Why are slide films given the suffix "Chrome"?

OK, this popped into my head as I was mowing the lawn today (mind

tends to wander). Why are slide films given the suffix "chrome".

Examples abound, such as Kodachrome, Ektachrome, Fujichrome,

Anscochrome. Did the original color process of God and Man (Godowsky

and Mannes, the inventors of the original Kodachrome process) use

chromium ions for some reason, and then the name stuck to any process

that resulted in a color positive? Perhaps the experts steeped in

Kodak knowledge such as Rowland Mowrey will enlighten me. Thanks in

advance for your responses.

according to my dictionary,Chrome comes from the Greek word,khromia

which means color.But who know for sure,one of the people who invented it could have a dog name Chrome. :)

Chromogenic - of color.

Robert;

 

Kodak developed the convention of using 'chrome' as the suffix to all color positive films, and 'color' as the suffix to all negative films. Therefore you have Kodachrome and Kodacolor, a positive and negative film.

 

"Type R" was then used for all reversal reflection print materials, and "Type C" was used for all neg-pos reflection print materials in the same manner. This is no longer used at EK, but is elsewhere such as on this forum.

 

It is nothing more than a convention that EK used in the 40s and everyone else seems to have adopted.

 

In return for this answer, would you mow our lawn?

 

Smiles.

 

Ron Mowrey

Yes, it's from the Greek word for color. According to my

chemistry textbook, the element Chromium gets

its name from the same Greek root, and is so named because compounds

made of chromium come in very many different colors. I don't

believe slide films were named after chromium; but instead they

both share a commom Greek root.

Maybe it's the lead in lawnmower fumes, but while mowing my lawn the other day it occured to me that for Kodak, chrome should mean color slide film so why was VERICHROME B&W negative film?

Lead fumes.

 

Well, maybe mercury or cadmium.

 

What else could cause that obvious error?

 

Ron Mowrey

Because SORTACHROME B+W was a marketing flop. The first of what would be many merchandising blunders.

The person who invented it had a cat named Veri and a dog named chrome?

You've heard of the terms "orthochromatic" and "panchromatic," yes? Same deal.

(In case you haven't) the terms indicate films that are sensitive to all wavelengths of light, or at least a larger range than early emulsions.

b.t.w. the greek root "ortho" and the latin root "veri" both mean more or less the same thing -- correct or true. The original Verichrome was orthochromatic (generic term).

Kodak,invented many words used in their products,including the name "Kodak"!

Actually, the first commercially available color process, also a direct positive process that predates KodaCHROME by 30 years, also used the -chrome suffix: Autochrome.

 

Did not use chromium. DID use r/g/b color filters sprinkled on the surface of a B&W glass plate (a rough description) in the form of dyed corn-starch particles, so it was not unlike a digital sensor, but with a stochastic rather than grid-like Bayer pattern.

 

Invented in France by the Lumiere brothers in 1903. I suspect Kodak was just tipping their hat to established convention in using "CHROME" in the name of THEIR positive color product when it came along in the '30s. Just as Kodak tipped their hat (or thumbed their nose) by calling their E6 films c. 1994 "Lumiere" films.

 

If you really want to breath fumes - try and figure out what "chromatic scales" in music have to do with either color film or the shiny stuff on cars.

Verichrome came out in the early 1930's. It was orthographic film until the 1950's. Plain silver halide is just sensitive to blue and UV. The widened response (for its era) B&W film was Ortho film. Older photo books; in the pre ww2 era; called ortho "a more correct film for color". Ortho is senstive to UV; blue and green. The 1940 Kodak databook mentions "non color sensitized" film; for UV and blue only; as the <b>"Ordinary" material</b>. Ortho added green sensitivity. <BR><BR>maybe it was called Verichrome; because it was better in color response than <b>"Ordinary" materials</b>.

One old pre WW2 book I use to check out from a library as a kid had all the differences in makeup; used when shooting regular versus "correct" films. It was an ancient text; probably from the 1920's or 1930's. They had different makeup required for plain plates of films; versus "correct" films; now usually called orthos films. Lots of weird lip colors used; to make the B&W appear normal; and less retouching.

Kelly,<BR>

That is reminiscent of early TV in which the performers had to wear blue lipstick and rouge to appear natural on the monochrome screen.

Well, Dufay Color comes to mind when I think of Autochrome.

 

Dufay was a reversal film that had a color screen similar to Autochrome. The B&W image shot through the screen onto the panchromatic emulsion gave a color transparency when reversal processed.

 

I understand that many fine Dufay and Autochrome prints survive today although they require a lot of light for viewing. They were additive processes BTW, not subtractive processes as is used in todays materials.

 

Ron Mowrey

I had always thought they used the term "chrome" as a description of the silver in the film (silver=metal=chrome)...I know, weird analogy, but that was my thought process! Thanks for the informative thread!