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Kodak 35mm Film Canisters - History


leica_virgin

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<p>Can someone please tell me when Kodak switched from metal canisters to plastic for their 35mm film? My older brother and I were discussing them this evening. I believe that it must have been late-70's/early-80's. I am reasonably certain that they had made the switch by 1982 but I do not know for certain.</p>

<p>My brother got me into 35mm photography around 1970 when I was ten. I seem to recall that, at that time, all Kodak 35mm film (slide, B&W neg, and color neg) came in metal canisters. By this time, the canisters were aluminum (great for blowing up with firecrackers) with steel caps.</p>

<p>For the past couple of years, I have been buying NOS film on eBay. I recently purchased a dozen rolls of PX-135-20 with a 3/69 expiration. I assumed that these would all contain metal canisters. All but a couple of the packs were in like-new condition. One was crushed fairly badly so I decided to open it. The film magazine was packed in sealed foil - no canister. No big deal; just a surprise. But since I shot mostly B&W in the early-70's, I could swear that Plus-X and Tri-X were packaged in canisters.</p>

<p>While we're on the subject, can someone tell me when Kodak switched from the enameled steel canisters with the embossed "Kodak" to the aluminum ones? Many of my eBay purchases have been late-50's/early-60's Kodachrome and Ektachrome. These are packaged in the steel canisters - Ektachrome in yellow with blue cap, High-Speed Ektachrome in blue with white cap, and Kodachrome in red with yellow cap (or it is vice versa?).</p>

<p>My brother and I both worked at a small camera store in the mid-70's. This evening, we both laughed about the large box FULL of empty film canisters that we had at the store which were probably thrown away. Those same canisters are now fetching $3-$5 on eBay. You've got to love it.</p>

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<p>I don't know what year the switch was made but I have some of the old tin ones. I even have a nice black one that say's Kodak on it. However I have one in my locker at work filled with quarters in case I do not have any cash for lunch. Also I keep one in the car filled with quarters to feed parking meters when we go out of town. I probably have about 10 of them.. I also have some real old Kodachome film still in the box and I bet they are in tin cannisters. I just have never opened the boxes to see. The film is many years expired. </p>
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<p>Thanks to all for your responses. That's why I love photo.net!</p>

<p>Bob: I didn't realize that the change came that early. Time flies, I guess. Thanks for that piece of info.</p>

<p>Jim: Thanks for the link. It pretty much confirms what I recall - that Plus-X DID come in an aluminum canister. I'm going to have to look into why this batch that I've got from 1969 does not have canisters (at least the one that I opened).</p>

<p>If the change to all unpainted canisters took place in '65, that would explain why I do not remember the painted ones. My brother (four years older) said that he remembers our grandfather, who shot Kodachrome, using film in the painted canisters in the early-1960's.</p>

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<p>Indeed, Brian, they've gone the way of the glass soda bottle (glass in general, I guess). The unpainted ones in that eBay listing are the only ones that I remember. But, as I said in my original post, they were a hoot to blow up with firecrackers. I must've blown up about 16 trillion dollars' worth in my younger days. LOL</p>
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<p>Separate bits of paper came until the early 1980s at least. I still have a small bundle of them.<br>

I exposed a great deal of Plus-X in the 1970s, and some Tri-X, but I have no idea about the canisters. The reason is that I bought the film in bulk and rolled my own. The tins in which the bulk rolls came were of aluminium. I think one could even buy 5-metre lengths, but maybe that was Ilford film and not Kodak. A decade earlier, Agfa Isopan ISS (21 DIN/ASA 100) came in metal canisters, both 35mm and 120 rolls. Not many things were made of plastics at the time. Parker and Sheaffer pens were among the early adopters, I seem to recall.</p>

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<p>When I started they were all metal. That's so long ago that I can no longer remember when they changed to the old gray-top plastic can. :(</p>

<p>Here are some of my cans. As I recall, the Reddish cap and yellow body was Kodachrome, and Ektachrome was the blue cap and yellow can. Don't remember the others, now. Anybody actually know?</p><div>00asIH-498123684.jpg.6efd247eac680bf769b60fd1c43d18d3.jpg</div>

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<p>What's also interesting is what people do with the cannisters afterwords. I used to use the plastic ones for keeping fish food in them. So when I went scuba diving, I'd take them down to feed the reef fish. Here's a picture of my girlfriend at the time feeding yellow tail snapper out of the cannister. Pop the lid at 60 feet down and the fish go nuts. The food was leftovers from my fish dinner the night before. Taken on Ektachrome with Nikonos IVa.<br /> <a href="../photo/11752850">http://www.photo.net/photo/11752850</a></p>
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<p>Tried some Google™ <br>

found<br>

According to a post at http://www.shutterbug.com/content/help-77<br>

Super-XX: green<br />Plus-X: brown or purple<br />Panatomic-X: blue<br />Kodachrome (daylight balance): orange</p>

<p>That's not complete by a long shot, and I am not the only one that thought 'blue' was Ektachrome. Kodak may well have changed the codes over the years...</p>

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<p>FYI. The black/gray plastic film canisters were actually made by KODAK. At KODAK park on State St in Rochester, NY. The black and gray plastic (in the form of little chips) arrived from an outside vendor via RR car. KODAK had injection molding plants that made all of the jugs,bottles and these little film cans.</p>
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<p>Way back when I was shooting a lot of film, I saved the plastic Kodak containers. Don't know why though. Finally they filled a garbage bag and I threw them out. Kept the metal ones, sold a handful on eBay many years ago. I've used the plastic containers in my other hobby of model railroading to mix paints, hold solvents, etc.<br>

Just checked and I have one all yellow Kodak container, top and bottom. No idea where it came from!</p>

 

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<p>I found this in the loft the other day and was wondering how old it might be. Does anyone know?</p>

<p>Yellow lid with yellow can doesn't seem to be as common as some of the other combinations.</p>

<p> I quite like the idea of using it and seeing what comes out.</p>

<p>Chris</p>

<div>00asOo-498185584.jpg.bdcb6f7dd849ac1c447deb49dcb73e8b.jpg</div>

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<p>JDM,</p>

<p>It makes me wish I had shot more B&W in my earlier days.</p>

<p>Chris,</p>

<p>Kodachrome II came out in 1961 so your film predates that. Kodachrome is no longer processed by any lab. Your film would have had to be developed using the K-11 process. Some people have had some success home processing Kodachrome as a B&W film.</p>

<p> </p>

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<p>Chris,</p>

<p>Marc is correct. Your Kodachrome may be older than you realize. I have an opened Kodachrome box with an expiration date of Mar. 1954. The magazine looks similar to yours and the canister is the same yellow/yellow scheme. However, I believe that yours may be a little older since the cap on yours has a flatter profile than mine. The cap on mine seems to look more (but not exactly) like the 1960's caps.</p>

<p>I just received another eBay purchase: three rolls of EX-135-20 with an expiration of Nov. 1965. I opened one (of three) and it has an unpainted aluminum canister (no embossing) with a painted yellow cap. I have other rolls of EX-135 and EH-135 both types expiring Sept 1963. The EX has a yellow canister with a blue cap and the EH has a blue canister with a white cap. Both canisters are embossed with "_Kodak_" (underscore/dash before and after Kodak).</p>

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