1950s negatives - archival qualities

Dear all

I have just bought a very large number of negatives from the archives of a professional photographer who worked in the East End of London. They are almost all 6x6 and date from 1953 to 1960, and I estimate there are between 7,000 and 10,000 individual negatives.

The 6x6s are generally in perfect condition, but scattered through the collection are just a handful of 5x4s which have not survived as well. I found a 5x4 colour negative from a 1958 wedding, which is quite brittle, and most of the black and white 5x4s are badly wrinkled. One or two say Kodak Safety Film on the edge.

Can anyone suggest why the 6x6s are perfect and the 5x4s have deteriorated so badly? They have been stored together in paper envelopes, one for each event, so the temperature and humidity would have been the same for all these years.

Many thanks in advance

Kevin

Many factors can affect film stability. The most common problems arise from an interaction between the chemical structure of the original film base, the way the film was processed, and the storage conditions (temperature, humidity, housing materials, and degree of air exchange between the film and its housing and larger atmosphere). The negs in the different formats probably differed in some of those variables. Some of the early safety films are prone to a decay condition called vinegar syndrome, and they do smell like acetic acid when the decay is advanced. If the 5X4s have this problem, then it is very important to segregate them from the other stable negatives (like not in the same cabinet), keep them in housings where they can "breathe", and copy them as soon as possible.

Thanks macrorie, that is very helpful - the storage has been identical, but the film base seems different and I can imagine the processing would have been different, maybe the kind of tank we still use now for 120 and dip and dunk for the 5x4.

There doesn't seem to be any vinegar smell, but sadly almost all the 5x4s are much too wrinkled to copy. It's a shame, because amongst the dozens of weddings there are some interesting commercial / social shots that look like they were fantastic.

Thanks again

Kevin

I've come across old negatives which have wrinkled, seemingly from the type of envelopes, perhaps allied with poor storage conditions. Maybe a reaction with something in the envelopes not being suitable for archival storage.

Were the 6x6 negs in a different kind or make of envelope?

Even with common climate envirnment for all films, the longevity really depends on the material as well as the processing they undergone before storing.

One cannot even say that film on cellulose nitrate base keeps less, as there has been report of Kodak films on cellulose triacetate base totally deteriorating whereas other films from the same archive on similar base but from other manufacturers were in good state.

In case you are really concerned about the future of those films you might seek advice from a professional consultant on photographical archiving.

railwayman3 said:

Were the 6x6 negs in a different kind or make of envelope?

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That was one of the things that was puzzling, because in each case they are in the same envelope with perfect 6x6s from the same wedding or other shoot. They are plain brown paper, one per event, and they are stored in old Ilfobrom boxes. Fortunately there aren't that many 5x4s, so I think I'll take them all out and store them separately.

Cheers

Kevin

AgX said:

One cannot even say that film on cellulose nitrate base keeps less, as there has been report of Kodak films on cellulose triacetate base totally deteriorating whereas other films from the same archive on similar base but from other manufacturers were in good state.

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Ah, now this is useful. I've been Googling and found some information about different kinds of film base that I hadn't heard of before. I found an article that mentions bubbles forming in acetate film, which is a better way of describing what I called wrinkles. From my reading so far I would guess that the whole collection is on acetate of some kind, but with enough differences that you and others have mentioned to account for the varied amounts of deterioration.

Many thanks

Kevin