Printable View
I really like the Velvia in large format, but thought I'd ask what others have heard regarding the long-term stability of E-6 reversal films such as Velvia (dark storage in dry room-temperature environment), after processing. I am hoping for at least 20 or 30 years or more before color shifts occur, but I realize that Kodachrome is still the standard.
Thanks, Oliver
According to Henry Wilhelm's 1993 book, THE PERMANENCE AND CARE OF COLOR PHOTOGR APHS, Fujichrome Velvia is one of the longest lasting after the Kodachromes. Wil helm's book goes into great detail about accelerated testing of permanancy of ma ny products and different ways to increase the life of your originals. In 1993 i t was possible to purchase his book for $69.95 + $4.95 for shipping, but I found a copy at my local library. Try Preservation Publishing Co., Dept CDM, 719 Stat e St., Grinnell, IA 50112-0567. Or call 800-335-6647, Ext. 49.
To the best of my knowledge, Kodachrome has not been made in sheet film sizes fo r at least several decades. If you want to shoot color transparency film, E-6 i s the only choice.
Having spent many years professionally processing E-6 I can tell you that the pe rmanence of your image is determined greatly by how well your film is processed. So many labs are so concerned about the immediate quality of your processed film that they somtimes take shortcuts in the processing of the film, that will most likely lead to premature degradation of the image long term. For instance the f inal wash step is very critical to long term stability. Some processors cut this step a little short. Proper wash volume rate as well. The last step "stablizer" is even more important. Too many labs overuse and or use this chemical beyond i ts time severly reducing its effectiveness. The stabilizer simply speaking stabi lizes any residule dye couplers in the film not accomplishing this pretty much d estroys what ever hopes you had about long term image stability. It really does' nt make much sense to frett over which film offers the best long term image stab ility but which Lab takes the necassary time and effort to help bring about long term image stability.Good luck in finding such a lab.