P3D Re: P3D Re: P3D Prints vs slides - Archival Qualities

[Eric Goldstein <egoldste@xxxxxx>]

Bob Wier wrote:
> 
> On Kodachrome slides - my experience with them (up thru the early
> 70's) is that they have been very stable.


Unless, as George pointed out, they were projected. Projecting
Kodachrome notably and dramatically shortens the life of the chrome,
then and now. Ironically, accelerated aging tests with some the new E-6
emulsions show them far less susceptible in this area...

With regard to achival characteristics of b/w vs Kodachrome, so many
factors enter into the equation that blanket statements are not
meaningfull. In ideal circumstances, b/w prints and negs can live for
150+ years, but how many have been processed, mounted and stored as
required for full archival characteristics? Certainly not anywhere near
the majority of them, and anything which was lab processed for home use
was (is) likely not fully fixed or washed with fully spec soup...

I have seen Kodachrome slides from the 1937 World's Fair (where the
emulsion was introduced by Kodak to the public) and they were impressive
indeed, showing no obvious sign of deterioration. Had they been
projected or even subjected to extensive daylight, they would likely not
have held up so well...

Digital converstion and storage has it's own foibles... do not expect
most conventionally available forms of digital storage (including CDs
and M/Os) to last beyond 10 years!


Eric G.


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