Handling old B&W negatives

I discovered stacks of old B&W negatives taken by my late gradfather in early 1930's. They are stored in quality paper envelopes and seem to be in good condition. His print's from that time are in near perfect condition so there were no big faults in his processing.

This far I have avoided handling these negative too much as I don't want to harm them anyway. Materials are most probably german, I haven't yet examined them in more detail.
I plan printing some new prints from these old neg's. I'd like to hear about your experience and suggestions about handling, printing and conservation of old negatives before I start.

Wear cotton gloves. As for storage, I don't know about these quality paper envelopes, but I would suggest considering replacing them with something archival (if possible). I don't see why you can't make prints of these as you would any other negatives.

ekjt said:

...I'd like to hear about your experience and suggestions about handling, printing and conservation of old negatives before I start.

Click to expand...

You may find this useful as far as storage goes

http://www.cr.nps.gov/museum/publications/conserveogram/14-02.pdf

The Library of Congress website (www.loc.gov) also has some resources that you may find helpful.

Printing should be just the same as with a fresh negative. Just be sure to always use cotton gloves when handling prints or negatives of value.

- Randy

Almost forgot! Some negatives are flamable, so use great care in their storage.

Check this for some basic intro on nitrocellulose negs...

Dead Link Removed

There are better resources out there, but I don't have access to my bookmarks right now...

- Randy

reelis67, you beat me to it!

If your negatives are from the 1930's they are pretty much going to be nitrate, but be aware that safety film has been around in one form or another since the late 1890's, so they may not all be nitrate.

In the interest of safety, it is more reasonable to assume they are all nitrate and treat them as such; not a big deal.

I work around nitrate on a daily basis, so please be aware of a few safety concerns.

While most Eastman Kodak materials since the early teens have been clearly labeled "Nitrate film", some manufacturers put no obvious marking on the filmstock. Just because there is not a mark, do NOT assume it is NOT nitrate. Treat it like any other negative you have respect for, and keep it cool and at a relative humidity of about 30% to 50% and avoid heating the film to temperatures beyond 130 degrees for extended periods of time, because if nitrate catches fire, it can not be extinguished, as it generates its own oxygen source and has an exponential burn curve. Burning nitrate liberates phosgene, acid and other very toxic byproducts; don't do it on purpose or allow it to happen!

Here are some eye-opening clips of nitrate burning; Don't do this at home folks!

All links courtesy of Film-Tech.com;

http://www.film-tech.com/warehouse/trailers/nitrate/nitrate2.mpg
http://www.film-tech.com/warehouse/trailers/nitrate/nitrate1.mpg
http://www.film-tech.com/warehouse/trailers/nitrate/nitrate3.mpg


If you have any decomposition on the negatives (gooey-sticky "honey" weeping from the base or the terminal state of brown powder as the base turns to dust), be aware that it makes the stock less chemically stable and more prone to combustion at lower temperatures; you will definitely want to make dupe negs ASAP ! If you cannot afford that, put all decomp film in a can, seal it with tape and put it in the freezer until you can afford to copy it, but don't wait too long! The cold only slows down the decomp, but it still continues. Observe the normal cautions when pulling out frozen film from a freezer; wait until it reaches room temperature before unsealing the can. Water is especially bad for nitrate film that is going decomp because it takes the emulsion right off the base like magic.

If you have any questions, PM me and I'll be happy to answer off list.

Frank W.

You also might check out "Conservation of Photographs", Kodak Publication F-40. ISBN 0-87985-352-2. It has sections on identifying older emulsions and film stocks and lengthy discussions on preserving the older photographs.

Allen

You may wish to use conservation grade sleeves for these negatives. Check out what Conservation Resources International has to offer at:

http://www.conservationresources.com/Main/section_5/section5_04.htm

A lot of technical info is available on museum-grade conservation issues.