Old Nitrate Film

[kelly_bucher]

I know nothing about processing film of any kind. I am hoping maybe

someone here can lead me in the right direction. I purchased an old

film projector at an auction. It has a full Kodak News reel with it

and it says Nitrate film on it along the side also. I also have

some pieces of what look like the same type of film that look like

little clipped pieces of silent movies or something. I would like

to know if it is possible to have these clipped Pieces printed

somehow so I can have them. From looking through the little

eyeglass viewer that came with it they seem like they would be very

interesting to actually get a good look at. The film I would just

like to know more about the contents and how I should go about

viewing it, the projector works but I don't know what kind of bulb I

should have to view it with that won't ruin the film. Thanks so

much for any information that anyone can give! I am guessing that

the film is from the real early 1900's maybe 18's I don't know.

[lex_jenkins]

The nitrate film is probably too fragile to withstand much handling. Don't run any of it through the projector.

 

It's also easily ignited. For maximum safety treat it like lighter fluid. Keep it away from sources of ignition or high heat.

 

Some of the frames might make for interesting prints. The trick is deciding which are worth printing and how to accomplish this cost-effectively.

[kevin_murray]

(I'm assuming you are talking about cinema film.)

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In the UK they have fairly strict rules about the movement and use of old nitrate films due to their tendancy to catch fire (and sometimes even explode), so as Lex suggests treat it with care -- I wouldn't open the can myself!

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If it is from the 1900s I doubt any will have survived, but you never know. I would be tempted to see if you can get in touch with one of the Film Institutes (e.g. <a href=www.afi.com>AFI</a> or <a href=www.bfi.org.uk>BFI</a>). Sometimes they collect this material from a historical perspective, or may offer advice on how to handle it.

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Without knowing the projector, I can't say anything about the bulb, but large 35mm projectors for the 1930's (and before) had carbon arc lamps that have typically beeen replaced with modern bulbs, with the rating depending on the distance the image is to be projected. So long as the film is moving through the projector, I've used light sources of a couple of kiloWatts (with saftey film). With Nitrate film, I don't know but I suspect you would be okay unless the film slowed down or broke in which case there would be a large bang...

[lyle_gordon]

I have had a frame from some 8mm film printed as a Cibachrome but luckily it wasn't nitrate film.

[James G. Dainis]

I would assume this is 35mm black and white film. You could scan the film on a film scanner and have a print made from that file. That would be the safest, no heat involved. You can ask your local photo shop, either 1 hour or pro lab, if they can/will do it for you.

[steven_clark]

Let's put it this way: nitrates and relatives of various forms make up a pretty good chunk of all chemical explosives. TNT, nitroglycerine, flash paper, gun powder, dynamite, the oklahoma city bomb. Treat it as an explosive and you will do just fine.

[andy_piper2]

Kelly: You might contact the American Film Institute - they have a lot of experience in preserving/duplicating old nitrate movies, and might be able to direct you to a lab than can make a copy of your film safely on modern film.

 

http://www.afi.com/about/preservation.asp

 

As mentioned, your film has the potential to break, ignite or explode if mishandled - get a copy made to work with.

[lex_jenkins]

BTW, I wouldn't assume that scanning is necessarily safer than conventional printing.

 

My Minolta Dimage Scan Dual version one gets negatives warm enough to straighten even the curliest film.

 

OTOH, my Durst M605 color head diffuses what little heat it produces very efficiently away from the negative, which is held in a glass carrier.

[stephen hazelton]

As far as getting prints, I'd suggest scanning. I once tried making some enlargements of 8mm frames. What you don't realize is that an awful of scratches and graininess and fuzziness gets glossed over when projected as a movie because each frame is on there such a short time. The grain, scratches, and other defects vary from frame to frame, and you don't really notice them until you enlarge a single frame, then it looks like crap. You'll notice on movie credits that they usually had a STILL photographer who took publicity shots for movies, rather than just enlarging a frame from the movie.

 

With that in mind, be prepared to do a lot of repair work and adjusting, and the scan would work best for that.

 

Check out this nifty document:

 

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/environment/kes/chemical/pdfs/consumer/H182.PDF

[James G. Dainis]

One other thought, do you have a digital camera? If it has a good close focus, macro, as many do, you might try making copies with the camera. Just place them on a light table or on a plate of glass with a white background a foot or so below it. Placing them on a window pane with a clear sky in the background would also work and you would not get reflections showing on the film.