More reel to be binned.... sad but true!!

[Brian Fretwell]

I would think that one could have a acetate based film collection if you had dedicated cold storage/freezer to store them. If that is not practical then restricting your collection to polyester based film should work. Then again, color fade would probably still be an issue. I know many collectors only want black and white films, to avoid issues with color film. Does anyone know if heat/humidity is a factor in color fade?

I fear that in hingh humidity the emulsion may stick to the next turn of film and eventually peel off though, even with polyester.

[Ed Gordon]

I'm one of them! I learned the hard way.

Same here. My Super 8 color isn't what it use to be. My B&W films are just fine.

PS: don't throw out your faded film. It makes great leader, and you won't have to spend $25 on a 3" reel of leader!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/394393027491

[Dave Bickford]

I know many collectors only want black and white films, to avoid issues with color film.

I'm one of them! I learned the hard way.

[Ed Gordon]

Exactly how I lost most of my film collection - both 8 and 16mm.😥...
But considering today's temperature here at 36° Celsius (97 Fahrenheit) and will only get higher & higher during summer time, no surprise that it would easily reach 42° C (108F) soon. This is probably not only a threat for film storage, but also for human health as well.

Only if Kodak gave more push in implementing Polyester film base back then, the situation would be entirely different by now.

I would think that one could have a acetate based film collection if you had dedicated cold storage/freezer to store them. If that is not practical then restricting your collection to polyester based film should work. Then again, color fade would probably still be an issue. I know many collectors only want black and white films, to avoid issues with color film. Does anyone know if heat/humidity is a factor in color fade?

[Osi Osgood]

We've always known that moisture is bad for films, but excessive humidity mixed with heat is the ultimate killer of film.

[Nantawat Kittiwarakul]

Exactly how I lost most of my film collection - both 8 and 16mm.😥



But considering today's temperature here at 36° Celsius (97 Fahrenheit) and will only get higher & higher during summer time, no surprise that it would easily reach 42° C (108F) soon. This is probably not only a threat for film storage, but also for human health as well.

Only if Kodak gave more push in implementing Polyester film base back then, the situation would be entirely different by now.

[Joe Caruso]

Plastic cases or boxes are not happy under very humid conditions...Shorty

[Osi Osgood]

Winbert, I am majorly curious as to why no one but you, has such incredible bad luck with your prints fading, no matter what the film stock, whether LPP, Agfa or Fuji or Eastman. Honestly, I do not attribute this to any foolishness on your part, but I am curious, none the less. Perhaps there is something in your storage ... Or ... Could it just be a unique property of the atmospherics of the country you live in, that just doesn't make it condusive to film collecting? I don't state this as a joke, but if there is something that the rest of us can learn from your experiences, then perhaps we could expand the lives of our collections a lot further?

[Winbert Hutahaean]

As I wrote three years ago, when I returned to Indonesia after spending 4 years in New Caledonia, I opened my storage and discovered that many 8mm reels had been destroyed by the vinegar syndrome

This is a real consequence of living in this hot and humid country because films cannot survive in this type of climate, especially those struck on acetate film base.

Having discovered these facts, I moved the other good films to my cupboard and left them at room temperature, which is around 25 degrees Celsius at night and 31 degrees Celsius during the day, while the humidity is stable at 90%. (I can't afford to keep the air conditioner on for 24 hours and 366 days).

Last night I checked some suspect reels and discovered that the films shown below were no longer projectable and therefore had to be binned.

In this sad situation, I feel lucky that in Indonesia, a 7' reel can still be sold for $6 because nowadays since there are only few people selling 8mm items while vintage collectors are now increase, and they sometimes buy 8mm projectors and need reels. So I can recoup some of my losses

From now on, the cases are only good for display.

I don't know if they are useful to 8mm collectors here, but shipping is insanely expensive from here.


cheers,
winbert

ps: as you may be aware, most of them were housed in plastic cases.. so there is a strong relation between VS and the type of case.