How do negatives and slides age?

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keoj

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This will easily be answered by either a film, scanning or photoshop savant. First, I have some old negatives that I recently scanned. Some of the colors are way off and it looks like some of the original sharpness is starting to morph. As I start to color correct these slides, can someone make some suggestions on what color casts tend to do over time? Do the blues intensify? Do the reds? I just looking for a place to start.

Next question is slides. I have a pile of old Kodachromes and some Ektachromes. Is one more stable than another and what color casts are picked up on these?

Thanks everyone.

keoj
 
Kodachrome is much more stable than Ektachrome. It is not unusual for 50 year old Kodachromes to still look good. As a matter of fact, my father's Kodachromes from the 50s still look great. Ektachrome is much less stable, will usually go bluish. The color dye layers in chromes and negatives are sensitive to temperature and humidity according to how they are stored. This will effect how they will fade, and what color cast they will take on. Cool and dry storage is best.
 
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Having just finished a project scanning and editing a bunch of 50 year old slides (some of which have been having a rough time of it), I can affirm that Kodachrome stands out on the light table like a jewel.

Ektachrome, when aged, responded very well to "Auto Levels" and sometimes "Auto Color Correction", with a touch of unsharp mask.
 
I have a box of over 1000 slides and negatives which date mostly from 1970 to the early 1990s which I admit were not stored in the best of conditions over the years. Storage lockers, attics, cellars, closets, etc. Since I got the scanner I've been scanning the better ones and yes, correcting some as best I can.

As has been said, my Kodachromes of 1970s vintage have not appeared to age at all. My B&W negatives are still very close to the way they were 30 years ago, not to show my true age. :(

Amazingly, many of the Kodacolor-X negatives of 1970-ish vintage are close to what I remember them to be. I've done some stunning prints off of some of the scans I made of them.

The Ektachromes are the ones that have not survived as well. A few of them are still gorgeous, (including one roll of ca. 1971 E3 Infrared Ektachrome) but some have faded in the magenta direction and a few have even faded in the cyan direction.

I've found that for anything but the faded ones, a good scan, paying attention to detail, such as levels, will result in a very nice image from an old negative or slide. :) I have a number of examples in the "old stuff" album in my gallery.
 
I have slide that my Father in Law shot in 1938, the color has changed but I'm surprised http://www.photo.net/photodb/presentation.tcl?presentation_id=324238

I also have slides from the late 40's until the 70's that are great. My B&W negatives are also showing no problems. I was not particularily fastidous in those days, and they still have held up. BUT I did store them in a dark, dry environment, if that means anything.
 
Kodachrome, as others have mentioned, holds up very well. I have Kodachromes I shot as a kid (40 years ago) that are still vibrant.
Other chromes vary from OK to terrible. I have to GAF and Agfachromes that were just about dead a decade ago.
Properly washed silver-based B&W sahould hold up very well.
Chromogenics vary. I have XP1 negs that are fine while the offerings from the same era from other companies are close to unusable. Colour print film is also widely variable, depending on manufacturer and processing.

Peter
 
Kodak used to make heat-sealable bags (not the kind you buy in the grocery store, rather special pouches which were paper on the outside and plastic on the inside, thoroughly archival). They even published a document which you can still find on the internet I believe, which explains that when developed colour emulsion materials (colour negatives and transparencies) are inserted in these bags at very low humidity levels and sealed (an ordinary clothes iron will do), then permanently stored in a freezer, the deterioration of the colour dyes over time is virtually 0. I put all my best materials into these bags and stored them in a freezer over many years, occassionally taking them out to view or to print from, and there was no damage whatsoever, these bags worked perfectly. However, to my great dismay, Kodak quite a few years ago stopped making them, and Light Impressions stopped making them, and they are no-where to be procured. However, when they were available they provided the answer to the kinds of questions you are asking. Now, instead I have to come to terms with the fact that as much as I like using film, my colour images are going to fade. The only real solution to the problem remaining, it seems is to spend a lot of money on making the best prints possible, while the negative or transparency is still fresh.
 
When I statred photographing in earnest (around 1974-75), E4 Ektachrome was still the standard, but I was still mostly shooting Kodachrome and Agfachrome (CT18). I shot a bit of E4 Ekta, but only started shooting it enthusiastically when their new (and much-ballyhooed) E6 emulsions hit the market. So I know the E6 stuff virtually from the beginning (roughly early 1976-77). My earliest E6 'chromes (summer 1976) still look fine, thrty years on, so I think the Ektachrome Curse was mostly vanquished at that point. Also remember that, while Kodachrome is probably still the dark-storage champ, extended projector-bulb exposure is deadly; Ektachrome handles projection a lot better, which is why a lot of pros had thsir K-chrome originals duped for projection purposes (Kodak even had, for a while, an Ektachrome duplication film made especially for duping from Kodachrome origianls. Can't say I saw a major difference between this and their standard duping film....and when Fuji cameout with their own dupe film, I found it better, and switched in the proverbial heartbeat.


- Barrett
 
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