Re: Don't bury Medium Format yet !

[P3D Mark Josephson <icebox@xxxxxxx>]

On Sun, 14 Jul 1996, P3D Smith wrote:

> OH NO, JOHN DON'T GO !!! Medium format 3d is the Ultimate format to many
> Stereographers, don't give up on it merely because you can't get Kodachrome.
> I personally believe the permanence of Kodachrome has been a little
> exagerrated anyway, and the fact of the matter is that NO color slide film
> comes close to the stability of conventional black and white materials. Even
I don't think its exaggerated at all.  When I bought my Realist viewer in 
a very non archival junk shop, some old slides came with it, including 
some of the 1950 Chicago Auto Show. The auto show slides are mostly 
underexposed, but the parts that aren't have as much color depth as 
slides I shoot now.  While BW certainly is more archival, Kodachome is 
what it is cracked up to be (great for long term storage, not great for 
heavy projection).


> if Kodachrome was more archival than other color slide films, it is still
> suseptible to heat, humidity, light, gases, fingerprints and a million other
> nasties. Even the slide mounts, adhesives and storage containers most people
> use for their slides are rarely to museum standards. You would have to
> freeze your slides in the dark forever to attain something close to archival
You don;t have to be so careful to end up with archival slides.  Aluminum 
and glass will do it, though I guess that you'd need to be careful with 
the tape.  

While you might need the freezer to get the full 100 or 200 year life 
expectancy, you certainly don't need it to have something to view until 
you die; or that your grandkids can show their kids.  You just need an 
environment without tremendous humidity shifts.  A well maintained 
central air setup, as found in your standard suburban home, will do the 
trick.  My  exerience has been that 10 year old newspapers kept at my 
parents' house in a dark closet have shown virtually no yellowing in 10 
years, while 15 year old newsprint shows slight yellowing.  Now, my 
parents may go a bit overboard with the artificial environment, but I can 
assure you that they aren't cooling the house to archival-friendly 50 
degree (F) temperatures.  :)  

--
Mark Josephson  | "People are going to get all excited about this for 
icebox@xxxxxxx  |  awhile, but there's nothing like low fares to take
                |  peoples minds off of safety"
                |  -- Bob Iverson, president of Sky Trek International
----------------|    and co-founder of Kiwi air, on the Valujet crash
Icebox in effect on WHPK 88.5 FM, Chicago, Wednesdays, 9PM-Midnite 


------------------------------