Provia- Oh. My. God.

[Ken Nadvornick]

Note that E6 films have excellent archival properties only when not exposed to light. Normal projection use (a few minutes of viewing every few months) is not a problem but leaving a chrome (unless it's Kodachrome or Ilfochrome) constantly illuminated will fade it. For display purposes now that Ilfochrome is gone, you can buy polyester RA4 materials and make a print from a neg that looks like a chrome and is designed for back-lighting.

Hmm. I'd heard just the opposite. That Kodachrome had near unbelievable dark longevity, but deteriorated (relatively) rapidly when illuminated. That was why all of the Kodak Carousel business people used to make multiple second-generation Ektachrome dupes for their presentations, while keeping their Kodachrome "masters" in the dark.

Did I remember that backwards?

In any case, I'd only turn on the frames for paying guests anyway...



Ken

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Provia and Velvia will fade even in archivally-safe dark storage but it has been said that they will last if projected frequently, which is not a common thing today; it is a pecularity of E6 being less archivally stable to a point. I have quite a few RVP images from 1993 which are noticeably weaker than more recent images as a visual comparison.

Kodachrome's problem was that reds were susceptible to fading more rapidly than other colours through frequent projection, and that projection was recommended for a few seconds at most. I think Kodak had a publication about this in Kodachrome's time. There is no fading problem that I can see with Kodachrome trannies from 1977 to 1992 in archival stoage. I stopped using Kodachrome around 1994.

 

[Roger Cole]

The best alternative for trannnies if you don't have a projector is to print them. Then frame them. Then put them up on the wall, illuminated by spots.

Um, thanks but "well duh." I do have a 35mm projector. I was asking for recommendations for buying a medium format one for 6x6 and 6x4.5, not for what to do without one. Sure I can get prints made, or I can get or make scans and make inkjet prints. I could and would just shoot neg film if I only planned prints, though.