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Letter to the Editor

Dear Mike, In my experience, film archives are staffed by
social historians who have no knowledge or
It was most interesting to read your editorial in experience of handing film at all and simply
the December 2018 issue of Reel Deals, partic- contract out their digitisation requirements (see
ularly in relation to Vinegar syndrome. The below). I am sure you will concur!
problem certainly exists in the UK but not on
the scale you describe and this is probably due Thought: UK Archives absorb film like a
to our cooler climate. sponge. They receive footage at no cost, digi-
tise it and then store it in their temperature and
Having produced the Debonair Film Collectors humidity controlled vault so it will likely never
List for the past 20 years, I continue to check see light of day, let alone a projector again.
every single film sold (many thousands of reels However we live in times of economy and cost
by now!), so I thought you might be interested cutting and await the annual visit of the auditor
in my collective thoughts and experience of who may suggest that as all the material in the
acetic films which are described in the enclosed vault has been digitised, why keep the films at
attachments, together with some examples of all? They take up valuable floor space that is
‘Tips From The Archive’ from past issues. costly to run. It has not happened yet to my
knowledge, but we wait with baited breath!
I have also presented archive 35 mm and 16 mm
film screenings in theatres, village halls, etc, for Kindest regards
the past 40 years (and continue to do so) and Rob Foxon
have dealt with film laboratories and UK ar-
chives for all of that time in the production of
duplicate negatives and prints. Naturally, film Thanks Rob, great to hear from you. See Rob’s
laboratories know little about the afflictions of article on VS in this edition. ‘Tips From The Archive’
old film stock except for getting it through the has been held over until the next edition due to
copying machine, as they deal in new material. space limitations.

Ektachrome Revived Rodney Bourke
In December 2012, Kodak announced it had ceased production
of all Ektachrome film. They claimed it was due to the slowing
of the economy and the move to digital photography.

Surprisingly, in 2016, Kodak announced, they would be bringing
back Ektachrome film. There were problem to be overcome,
Kodak chemists were working on new materials as some chemi-
cals previously used in the process had been banned and new
alternatives had to be found. The new Ektachrome film was
finally released in October last year.
Unfortunately, the cost of the new Ektachrome has doubled,
making the use of Super 8 film quite expensive.
I spoke to Richard of Nano Lab, and asked him how does the processing the new 100D compare
to the version released in 2010. He said the old one was great and this new one is even slightly
better, and he is very impressed with the quality of this film. The only down side is the price.

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