Help identifying older film stock for best low fade

[Frank Raia]

First off, I dont think this applies to 'Poly' film, I am under the impression that 'Poly' is low fade. Am I correct? If not can someone explain.

If so, I guess Acetate film is subject to fading.

When I am searching for older films I see a lot of them have turned or are turning red. I assume that is fading. Every time i see this the film has EASTMAN printed on the side. So I stay clear of EASTMAN.
Prints that are labeled LPP seem to look great. I acquired 2 partial films from 1982 and 1984 that are LPP and the color looks great.

Other stocks that I see are IB technicolor, LLP, Agfa-Gevaert, Fuji

Can anyone list film stocks from best to worst for fading?

Thank you!

[Ed Gordon]

AI Overview
Film stock longevity and resistance to fading heavily depend on the
type of film process (e.g., color vs. black and white, reversal vs. negative) and the specific dyes used by the manufacturer, rather than the brand alone.
In general, the order of permanence from best resistance to worst fading is:

Black and White film
Color Reversal (Slide) film, especially certain professional and older specific processes
Color Negative (Print) film

Best Resistance to Fading

Black and White Films: These are the most stable, as the image is made of metallic silver particles suspended in gelatin, which is highly resistant to fading when properly processed and stored.
Ilford Ilfochrome (Cibachrome) materials: These used pre-formed, vegetable-based dyes and a polyester base, making them essentially permanent in dark storage and very resistant to light fading. This process is no longer commonly available.
Kodachrome (K-14 process): Widely considered the gold standard for longevity in color film, with properly stored slides from the 1950s still looking excellent today. The specific dye process made it very stable, but the process is now discontinued.
Modern Professional Color Films: Specific stocks like Kodak Ektar 100 or films within the Kodak Vision 3 motion picture family (since 2007) are designed with improved dye stability compared to older consumer films.

Worst Resistance to Fading

Early Eastman Color Negative Print Stocks (approx. 1953-1982): These films are infamous for rapid fading, often turning completely magenta or red because the cyan dye faded the fastest.
Consumer Color Negative Films: Films designed for mass market use often prioritize cost and ease of processing over extreme archival stability compared to professional lines.

Key Factors in Fading

Storage Conditions: All film fades much faster in high heat, high humidity, and when exposed to light or UV radiation. Proper storage in a cool, dry, and dark place (ideally frozen) is the single most important factor for preservation.
Dye Type: The chemical stability of the specific dyes used in the emulsion is the primary determinant of a film's longevity.
Processing: Proper processing and washing (removing all residual chemicals) are crucial for longevity.

Acetate VS Poly film:

AI Overview

Vinegar syndrome is the decay of cellulose acetate film, releasing acetic acid (vinegar smell) and causing brittleness, curling, and bubbling, but polyester film (like Mylar) is largely immune because it lacks an acetate base, making it far more stable, though the image on polyester can still degrade if the emulsion is affected, requiring isolation and cool, dry storage for any film to slow decay.

What is Vinegar Syndrome?

• Cause: A chemical breakdown of cellulose acetate film, accelerated by heat and humidity, which releases acetic acid.
• Symptoms: A distinct vinegar smell, bubbling, channelling (lines/channels in the emulsion), and shrinking/brittleness of the film base.
• Impact: The decay is autocatalytic (self-accelerating) and infectious, spreading acid vapors to other films, destroying irreplaceable images.

Polyester Film & Vinegar Syndrome

• Immunity: Polyester (often Mylar) film is highly resistant to vinegar syndrome because it's chemically stable and doesn't contain the acetate that breaks down.
• Stability: Polyester is considered chemically safe and lasts significantly longer than acetate films, though recent studies look into its potential for decay under extreme conditions.
• The Image: While the polyester base is safe, the emulsion (the image layer) can still degrade, so polyester films still need careful preservation, especially from heat and humidity, say experts at the Image Permanence Institute.

[Jim Cassedy]

Film fading is a topic that could fill a book. . and indeed, many books have been written about it.
I'll let someone else here wade into this topic, although, remember, "Google can be your friend"
in matters like this.

But, very generally speaking:
> Poly(as in "Polyester") and Acetate are two different types of film 'base'. It's the emulsion on the
film that fades, not the base it's coated onto. (although some very, very old film bases do have
a tendency to develop a yellowish amber hue) Relatively speaking, since 'poly' bases are newer
than acetate, you'll tend to see more faded prints on acetate. But fading and/or color shifts can
happen on either type of film stock.

