So how come........[processed film flatness]

[Macwax]

my thirty year old 35mm negatives are completely flat, and...........well, you know the rest of the question?

John MacKechnie

 

[Ray Heath]

my thirty year old 35mm negatives are completely flat, and...........well, you know the rest of the question?

John MacKechnie

well, no i don't

 

[copake_ham]

my thirty year old 35mm negatives are completely flat, and...........well, you know the rest of the question?

John MacKechnie

John,

Huh? What do you mean by "flat"? Are they physically "not curved" or "curly" and new ones are?

Or do you mean that the colors are "flat" as in "faded".

You're being a bit too cryptic to figure out what you mean.

 

[John Kasaian]

Color or B&W? If they're color, be mindful that dyes do funny things in thier old age

 

[copake_ham]

....be mindful that dyes do funny things in thier old age

Don't we all?

 

[Macwax]

The Flat Negative Question Restated

My Tri-X negatives from the 70s are (and were at the time I was using them)perfectly flat and my new Tri-X negatives are curled. Does anyone know why.

They were stored in cheap white letter sized envelopes in Eastern Pennsylvania.

JOHN

 

[Markok765]

Over time, the moisture in the air flattens them out.

I think.
Or if you stored them in binders, that could be the cause.

-Marko

 

[jstraw]

My Tri-X negatives from the 70s are (and were at the time I was using them)perfectly flat and my new Tri-X negatives are curled. Does anyone know why.

They were stored in cheap white letter sized envelopes in Eastern Pennsylvania.

JOHN

You need a controlled experiment. Post what your new negatives look like 30 years from now.

 

[Jim Jones]

Negatives that are stored flat tend to remain that way. Freshly developed negatives curl. Flat storage eventually cures some of that. Humidity also affects curl.

Some negatives from the 1970s did curl. Do you remember the notorious Kodak 2475 recording film?

 

[PHOTOTONE]

Yes, all my older negatives are flat also. So are my newer negatives after a couple of weeks in sleeves. You have to store the negatives flat for them to achieve flatness. Under a book for a while is good.

 

[PHOTOTONE]

Of course, I doubt that Forte roll flm negatives will ever be flat. (forte, arista.edu, etc.)