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In use, a special tri-
colored filter was
placed in front of
the camera lens, this
separated the image
colors into three
bands of color, the
embossed lenses on
the film broke the
image into narrow
vertical strips
representing the
red, blue and green
content of the The Kodacolor filters for the projector (left) and the camera (right)
image. The result is
recorded onto the black and white emulsion which is on the opposite side of the film
to the lenticular lenses.

The tri-color filter had to be set with the three color filters at precisely 90 degrees to
the horizontal to line up with the embossed lenses on the film, a keyway on both the
camera and projection filters ensured this was the case.

The camera lens had to be set to a fixed focal length and at full aperture. The filter
could not be inserted unless the camera aperture adjustment was set at f1.9. On
bright days, a neutral density filter (or filters) had to be use to control the exposure.

The original Kodacolor film had poor sensitivity to light, (approx. one ISO in today’s
terminology). Kodak later introduced what they called Super Sensitive Kodacolor
which could be used under lesser lighting conditions

Exposed Kodacolor film occasionally shows up in collections of 1930s home movies,
but for the above reasons, a lot that survives today has been underexposed. As well,
it is often mistaken for regular black and white films, the only give away is the fine
verticle stripes that appear on the projected image.

Projection

To project the Kodacolor film, a larger tri-color filter was fitted to the projector, the
projector had to be at the specified distance from the screen for best results. The
black and white lenticular image on the film was reconstituted into a natural color
picture on the screen. As with most color processes involving lenticular images or
filters, the pattern is visible on the screen. Due to the fact that each color band

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