Dating old Kodak Film

I have an old set of negatives on Kodak film which is marked CP 100 5094

I'm assuming that 5094 means week 50 1994, but was that an expiry date or

manufacture date?

5094 is no date at all. CP was the letter code and 5094 was the number code for Kodacolor VR film, ISO 100. It probably dates from between 1983 & 1987. This film also came in ISO 200, 400 & 1000.

Hi

How sure are you about the dates and do you mean manufature dates please ? What did you think CP meant?

Just guessing, but what about colour print?

The "50" designates the film size , in this case 135 or 35MM. In motion picture film "70" designates 16MM. Kodacolor VR 100 used the number 5094 up until 1986, when it was replaced by 5095. So these edge code numbers have nohing to do with dates, except for the fact that can be used to determine the time frame of it's manufacture.

Steve,

 

I think that it is just "5---" and "7---" for 35 mm and 16 mm rather than "50--" and "70--".

 

Best, Helen

Thanks for everything so far, So what time frame would VR 100 have please (in the UK)

John is correct with his info. I have some of these negs. 5095 replaced 5094 which was VR 100 film. 5095 was VR-G 100 and then became Gold 100 which was also 5095.

Oh and to mention 5095 came out in 1986. Im unsure if they kept making 5094 or quit at that time. 1986 or 87 is about right.

I'll also add 5094 VR-100 was not a very stable film. Its dyes faded quite quickly over time. I have negs of these that are now hard to get good prints from due to missing color.

You are correct Helen, as I recall a "2" as the second number (i.e 5247 or 7247) meant a camera stock.

Thanks everyone so far. We have an end date of 1986/7 so when was it first made ? John was first with saying 1987 latest but was he right with 1983 earliest?

I actually have negs of VR 400 (CM/5079) that were shot in December, 1983.

FWIW, I no longer worry as much about faded negatives. I've been scanning old color negatives and getting good results. The yellow dye is often badly faded, but a quick correction in Photoshop restores the color. I prdeviously posted shots on Kodacolor X from the 1960's. This shot is on Kodacolor from 1955. It is grainy for MF and the sharpness is poor (cheap optics), but the color is good.<div></div>

There is a date code in the edge printing as well. Look for little symbols around the Kodak name and Safety Film. There are websites giving the codes used for motion picture film, the still films often use the same ones.

Maybe you can help me (sorry if I've posted in the wrong thread), what stands the edge code 7081-11 for?

Many thanks