Kodachrome/Ektachrome sheet film? Help me identify these.

Dear APUG Members,

I recently bought a box of color transparency's, which were advertised as being from the 1930s/1940s, but i am not quite sure what kind they are.
Maybe the APUG community would be so kind to help me with this?

There are 2 kinds of transparency's in the box:

- (1) Good color and sharpness with a silverish emulsion on the back. When you look at the back and turn it a bit sideways it looks like a negative, but when you look at it from the glossy front it looks normal. Image size (not counting the black borders of the transparency): 5.9 by 5.6cm and a bit under 6 by 9cm

- (2) Less/washed out color and a bit less sharp. Glossy on both sides (no silverish emulsion). These have a 7 digit number at the side and about 5 of them are dated 1949. Image size (not counting the black borders of the transparency): 5.9 by 5.6cm

Could number 1 be Kodachrome sheet film and number 2 be Ektachrome sheet film? Or were there any other color films availible in the 1930s/1940s in these sizes?

I really hope someone could help me identify these. Please also see the pictures in the attachment (either numbered 1 or 2)

Thank you.

Could be Dufaycolor.
Can you see ruled lines under magnification?

Mike

BainDarret said:

Could be Dufaycolor.
Can you see ruled lines under magnification?

Mike

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Hi Mike,

Thank you for your response but i am pretty sure that they aren't dufaycolor. When i look at them under a 60x - 100x microscope there aren't any lines visible.

Florian

I have a partial box of Kodachrome 4x5" sheet film, expired February of 1949, with the following notch code:

\/ \/ \__/ \__/

If your film doesn't have this, I would guess it's not Kodachrome sheet film. Could it be a rollfilm format that's been cut down to single frames?

rthomas said:

I have a partial box of Kodachrome 4x5" sheet film, expired February of 1949, with the following notch code:

\/ \/ \__/ \__/

If your film doesn't have this, I would guess it's not Kodachrome sheet film. Could it be a rollfilm format that's been cut down to single frames?

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It could be rollfilm they are definitely cut by hand. Did all kodachrome sheet film have notch codes? Maybe the notch code might have been cut off.
If it isn't sheet film which company's did make medium format color rollfilm in the 1940s ?

What Kodachrome has, if you look at the emulsion side, is a very, very slight relief of the image. Other color processes are flat.

They actually look like Agfachrome images to me.

michaelbsc said:

What Kodachrome has, if you look at the emulsion side, is a very, very slight relief of the image. Other color processes are flat.

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The emulsion side is totally flat, so then they are definitely not kodachrome. Does anyone know of a other 1940s medium format color film?

Prof_Pixel said:

They actually look like Agfachrome images to me.

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Do you mean number 1 or 2? Was Agfachrome around in the 1940s or did you mean Agfacolor? And did they make medium format? Sorry for all the questions but i don't know very much about the history of Agfa color films

Since the Agfa reversal film I shot was in the late '50s, it was Agfachrome. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agfacolor

Rather confusingly, Agfa seemed to use the "Agfacolor" name for both reversal and negative films, e.g. Agfacolor CT18. (At least in the UK and Europe?)

Prof_Pixel said:

Since the Agfa reversal film I shot was in the late '50s, it was Agfachrome. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agfacolor

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Do not trust the Internet...


Agfacolor was the trade name for all of Agfa's colour materials starting with their random grid additive plates and films, going to their lenticular films up to their subtractive materials.

Following the US manner of designating colour reversal materials with the ending "-chrome" Agfa changed for the US market the designation of their amateur reversal films to Agfachrome in the 60's.
In 1970 they did so with their professional range and in 1978 with their consumer films in the non-US market.

As there were a lot of manufacturers of subtractive reversal films, those transparencies could be a lot of materials.

Though that silver-image in part of those transparencies reduces the number. It could be due to a positive silver-mask (that could be viewed as a negative in reflective lighting) based in the lower layers.
This would reduce the number of manufacturers to 4.