Celluloid no more: distribution of film to cease by 2013 in the US

[roresteen]

Well, maybe Kodak and Fuji won't bother with still photography emulsions, but it seem that Ilford, Efke, and Adox have done just fine producing and selling BW film. I could live with that, if need be...but let's face it, there are millions of film photographers who want film. I imagine Kodak/Fuji can and will make film to satisfy that market at a profit.

[buggz]

I just started 4x5 this year, I am wondering if this was a bad choice for me to have waited so late...
BW is okay, but I still like color.
I do not like, nor want the omission of color, and am getting peeved that this is okay to do.
Sigh, nothing I can do about it though.
Just saying...

[Mark Sawyer]

Anybody know how long it's been since still film was made on celluloid base - nearly a hundred years?

It already got unpopular before WW I after a series of disastrous cinema fires. It was widely banned as a consumer material by the twenties, and phased out as a professional projection material by the fifties (indeed, there had been moves to make acetate security film obligatory in the thirties, but celluloid saw a comeback due to wartime economies). As process film and motion picture taking stock it kept around until polyester bases became widespread - for multi-strip colour processes and optical masking effects its dimensional stability sometimes was still needed up into the seventies.

Celluloid has had nothing to do with still photography for nearly a century.

There seems to be some confusion running through the thread...

Cellulose nitrate film was the highly flammable film, and the reason it was illegal to yell "Fire!" in a movie house. It was the first flexible film (used in the first Kodak), introduced in 1888 and phased out in the 1930's. It was replaced by "Safety Film", the non-flammable cellulose acetate. This was later replaced by an improved version, cellulose triacetate, which was used on photographic films into the 1970's. Polyester polymer film bases came in during the 1960's, and as far as I know, have been the only film bases used since the late 1970's, but it's entirely possible that small manufacturers used cellulose triacetate longer.

But we've been on polyester quite a while now...

[Drew Wiley]

Thanks for the clarification, Mark. So what's the fuss all about to begin with?

[Mark Sawyer]

I'm not sure what the fuss is about, but I think we should be outraged that we're making our negatives on the same material disco leisure suits and plaid golf slacks were made out of...

[Drew Wiley]

I strongly prefer polyester film base for its dimensional stability, and suggest that for fabrics they substitute cellulose nitrate - that way all those tacky/trendy clothes would self-combust before going out of style. But most photographs probably deserve to self-immolate too.

[Andrew O'Neill]

I'm not sure what the fuss is about, but I think we should be outraged that we're making our negatives on the same material disco leisure suits and plaid golf slacks were made out of...

HAHAHAHA! Mark, you made my day!

[Brian C. Miller]

I'm not sure what the fuss is about, but I think we should be outraged that we're making our negatives on the same material disco leisure suits and plaid golf slacks were made out of...

No, we should be outraged that disco liesure suits and plaid golf slacks aren't made out of nitrocellulose.

[Steve Smith]

Polyester polymer film bases came in during the 1960's, and as far as I know, have been the only film bases used since the late 1970's

According to Ilford's data sheets, 35mm and 120 are coated on acetate and only sheet films are on polyester.

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/...2125850702.pdf


Steve.

[rfesk]

According to Ilford's data sheets, 35mm and 120 are coated on acetate and only sheet films are on polyester.

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/...2125850702.pdf


Steve.

True for Kodak's films also.