2
\$\begingroup\$

Hello fellow photographers! I'm hoping the group here can help me with a mystery. I recently bought a bulk loader for 35mm film from eBay. When it came, I noticed that it already had film in it. When I asked the seller, they said that they didn't have any information on where it came from. It doesn't look like any of the color or black and white film stocks I've ever seen. Unexposed film is tan/yellow on the back, and pink on the emulsion side. When left out in light, it turns to an olive green.

Since I could see no markings, I decided to attempt to develop a small roll of it with T-Max black and white developer. I have heard that you can do that with color film, you just won't get the color negatives you normally would with C-41, you'll get black and white images. The film developed, but strangely. You could definitely tell where it had been exposed to light when loading, because those areas were dark olive green and opaque. Where the film should have had images on it was a metallic green sheen on the emulsion side. No images. However, I did get some markings on the sprocket hole area:

"EASTMAN 23 |+|:"

"SAFETY FILM"

triangle, square and another triangle.

I've tried several experiments, but none have yielded images. I thought I'd see what the group here knew before spending any further effort on this.

enter image description here enter image description here Green metallic sheen

Improve this question
\$\endgroup\$

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3
\$\begingroup\$

I think this is a Kodak Print Film. In the motion picture industry, camera film has lower contrast as compared to still photography. The camera film is processed making a color negative image. To make release prints for the theater, the developed camera film is printed by contact or optical projector onto a "print film". This is a negative color film of low contrast. When printed and processed, the yield is a positive color film suitable for projection in a theater.

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
4
  • \$\begingroup\$ Also worth noting, Print Film tends to be very slow -- ISO 1 to 3 equivalent or in some cases even slower than that -- so your lack of images might be due to gross underexposure. \$\endgroup\$
    – Zeiss Ikon
    Commented Dec 23, 2021 at 12:10
  • \$\begingroup\$ What process would I use to develop them? ECN-2? \$\endgroup\$
    – bitreaper
    Commented Dec 23, 2021 at 14:47
  • \$\begingroup\$ Yes ECN-2 --- This process is based on Color Developer CD3 whereas C-41 uses CD4 \$\endgroup\$
    – Alan Marcus
    Commented Dec 23, 2021 at 15:00
  • \$\begingroup\$ I think it might be color positive movie film based on a forum discussion I saw yesterday. “2” is the designation for 35mm safety film. “3” is for positive film. It appears Kodak movie films say “Eastman”. Positive film might be more consistent with the colorations shown. \$\endgroup\$
    – Bob Macaroni McStevens
    Commented Dec 23, 2021 at 19:24

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.