Mystery film - can anyone please help identify this roll of film?

[free_amy]

Hi all - having trawled through hundreds of forum posts on here and seen comments from some clearly very knowledgeable members, I hope that one of you might be able to help me in identifying the below mystery film.

I bought this in a job lot of old films and sadly didn't take down the full details of it before I gave it to the lab for development, and now all I have to go on for my records is this image. Any suggestions as to its brand/make would be very gratefully received.

Thank you in advance

 

[Ian Grant]

Ferrania film sold as own label by ColourC?are? I seem to remember ColorCare as being a lab that processed for UK pharmacies etc.

Welcome to APUG BTW

Ian

 

[MattKing]

Welcome to APUG.

Is there anything printed on the other side?

Most likely it is a "house" brand colour print film purchased in quantity by someone like a photo-finisher for use in a "have your film developed and printed by us and we will give you a free roll of film in return" program.

It is quite old - ASA/DIN rather than ISO. It isn't incredibly old though - 24 exposures rather than 20.

The fact that it is made in Italy hints that it might have been manufactured by Ferrania.

Is there anything on the back that might hint as to the process (C-41, C-22, or ??)?

 

[free_amy]

Thank you Ian and Matt for your speedy response (and warm welcome) - looks like I came to the right place

ColourCare could indeed be it.

I honestly can't remember what else was written on the other side, but I was able to get it printed at a standard processing lab that doesn't do any sorts of special film developing - basically just 35mm... don't know if that means anything.

I will do some research into ColourCare.

thank you again!

 

[Diapositivo]

I don't think there ever were other colour material manufacturers in Italy besides Ferrania (later bought by 3M and labelled as such, later sold by 3M and labelled Ferrania again).

Ferrania seems to have closed doors (of film production facilities) a few months ago. I still have some of their rolls in the fridge to be developed. It seems there are now only 3 colour film producers left in the entire planet (Fujifilm, Kodak and Agfa).

 

[newcan1]

I think Ferrania has edge markings so you could look at the negatives for clues. I have some Ferrania that was lying around in a closet and I shot and developed it recently and it wasn't bad - the edge said "Ferrania 200 87/2" or something like that, which I assume means it was manufactured in 1987.

I am told that Ferrania closed down 2 years ago and the factory was torn down. Solaris film in Europe, which used to be Ferrania, is apparently made by Kodak. This was told to me by the owner of a company that sells a huge number of private label disposable film cameras.

 

[MattKing]

Did Ferrania ever make older, C22 compatible film? If so, it might be important for the OP to know.

 

[newcan1]

I think Ferrania was a spin-off from 3M. The spin-off must have been in the mid-1980's or early 1990's (because I was buying 3M film in the 80's before it spun off). So I don't think Ferrania itself would have made C-22, it would have been too late for that.

 

[newcan1]

Of course, the film could be 3M (i.e. pre-Ferrania)...

 

[mts]

Made in Italy = Ferrania (probably).

 

[Ian Grant]

I think Ferrania was a spin-off from 3M. The spin-off must have been in the mid-1980's or early 1990's (because I was buying 3M film in the 80's before it spun off). So I don't think Ferrania itself would have made C-22, it would have been too late for that.

Ferrania was founded in 1923 long before being taken over by 3M in 1964. Their pre-C41/E6 films like most manufacturers in Europe were related to the Agfa colour processes. The first colour films I processed were Ferrania transparency a very finick long process.

When 3M began pulling out of film manufacture in 1999 Ferrania was bought by an investment company, sold again and struggled to survive.

Ian

 

[Diapositivo]

I am told that Ferrania closed down 2 years ago and the factory was torn down. Solaris film in Europe, which used to be Ferrania, is apparently made by Kodak. This was told to me by the owner of a company that sells a huge number of private label disposable film cameras.

The last film I bought (or one of the last ones, I still have one cardboard box) had an expiry date of December 2011, lot number MC8350 and was produced "in the E.U", which I suppose means not by Kodak. It is marked "Ferrania Technologies". I do believe this was produced in the Ferrania factory, but it could certainly have been a master roll produced one year before. Internet sources say the production of film ended in 2009 but I don't know if this is accurate as the end of film production was announced several times and then postponed thanks to public subsidies.

I deem very likely that all the Solaris Ferrania rolls available on eBay were actually produced in Ferrania, because they now appear to have disappeared, I only see those with expiry dates of 2011 - 2012.

Fabrizio

PS The firm was actually born as SIPE (Società Italiana Produzione Esplosivi, I suppose) in 1882 as an explosive factory situated in Cengio, in the province of Savona, Liguria.
In 1916 the great increase in production of explosives required for the needs of WWI (mainly for export to Russia) led to the creation of a new factory in nearby Ferrania, a fraction of the municipality of Cairo Montenotte, in the same province of Savona.
In 1923 it changed its name into FILM, Fabbrica italiana lamine Milano.
In 1935 it became Fabbriche Riunite Cappelli e Ferrania.
In 1938 simply Ferrania.
In 1964 it was bought by 3M, which sold it in 1999.
Since then its road was more or less a Calvary.