Right then I threw out my metal cans and moved all my films to cardboard boxes or vented plastic boxes.
Without exception, all the Kodachrome films that I shot, back as far as 1958, show ZERO fade. ALL the films I shot on AGFA/GEVACOLOR have completely faded to red.