Processing Kodacolor II

[RH Designs]

Picked up an old camera at the weekend and in it was a roll of Kodacolor II, 120 size, about 2/3 exposed. I'd like to see what, if anything, is on this film although it must be VERY old. So, should I have it processed normally in C41 and risk getting nothing, or process it as b+w film and maybe get at least some sort of image? Any advice gratefully received - thanks!

 

[PHOTOTONE]

If you process in c-41, you are most likely going to risk the emulsion just coming off the film base, as the older C22 films were not hardened, like more recent C-41 films are. They cannot tolerate the elevated processing temperatures of the C-41 process.

 

[RH Designs]

If you process in c-41, you are most likely going to risk the emulsion just coming off the film base, as the older C22 films were not hardened, like more recent C-41 films are. They cannot tolerate the elevated processing temperatures of the C-41 process.

The label says "Process C41", but I have read that sometimes really old colour neg film can have deteriorated too much to produce anything useable when processed normally. I don't know when Kodak stopped making Kodacolor II but I haven't heard of it for a l-o-n-g time.

 

[srs5694]

My memory, verified by Wikipedia, is that Kodacolor II was the first C-41 film. The earlier Kodacolor and Kodacolor X films were C-22, but Kodacolor II should process fine in modern C-41 chemistry, with the caveat that the details of the C-41 process have shifted over the years. Most notably, the bleach has changed from being based on ferricyanide to an EDTA compound. I don't know how the old Kodacolor II would react to modern bleaches. (Perhaps PE could comment on that...?) The latest C-41 incarnation also replaces the final stabilizer with a final rinse product; using the latter is likely to result in reduced image stability. Thus, if possible you might want to use stabilizer (it's still available from Dead Link Removed). OTOH, image stability might not be that important for this project.

As to the original question, my own personal inclination would be to try C-41 processing, perhaps adding some benzotriazole to the developer to reduce fogging. I've recently had some surprisingly good results with 20-year-old Soviet slide film. (See my recent (there was a url link here which no longer exists) and Flickr sample scans.) You're likely to get better results scanning than doing traditional darkroom prints, though, if my experience is any guide.

Anyhow, good luck with that film!

 

[srs5694]

The label says "Process C41", but I have read that sometimes really old colour neg film can have deteriorated too much to produce anything useable when processed normally. I don't know when Kodak stopped making Kodacolor II but I haven't heard of it for a l-o-n-g time.

The Wikipedia article says it was introduced in 1972, but there's no discontinuation date mentioned. I distinctly remember that Kodacolor II coexisted with Kodacolor 400 (introduced in 1977) for some time. I believe they were both replaced by the Kodacolor VR line (introduced in 1982).

 

[Ian Grant]

Still have photo's from my first roll of Kodacolor II, what an incredible increase in quality over the original Kodacolor, which had a lot to do with the new C41 chemistry as well as the emulsion. For the first time (as far as I was concerned) Kodak had a colour print film that was better than Agfacolor.

Ian

 

[kraker]

Picked up an old camera at the weekend and in it was a roll of Kodacolor II, 120 size, about 2/3 exposed.

That tends to be what one finds in old cameras... Or it could be just a coincidence, of course. I picked up an old camera a few weeks back and it had the very same film in it. I thought for a minute to develop it, then decided not to. Who knows how many people had already opened the camera before me?

No real advice here, only chiming in to say that it does indeed say "process C-41" on the backing paper and label.

Good luck, and if you have any results, good or bad, let us know.

 

[RH Designs]

Thanks guys, I think I'll go the conventional C41 processing route, maybe post some results if there are any!

 

[GrantR]

I've processed 3 or so rolls of Kodacolor II in the past month--all of them came out looking rather blue--here are some quick scans I did
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[zeruty]

I've processed 3 or so rolls of Kodacolor II in the past month--all of them came out looking rather blue--here are some quick scans I did
Dead Link Removed
Dead Link Removed

Hey, I know this is an old post. I just scanned a KodaColor II negative from my parent's wedding in 1977. The scanned photo is quite blue. Which is not how the remaining prints from 1977 look. I think there must be some sort of color variation on this particular type of film?? This is Kodak 5035 KodaColorII 100, process C-41.