> Almost all 'monopack' type film prints are subject to turning pink/red. That includes Fuji and
Agfa, etc. I've seen prints on Fujifilm that have faded just as badly as EastmanColor prints.

> "LPP" ("Low Fade Positive Print ) film stock was introduced in the early 1980's, and had an
emulsion chemistry that was more resistant to fading and color shifts over time.
But, that being said, how a film was processed, and the conditions it was stored under can also
greatly affect the color stability. For example, I once owned two movies from the same studio
that were produced roughly a year apart. (1964 & 1965). They were both on the same type of
film stock, and printed by the same lab, although in two different cities. I have no idea of their
storage conditions before I acquired them, but once I got them in the mid 1980's, they were
stored under reasonable conditions, in the same dark closet and even on the same shelf.
By the early 2000's, the color on one print was still almost 'good as new', yet the other one
had turned so pink it was unwatchable. (and I eventually dumped it)

As for IB Technicolor prints, they DO hold their color extremely well over time, but the film
emulsion can still deteriorate, depending on storage conditions. I had a similar situation to the
one I described earlier a pair of IB Tech prints. Both titles were from the same studio, and
both were printed by Technicolor, although one was from their Los Angeles lab, and the other
one was printed by Technicolor in London. They were both in equally good condition when I
acquired them, but after about a decade, the colors were still bright & vibrant, but tiny flecks
of the emulsion on one of them began to flake off each time it was run, eventually making the
print unwatchable. Also, I think the dyes used in IB Tech were more 'organic' than those used
in conventional monopack prints, because I've seen IB tech prints that were stored in damp
conditions in an old theater basement where the emulsion was being attacked and eaten
away by mold. Conventional prints in the same basement were faded and had water spots, but
were mold free. I've also handled several old IB-Tech musicals from the 1960's with magnetic
sound tracks, and the mag tracks apparently had a different coefficient of expansion than the
film base, which distorted the edges of the film, and made running the mag tracks impossible,
although the IB-Tech colors (and the optical mono soundtrack) were still in good shape.

At my current venue, we run many older titles (from the 60's, 70s & 80's) on 35mm . Most of
these come from studio vaults, and a few from private collectors. I've handled numerous
vintage prints on Eastman film, that were still 'like new', so again, I think original processing
practices and how well they were stored had a lot to do with maintaining the color quality.

I'm sure somebody here on FT can write a much more scholarly dissertation on this topic
than me, but I just thought I"d pass along a few of my personal observations and experiences
from owning and handling older film prints.

[Jesse Crooks]

I would be surprised if you found any faded polyester prints, simply because the industry had switched to low fade color processes by the time they switched to polyester for release prints. The base has nothing to do with the color process though.

The short version is that if it was printed prior to 1982 it's probably faded unless it's IB Technicolor. Kodak went low fade in 1982, and Fuji did around the same time. Agfa still faded into the mid-90s. There are some less common processes, that but accounts for most of what you'll come across.

Of the color processes you are likely to see on 35mm release prints in the states:

Low Fade:

• IB Technicolor - The best!
• Kodak VISION (2383) - Introduced in 1998, still in use. The stock number is marked on the film edge.
• Kodak VISION Premier (2393) - Produced from 1998 to 2015 - Higher density blacks than standard VISION.
• Eastman EXR (5386 - Acetate / 2386 - Polyester) - Produced from 1993 to c.2002. The edge marking just says "386" rather than the full stock number.
• Kodak LPP - Introduced 1982. Their first low-fade stock. Many people incorrectly use "LPP" as shorthand for "low fade" when referring to later Kodak stock.
• Fuji - Introduced low fade around the same time as Kodak (early 80s). Not sure of the year. I don't think there are differentiating edge markings for fading vs. low fade.
• Cinecolor - Two-color process, discontinued 1955. A cheaper alternative to Technicolor. It doesn't fade, but what I've seen is prone to registration issues (color fringing).
• Ansco 848 - Not common in the US, but I have two trailers from 1954 that still have perfect color.

It is also pretty common for film in the late 90s and 2000s to have no discernable brand markings, but be low fade.


