Provia 100F slides fading.

[nick_h5]

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>Has anyone noticed fading to there Provia 100F slides in the past decade? I shot through a batch of this film in the summer of 2002 for a college project. On reviewing the slides, they appear to be faded and lifeless, it's as if there has been fading to the yellow dye, as they are look so cyan. I know Provia has a cyan look in general without adding a warming filter. The slides look nothing like how i remember them in the past, nowadays i have more experience of how Provia handles in different light conditions and records color.</p>

<p>I didn't know much about photography back then, first ever film shots. I remember sending the slides away to a respectable pro lab for processing at the time. I gather this could be a processing issue/bad chemistry, that would only be seen over time. The slides were kept in plastic processing boxes in a closet, and haven't seen daylight since around 2003.... untill they were found yesterday!</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>Probably bad processing. My Provia, Astia and Sensia slides have held up well.</p>

<p>How long they'll hold up, who knows. All of my Kodak-processed Ektachromes from the 1970s-'80s have gone orangey. Everything looks like a slot canyon now. Which is handy. Saves me the trouble of having to travel to Utah.</p>

[john_shriver]

<p>Temperature and humidity of storage? Are they stored someplace that's air-conditioned in the summer. Heat and humidity are still tough on yellow dyes in films.</p>

[nick_h5]

<p>The storage conditions were fairly stable, and the film was never subjected to high temperature. Also i see no signs of fungus or mold on the slides. Which i was surprised about, due to the slides being sealed in a box for nearly ten years.</p>

[marc_bergman1]

<p>My Fuji slides have held up well. I have been mostly using Fuji over the last 20 years.</p>

<p>I have to go back to the 70's to see a deterioration in my slides.</p>

<p> </p>

[donbright]

<p>This is one example of a 20 year old slide, scanned 2 months ago.</p>

[donbright]

<p>Here's the 20 year old slide.</p><div></div>

[richard_eaton1]

<p>If storage conditions have been reasonable, I'd go for poor quality processing. I've had no probs with my own or my Dad's slides going back 30 years (which was around the time that E6 became the standard process for almost all slide films), these would be either manufacturers' official lab, or a reputable pro lab.<br>

I wonder if "other brand" chemicals could be an issue.....e.g. comparing the C-41 process, Fuji and Kodak use a separate bleach and fix, while some independents (e.g. Tetanal) use a combined bath. The negs from the latter are absolutely fine for use, but some users suggest that the long-term permanence may not be as good as the official process.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>I showed some Kodak Ektachrome from 'way-back' (1960-1, dark storage) at http://www.photo.net/film-and-processing-forum/00a5Jt .<br>

In my case, most of my Ektachromes from after 1961 are still in decent shape. Older ones, especially when not done by Kodak, not so much.</p>

<p>The first roll of Fuji slide film I ever shot was in San Francisco in September of 1973. Here's where it is now, scanned with no color correction. It still cleans up pretty well, but it always had a rather purplish cast to it.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

[donbright]

<p>I'n not well versed on how film development machines work, C-41,E-6, but I always wondered, how can these machines crank out all of hundreds of rolls of film a day, and be perfect all day? It stands to reason that there would be variables in the chain of procedures in a machine. Like, what if the fix step has a hiccup? Or the developer is somehow exhausted? I guess if everything is working right on the day your film is traveling through the developing machine, its your day.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>An earlier post with FREE sources on film preservation and archiving at http://www.photo.net/film-and-processing-forum/00a4RP</p>

[nick_h5]

<p>Thank you for the advice everyone. I think it's just the case of poor quailty/exhausted chemistry which has caused this. I do follow the preservation advice given by Wilhelm on all my more recent transparency film.</p>

 

[francois_p._garnier]

<p>I've never had an issue with Provia 100F (or any other Fuji slide film). Even my 25 year old Fujichromes (and Ektachromes) are perfect and looking like they were shot yesterday.<br>

I guess your problem is caused by not proper fixing and/or watering in the lab.<br>

Go for a professional lab with permanent QC. There is the Kodak QC system for labs. All labs who have joined this Kodak lab QC system have subscribed to the strict monitoring of the QC system.<br>

Labs with the Kodak QC system in general communicate their partnership on their websites.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<blockquote>

<p>"...how can these machines crank out all of hundreds of rolls of film a day, and be perfect all day?"</p>

</blockquote>

<p>In ye olden dayes of yore, quality control was a major priority for the better film processing labs. Checks were done and repeated throughout the day.</p>

<p>Just as a bit of trivia illustrating this obsession with QC, both the Thomas Harris novel <em>Red Dragon</em> and Michael Mann movie adaptation <em>Manhunter</em> feature scenes referring to the day job of the antagonist and serial killer, Francis Dolarhyde, who worked in film processing quality control (which is what gave him access to personal information about the families he targeted).</p>

<p>If you didn't begin to use film until the past several years you missed the peak era of this type of obsession with QC. Up until the mid-2000s even some minilabs in places like Walmart and many drug stores had remarkably good quality control, but now the few remaining minilabs have QC that ranges from mediocre to non-existent.</p>

[manuel_odabashian]

<p>What slide sheets did you use for storage? if they weren't great that might be the problem</p>