fotoDogue Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I've been working a roll of Kodak Ektapress color negative film, machine processed by a major publisher, in 1991. Not only are there multiple scratches along the length of each frame but some frames have crystalized. I can clone out the blemishes in the scan but does anyone know how to treat crystalized film? Is it safe to rewash it after 25 years? Not too long ago when I tried to wipe an old RC print with a damp cloth the emulsion came right off the surface. fD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManWay Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Hi fotoDogue, I've tried to resurrect old film and have had mixed results. With B/W a wash in heavily diluted fixing solution seems to 'brighten up' the neg somewhat. However if the film has got the dreaded fungus there is no hope really as it has eaten into the emulsion. With colour, sorry, color transparencies the situation is worse. I've never been able to resurrect an old tranny that has got the fungus or 'crystallised' as you put it. I get web-like black areas which can't really be cloned out unless its in a totally plain colour area. I still scan these oldies and retain a TIFF file just in case they become so vital/newsworthy in the future that the blemishes become irrelevant. Good luck anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Crystallised? Don't recognize the term, what exactly does it look like- can you put up a picture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotoDogue Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 The "crystalized" area seems to be a chemical accumulation on the emulsion side of the film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Image unavailable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotoDogue Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 Image unavailable. That's odd because I can see it using Chrome. I tried reposting. Maybe that'll help? In the meantime someone pointed me towards this Kodak Tip on contaminated film. As ManWay pointed out, it looks like the film is pretty much done, and I probably shouldn't have run it through my scanner, but at least I have some tiffs. http://graphics.kodak.com/docimaging/uploadedFiles/techTip73.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Can't see it in any browser. I wonder what causes the plasticiser problem- none of my old film has anything like it. The worst I have is a bit of tarnishing on b/w which doesn't show on a scan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Brooks Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Crystalized or reticulation? Reticulation is a net like pattern in emulsion when the film is exposed to rapid temperature changes and the film base and emulsion expand or contract at different rates causing the emulsion to shatter. No hope for reticulation except cloning hell. For a chemical deposit try PEC-12, except on very early Kodachrome, which had a varnish coating applied in the lab. PEC-12 will do a very bad job of trying to remove the varnish. Use Pec-12 in a well ventilated place as the fumes are flammable and can flash over if there is a spark from a loose electrical connection in a lightbox for instance. Everyone swears by Pec-12, even people with no eyebrows left. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1109254-REG/pearson_education_pecbtl_pec_12_photographic_emulsion_cleaner.html#Overview Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotoDogue Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 Use Pec-12 in a well ventilated place as the fumes are flammable and can flash over if there is a spark from a loose electrical connection in a lightbox for instance. Everyone swears by Pec-12, even people with no eyebrows left. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1109254-REG/pearson_education_pecbtl_pec_12_photographic_emulsion_cleaner.html#Overview Thanks! Even if it doesn't work, and I lose my eyebrows in the process, it sounds like something I should have for working with old film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nacke Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I've used PEC-12 since before I was an Alamy contributor. I have also been told by senior techs at Kodak (when they were still in business) and FUJI (When my friends still worked for them...) that PEC-12 was the best way to get a clean piece of film. As Bill wrote, it is nasty smelling stuff, my wife use to hate it when I was using it. I would say that 100% of the scans that I have on Alamy had PEC-12 (using PECPads) used on them. I also think long and hard before I start on an old negative of chrome because I know the hours, days and often weeks that it will take to finish the image. For 35mm scans I'm still using Canon FS4000's with the FARE (auto retouching turned off) and I often reduce the final size of the scan to 5400 by. These days I just order PEC-12 from B & H, I was just looking at some chromes from the 1980's that cover something in the current U.S. News and nobody else has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 PEC-12 works wonders! Chuck recommended it to me long ago. They use to carry it at Adorama, too, fotoD, but best to give them a call first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Still no sign of that image. I'm still curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inchiquin Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 PEC-12 works wonders! Chuck recommended it to me long ago. Yeah, I bought some about five years ago after seeing a post from Chuck. It's still waiting for the package to be opened... Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDoug Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 I don't have any direct experience with fluid mounting, but some people swear by it for general scanning as well as for covering flaws in the film surface. http://scanscience.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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