TMax 400 120 base?

[grommi]

I red that tmax 400 in 120 format has a clear film base other than the 35 mm film. Does it mean the 120 is made on a PET base, and if so, is it prone to light piping? The recent english data sheet doesn't adress the base. The german data sheet still says acetate for both 120 and 35.

I also heard that Kodak/Alaris stopped producing the acetate base. Is there a correlation?

Thanks and best regards

 

[chriscrawfordphoto]

Kodak is just buying the base material from an outside supplier instead of making it themselves. Kodak used to be a major chemical company, and they had the ability to produce everything needed to make film, like the plastic base and the metal 35mm cartridges. It made economic sense to do it all themselves, but today they don't sell the volume of film needed to make it profitable to make every thing that goes into film themselves.

 

[grommi]

Thank you Chris, I can see that. And I know that acetate is more expensive than PET and probably increasingly difficult to get. That's the reason why Filmferrania intends to make the acetate themselves. Giving up film base production is a heavy setback imo for a leading film producer. Can we expect all Kodak films will be made on PET in the near future? And may I go back to this question?:

"Does it mean the (Tmax400) 120 is made (today) on a PET base, and if so, is it prone to light piping?"

 

[Axle]

Yes, Kodak has stopped producing their own film base, but they have a tonne in storage so currently all of their films are still being made on Kodak produced base. Who knows, maybe once their stock is depleted they'll turn to Filmferrania for inventory!

 

[Sal Santamaura]

...Can we expect all Kodak films will be made on PET in the near future?...

No. Kodak films will continue to be made on the same base materials they were previously. Those films on acetate bases will, after Kodak's existing stock of in-house manufactured acetate base runs out, be coated on acetate base purchased from outside supplier(s).

...Does it mean the (Tmax400) 120 is made (today) on a PET base, and if so, is it prone to light piping?

No. 120 400TMX as well as 120 100TMX are and will continue to be coated on a 4.7 mil acetate base. Note that this is considerably thicker than other 120 roll films, except Delta 3200, which is cut from the same parent rolls as HARMAN's 35mm version of that emulsion.

The base thickness of 120 TMAX films is why there were never -- even when 220 was popular -- 220 versions of those products. Twice the length wouldn't have fit on a spool. An interesting historical footnote: when first released, the 120 TMAX films were on an even thicker base, right at or just above 5 mil if memory serves. This caused transport problems, especially with Mamiya cameras, so Kodak "slimmed" it down to 4.7 mil.

 

[grommi]

Thank you very much, Sal.

 

[BetterSense]

Why was the base made so thick?

 

[chriscrawfordphoto]

Why was the base made so thick?

I don't know why they made it that way, but I have always liked it. The thick base is easy to handle, and is easier to keep flat in the negative carrier of an enlarger or scanner.

 

[Sal Santamaura]

Why was the base made so thick?

...The thick base is easy to handle, and is easier to keep flat in the negative carrier of an enlarger or scanner.

Exactly. Especially easy to load on developing reels without getting kinks.