winger
Subscriber
A friend of mine is involved with a historical group and recently received a box of stuff that includes some old negatives. They had been stacked and stored in a box in an attic (yeah, I know). Some of them are 4x5 or 4x5-ish and some appear to be 120. I have not personally seen them, but the friend who has them does shoot film and knows much more than nothing.
But a bunch of the negatives are wrinkled looking. The photos he sent me look like the emulsion and the base are separated in some spots, but not everywhere. I don't know which, but it kinds looks like one shrank or the other grew. The result is a non-flat, almost bubbled-looking neg. I'll try to get the pics on here somehow.
Is there any way to rehydrate them in order to get them flat? He said they don't seem brittle. They're 1940s-1950s, so probably not nitrite base. He wants to preserve the images as well as make the negs themselves ok to survive awhile. There are only a couple that he's willing to sacrifice to experiments, though.
He also said that some of the 4x5 ones are regular 4x5 film, but some look like film that's been cut down and those don't always fit quite right in the sleeves he has for 4x5.
But a bunch of the negatives are wrinkled looking. The photos he sent me look like the emulsion and the base are separated in some spots, but not everywhere. I don't know which, but it kinds looks like one shrank or the other grew. The result is a non-flat, almost bubbled-looking neg. I'll try to get the pics on here somehow.
Is there any way to rehydrate them in order to get them flat? He said they don't seem brittle. They're 1940s-1950s, so probably not nitrite base. He wants to preserve the images as well as make the negs themselves ok to survive awhile. There are only a couple that he's willing to sacrifice to experiments, though.
He also said that some of the 4x5 ones are regular 4x5 film, but some look like film that's been cut down and those don't always fit quite right in the sleeves he has for 4x5.