Polaroid Polachrome 35mm Color Slide Film

[anna_a2]

<p>I just found a roll of this film in a bunch of camera equipment that was left to me by my grandfather. The film has been used, however I have no clue when, or if the film was even shot properly. The box says the film expired in June of 1986, which saddens me because that likely means I'm not in any of the pictures! But it's very likely that there are family shots on here, which I would love to have. As such, I don't want to take the chance of developing it myself, especially since Google seems to inform me that the processing pack (which I have) tends to spoil quickly, and it's been more than 24 years since this one expired. I do not process film on my own at home, so I would love to find someone who develops this that I can simply send the film to. I would prefer to get it developed as photographs, rather than slides, but I'll take whatever I can get!</p>

[StuartMoxham]

<p>You need a polarchrome processor and the little pack to develop it. I had one years ago it was given to me with along with a load of expired film and packs. I tried it but it did not work. I think the chem pack or the film or both was too old.</p>

[richard_eaton1]

<p>Have a look at <a href="http://www.processc22.co.uk">www.processc22.co.uk</a> . They process all kinds of obsolete film and could probably advise by email. Another similar company is <a href="http://www.filmrescue.com">www.filmrescue.com</a> .<br>

(Avoid "Rocky Mountain Film Lab" in the US....there has been a lot of correspondence about these in the forums, saying they have apparently been made bankrupt, having taken money, lost films and numerous other problems.)</p>

[larrydressler]

<p>Put it on a shelf. I have my Dynachrome and old Agfa E2 process there.</p>

[richard_eaton1]

 

 

<p><em>"Put it on a shelf. I have my Dynachrome and old Agfa E2 process there."</em><br>

Yes, but Anna A. thinks that there may be family shots on it (from 25+ years ago), which she would love to have. Surely worth a try to have it processed, if there's any chance of a result?</p>

 

 

[StuartMoxham]

<p>It's an instant slide film and you need polaroids chemical pack that goes with the film to process it. The film and the chempack was put in a special machine. I had the electric one but the chem packs where already bad so I dont know how good the results would have been.</p>

<p>http://www.apug.org/forums/forum234/60034-polaroid-polachrome-polagraph.html</p>

<p>Check out this link for more info.....</p>

[anna_a2]

<p>Like I said in my first post, I do have the processor pack, but I highly suspect it's bad, which as several of you have said tends to happen. I'm not willing to risk the shots by self-developing, that's completely out of the question. <br>

Thank you for the recommendation Richard, Film Rescue is in Canada and I'm in the US, but they listed a US company on their website, and that company appears to do the same type of services. I'll be calling them on Monday to see if they have experience/luck processing my type of film! Thanks for being so helpful!</p>

[adam_n.1]

<p>well, i've processed maybe 2 dozen rolls or more of polaroid instant slide film and have had really, really good luck with getting usable images every time. much better luck than with polaroid peel apart or integral films of similar vintage. the only problem i've had with the really old stuff is the black backing doesnt come off after it's processed, but it washes off easily with warm water.<br>

that being said, you of course may not want to risk it...apparently theres a latent image on these films that can be developed with normal photochemicals...</p>

[peter_mounier]

<p>I made prints from Polacolor slides once. They scratch by just looking at them. If you get the film processed, don't touch either surface, to wipe off dust or for any other reason or you will ruin it.</p>

<p>Peter</p>

[randrew1]

<p>This film has a B&W emulsion with a color filter screen. It is the same basic idea as Lumiere Autochrome. B&W processing will produce a color negative (albeit a very odd one that will be hard to print and even harder to scan). B&W reversal processing will produce a color transparency. The emulsions that was used was designed for diffusion transfer processing so standard developer times probably don't apply. The processing goo that came with the film will have long since degraded. I wouldn't bother with them. </p>

<p>Film Rescue International does not mention Polachrome on their website, but that is the first place I would call. I'll bet they have received similar requests in the past and have a good idea of what is possible. </p>

[anna_a2]

<p>Adam n., how did you process it? Did you use the processor pack and machine that Polaroid sold? I would honestly try that, except it seems the vast majority of the time those are bad. <br>

I got to contact Film Rescue today, as Ron suggested, and they told me they could process the film, and had done multiple rolls in the past, however I had to send in my processing pack in with it, and they use the machine and my processing pack to do the film, always with positive results. I'm willing to give them a try, but if they're simply doing the same thing I could do myself, I wonder why I shouldn't just do it myself, you know? <br>

Curious if anyone has a suggestion re: me doing it myself, or just biting the bullet and paying ~$40 for Film Rescue to do it, which really isn't a LOT, considering we could have family photos on here, but it is a lot if it's a bunch of stupid photos of beach view or something that we can't identify and don't have personal attachment to!</p>

[randrew1]

 

<p>With apologies to Clint Eastwood, "You've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky?" There are two probabilities to estimate.</p>

<ol>

<li>What are the chances of getting images if you process them yourself? </li>

<li>What are the chances that the images are worth the trouble. </li>

</ol>

<p>For the first question, the comments here suggest your chances are much better if you send it to film rescue. The second question is the more important one. If there is a reasonable likelihood that there will be some valuable pictures, then spend the $40. If not, then try it yourself. </p>

<p>Look at your grandfather's other pictures. Are they meaningful images? Can you find some Polachrome slides that he shot? (They are easily recognizable because they are very dark compared to other slides.) Was he just experimenting with Polachrome or did he shoot meaningful images on the film?</p>

 

 

[greg_miller10]

<p>In response to Anna...This is Greg from Film Rescue. I'm not sure who you talked to here but normally if we knew you had all of the elements to process this film yourself we would have advised you to do so. We're not really interested in work we can't do better then other people do. Polachrome film is a real anomaly for us here. With virtually any other vintage film we can find much better approaches to developing them then the recommend process for when the film was new. Not with Polochrome or Polopan.<br>

Bottom line is that if you sent us that film we would be doing exactly the same thing with it as you would with your processing machine. If you could let me know who you talked to here I can make them aware of this regarding this film. We all try to stay up to date on what is what with each film but at this point we have a list of over 400 unique film types and brands. Regardless, if it can be avoided I don't want anyone here telling people that we can do Polochrome better than they can if the have the processing machine. It simple wouldn't be true. If you have the processing pack, the film and the machine...do it yourself - and besides...it's fun.</p>

[anto_boalis]

<p>Hi Anna, I collaborate with some mates at EyesMeal : Art Direction Studio!, where we were playing with instant films for almost a year, working in our project http://www.film-effect-photoshop.com, writing a bunch of Photoshop actions to simulate the look of classic films. Polaroid Polachrome was a film we reached to simulate digitally, you can see the results we get here: http://www.film-effect-photoshop.com/instant-film-effect-1/1-polachrome-warm.html .So I'm kind of freak of this film. We found three old photographers with the ability to develop this film for us. If you want I can make a query about your problem.</p><div></div>