What type of film is this?

[bluebutterfly]

I found these two rolls of film in a relatives things from the 1950's - one in the can, and the smaller one that was not inside a can. What size film are these? 8mm? 16mm? I know nothing about old film or filmstrips. Also, how do I tell if there's anything on this film? I hold it up to the light and can't really see if it's been used or not. The small one looks like maybe it was never used because the white portion, the lead I guess, is still taped as if it hadn't been "opened" or used yet. I want to transfer these to DVD if it has something on it. Thank you for your help and advice!

 

[removed account4]

hi bluebutterfly

not sure if this is any help
but it has measurements &c
https://psap.library.illinois.edu/format-id-guide/film

ps, the unopened can you can open in pitch darkness and trim off
a small piece and compare to the reel you have to see if it is the same film.

good luck !
john

 

[John Salim]

That looks like a 400ft reel of standard 8mm cine film and a 100ft reel of 16mm silent cine film.

Both can easily be scanned to DVD.

John S

 

[pgomena]

All may be on a nitrate base. Keep them cool, dry and away from open flames!

 

[John Salim]

All may be on a nitrate base. Keep them cool, dry and away from open flames!

No, absolutely not....... all 8mm and 16mm film was never produced with cellulose nitrate base.


John S

 

[Sirius Glass]

Welcome to APUG

It looks like 8mm and 16mm film.

 

[bluebutterfly]

hi bluebutterfly

not sure if this is any help
but it has measurements &c
https://psap.library.illinois.edu/format-id-guide/film

ps, the unopened can you can open in pitch darkness and trim off
a small piece and compare to the reel you have to see if it is the same film.

good luck !
john

Thanks so much for that link, it did help a bit on the measurements of various film sizes. The photo I posted is a bit confusing, just to clarify, the gray can to the left is the lid of the open can containing the large film, so there are no unopened cans of film in the photo. I am presuming that this film has been shot and has images on it, although holding a portion of it up to the light it's not clear to me whether there are images on it or even what I should be looking for to determine if there are images on it. The small roll in the photo is not in a can, it was found as depicted in the photo, just on a reel. It smells musty and may have had some water damage.

 

[bluebutterfly]

That looks like a 400ft reel of standard 8mm cine film and a 100ft reel of 16mm silent cine film.

Both can easily be scanned to DVD.

John S

Thanks so much for this info. On the 16mm (is that the small one?), what is it about that one that makes you believe it to be silent film? Any markings on the film or something about it that would indicate it is silent?

 

[bluebutterfly]

No, absolutely not....... all 8mm and 16mm film was never produced with cellulose nitrate base.


John S

good to know this is not nitrate film. Most likely it was not stored well over the years, probably subjected to heat in a garage area and maybe some moisture (the small reel smells musty like a bit of water damage). The larger reel looks to be in pretty good shape, maybe because it was stored in a can.

 

[cmacd123]

The 16mm roll has two sets of perforations, if it were sound film, one set would be replaced with a sound track...

The 8mm reel is regular 8 as Super 8 was generally wound on a reel with Larger centre holes to keep them straight. It would appear that the owner of the larger reel spliced together 5 separate 50 foot rolls of film. each of the 50 ft rolls of Regular 8 has the same running time as 100 ft of 16mm. so you have almost 25 minutes of someone's memories, most likely in glorious Kodachrome.

 

[bluebutterfly]

The 16mm roll has two sets of perforations, if it were sound film, one set would be replaced with a sound track...

The 8mm reel is regular 8 as Super 8 was generally wound on a reel with Larger centre holes to keep them straight. It would appear that the owner of the larger reel spliced together 5 separate 50 foot rolls of film. each of the 50 ft rolls of Regular 8 has the same running time as 100 ft of 16mm. so you have almost 25 minutes of someone's memories, most likely in glorious Kodachrome.

If the larger roll has 5 separate 50 foot rolls spliced together, then that reel actually has 250 feet of film on it, not 400 feet as a previous poster stated. I would like to be sure about this because I'm in the process of pricing various local video companies, and they price things depending on feet of film and other factors. Thanks so much for the info about the 16mm also (the sound issue). I'm certainly getting an education here!

 

[cmacd123]

If the larger roll has 5 separate 50 foot rolls spliced together, then that reel actually has 250 feet of film on it, not 400 feet as a previous poster stated. I'm certainly getting an education here!

I am guessing based on seeing the white separators between the sections, it is hard to see more detail in your picture, BUT there is a fairly accurate was to get a good estimate. There are some handy calculators to estimate the length of a roll, often moulded into plastic reels. Kodak used to have an online one, but I can no longer find it.
This page has a chart
https://www.slidescanning.com/movie-film-calculate-length.html
showing the diameter of some common rolls, if you are talking 250 feet you would find the diameter of the actual roll of film as somewhere between 5 and 6 inches.

Hope that helps.