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Storing Nitrate Film

mikemgb

Member
Allowing Ads
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Aug 26, 2016
Messages
49
Location
St. Louis, MO, USA
Format
35mm RF
I was recently given three rolls of 35mm negatives from WWII. They are currently stored in Kodak film cans.

I am going to cut the rolls into strips for processing and storage. One if them is nitrate, what would be the best way to store that one? From what I'be been reading they need to be in paper sleeves and preferably in the fridge, would this be correct?
 
friend of mine who died a few years back, possessed what was reputed to be the largest private collection of films in UK. Most of them came from collecting when he as in the business. (His company was called Bentley films and was based around Leeds in UK) A lot of them were on Nitrate based film and he had a specially constructed, air conditioned building where these were stored. There was no other way he could get insurance to cover them in case of loss.
 

I'd keep the lids loose or off so it can degas, or store it in sleeves or envelopes. You don't want it sealed tight in a can. Its best if it's not rolled so it doesn't touch itself (although my rolls are just that, rolls). Check it every 6-12 months for changes in color, bubbling, or stickiness, all signs of decomposition. Keep it away from heat sources, but I don't think you need to refrigerate it. Such a small amount is very unlikely to ignite spontaneously. Standard disclaimers apply. I'm not a chemical engineer lawyer or fireman, just a guy with some rolls of nitrate film from WWII.
 
I expect your house insurance just went up.
 
I would not bother much. Have a look at the roll. If it is still fine, the best to do is to unroll it (if there is not too much drag), cut it and to put it into paper sleeves. Safety base was introduced for still films quite late. Also still 35mm film was returned often in rolls, there sure are quite some rolls around.

EDIT: I see they are not even processed.
 
I have a large tomb on movie film preservation. Scientific research on film preservation shows little difference between nitrate and acetate film preservation when properly stored and both can deteriorate if not properly stored. Of course the nitrate cellulose is more inflammable if in contact with a flame or spark. Remember, professional projectors used carbon arcs as a light source, hence the introduction of acetate safety film. The trade off was safer projection but with less luminance since nitrate film is glasslikeclear. This is the reason that a well preserved nitrate copy of a silent film is much brighter than a modern acetate copy of the same film. Proper storage for both types of film is identical.
Normally, for reasons dealing with toxicity and cleanliness we don’t smoke in the dark room and we don’t want ashes on our negatives.
 

Sorry, they are developed, by process I meant prepare for printing.

Thanks for the replies, I'll treat these the same as my other films but in a paper sleeve rather than plastic.
 
From personal experience with my family archive, I can second the advice above: store the nitrate in paper sleeves (or standard, letter- or legal-size mailing envelopes) to allow out-gassing. I inadvertently sleeved some early-1950s 35mm nitrate in Printfile sheets and the strips "melted". Also, cool and dry storage conditions are beneficial as well. I inherited several hundred family photos, primarily glass plate and film negatives, and a few transparencies, going back to the late 1800s, such as this 127 format negative of my grandfather and his youngest brother from December 1917, just before my grandfather shipped out to Europe for the Great War. You may find irreplaceable gems amongst your rolls as well.


 
guangong said:
I have a large tomb on movie film preservation.
Click to expand...
I expect you mean a "large tome on movie film preservation".
But I like your word choice as well
 

Certainly a real gem ! Difficult to appreciate that we're looking at a scene from 100 years ago.
 
E. von Hoegh said:
Did you notice that the car is right-hand-drive?
Click to expand...

I hadn't until you pointed it out !. I wondered at first if the picture had been reversed left-to-right, but the man's shirt buttons are the "correct" way round. Was it a military vehicle of some kind ?
 
railwayman3 said:
I hadn't until you pointed it out !. I wondered at first if the picture had been reversed left-to-right, but the man's shirt buttons are the "correct" way round. Was it a military vehicle of some kind ?
Click to expand...
I don't know what the car is, but quite a lot of rhd vehicles were made in the U.S. before everything settled on lhd, I imagine there were many running around in 1917.
 
railwayman3 said:
I hadn't until you pointed it out !. I wondered at first if the picture had been reversed left-to-right, but the man's shirt buttons are the "correct" way round. Was it a military vehicle of some kind ?
Click to expand...

As noted, there was a mix of left and right-hand drive cars on the road in the US during that era. Here's a better view of the car with the rest of my grandfather's family, if anyone wants to take a stab at identifying the make. My grandfather's likely the one who took this photo; he was the family photographer for his generation. I'm not sure of the exact location for the photos, but do know that it was taken somewhere in the Los Angeles area, possibly Fort MacArthur in San Pedro, which was the primary Army facility in the area at that time.


 
MattKing said:
I expect you mean a "large tome on movie film preservation".
But I like your word choice as well
Click to expand...
I view apug on my iPad and use it to make comments. Sometimes iPad selects th word for me and I don’t notice until too late after comments submitted.
 
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