Moderate Fade:

• Kodak SP ("special process") - Manufactured 1974-1983. Fades orange / brown. Ugly as sin to me... holds onto more color than Eastman Color, but I'd rather watch something pink because I hate the SP color palette.
• Fuji - Prior to the switch to proper low fade stock, Fuji improved to the point that it doesn't fade as badly as Eastman. It fades purple instead of red/pink, and tends to hold onto its whites.
• AgfaColor - Fades to varying degrees (and somewhat erratically, rather than tending towards a certain color) into at least the mid-90s. I've been told that the AgfaColor manufactured for the European market was better.

High Fade:

• Eastman Color - Turns pink. Eastman rebranded for marketing purposes includes:
  • Metrocolor
  • WarnerColor
  • Pathécolor (not to be confused with the early hand stenciling system with the same name)
• Fuji - Older Fuji fades badly. It can also suffer from "Fuji rot," a decay that leads to blotching that looks kind of like mold bloom.

The specific dates listed above for Kodak stocks were taken from Wikipedia, so don't quote me on them. But the rest of the info on that page matches what I've found on Kodak's spec sheets for their color stock so I think it's reliable.

[Jesse Crooks]

If you also considered foreign markets and film from the nitrate era, there would be some other low fade stocks, like Gasparcolor.

You can find a dizzying amount of information about color processes on the Timeline of Historical Colors in Photography and Film database. The Film Atlas website also has a ton of great information.

[Frank Raia]

Thank you Jesse, that was exactly what I was looking for!

What about prints from abroad? Older prints seem to fade less. I have heard this from collectors. Was the processing different than here in the U.S. ?

[Juergen Kellermann]

Some more comments on film colour.


AGFA
A while ago, I wrote a short article for the Australian film collector's magazine REEL DEALS...
https://www.researchgate.net/publica...sses_AGFA_ORWO

In short, early Agfa used its own chemistry for development. In 1968, the traditional Agfa chemistry was changed to an Eastman compatible process, i.e. from then on labs could use the same processor for both film stocks.

East German Agfa was renamed ORWO in 1964. ORWO film stock did not change the chemistry, but used the traditional Agfa process. In the article I stated that ORWO cannot be dated from the edge code, but that's not correct.

Ansco was an American subsidiary the Agfa company and produced colour film using Agfa chemistry even during WWII.

A lot of European collectors prefer Agfa prints, and many of these can have very good colour. If fading is observed, then it is usually a loss of colour saturation, the film appearing paler overall. In older films, especially in Orwo film stock, there might be a slight shift of the colours to blue/purple, but all other colours are usually still present. And it is definitely not a shift to red/pink, as in Eastmancolor films.

There were a lot of Agfa derivatives after the war, as the allies declared German patents open for everyone to use.


FERRANIA
This was an Italian producer that was taken over by the American 3M company in the 1960s. Early Ferrania film stock was based on the Agfa chemistry and has very good colour, but once it was labelled 3M the chemistry changed and these films fade quite badly towards brown.


FUJI
Yes this fades also, as is stated above. It is low fade from around 1985.


See also this web-page about film colours in 16mm films, which I find very useful...

https://www.paulivester.com/films/filmstock/guide.htm

[Leo Enticknap]

Film fading is a topic that could fill a book. . and indeed, many books have been written about it.

One of the most comprehensive and authoritative is available free online: Wilhelm and Brower, The Permanence and Care of Color Photographs...

[Ryan Gallagher]

While we are recommending books, there is this archivists “bible” for identifying film:

Physical Characteristics of Early Films as Aids to Identification: New expanded Edition

https://a.co/d/07aEaqcM

[Jim Cassedy]

While we are recommending books, there is this archivists “bible” for identifying film:

Physical Characteristics of Early Films as Aids to Identification: New expanded Edition
https://a.co/d/07aEaqcM

I've had that book for several years, and I gave another one away to a friend who is very
interested in film restoration, and is currently somewhere back east taking a course and
doing some sort of internship in that field.

While I doubt I'll ever stumble across a vintage Méliès print, that book does have one of the most
comprehensive guides to edge-codes I've come across. For Eastman, for example, it not only
has the usual 'date code' table that can be found anywhere, but it also decodes all the other
cryptic symbols, such as the slitter and strip number, emulsion, type of perforations and a few
other interesting items. They even have edgecode info for obscure or no longer manufactured
film stocks and they even have some info for the Chinese made "Lucky Film Corporation" films,
which has the edge-codes printed in Chinese.