American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1962)

KODACHROME II was formulated primarily for amateur use, and di¬ rect projection of the original. Its fast speed and improved quality has created considerable interest among professionals. DUPLICATING KODACHROME II A laboratory technical director tells why duping this new 16mm color stock presents certain problems. EXPERIENCED in-plant film editors, like E. Schrier of Space Technology Laboratories, know that it is inadvisable to intercut Kodachrome II with another 16mm color film. The two films cannot be successfully re¬ produced if they are cut together in the same printing roll. HEN EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY, a feW months ago, presented amateur movie makers with the new, faster Kodachrome II 16mm color film, its astonishing results naturally attracted the attention of many 16mm professionals. Some substituted the film for the earlier Kodachrome or Ektachrome they had been using, and when they attempted to inter¬ cut it with the other films or to duplicate it, they ran into trouble. The major film laboratories were among the first to discover the film’s limitations in these respects as a result of tests they had run on it prior to its intro¬ duction on the market. Later, because of misunder¬ standings which seemed to prevail among users re¬ garding the duplication possibilities of Kodachrome II, General Film Laboratories in Hollywood asked its Technical Director Fred Scobey to write a report on the subject for the April, 1962, issue of Rewind, the company’s monthly publication. Scobey’s report points out that Kodachrome II is a 16mm color reversal film having improved speed, definition and color rendering over the former Koda¬ chrome, and it emphasizes that it is intended pri¬ marily for amateur use and direct projection — that is, projection of the original following reversal processing. The film is available almost everywhere that 16mm film is sold, and comes in daylight and Type A (tungsten) emulsions in 50 and 100-foot lengths. Kodachrome II, Daylight Type, has an ASA expo¬ sure index of 25 daylight, and 12 tungsten (3400° K) with a Wratten 80B filter over the lens. The Type A emulsion has an ASA exposure index of 40 tungsten (3400° K), and 25 daylight with a Wratten 85 filter before the lens. Kodachrome II does not have latent image edge numbers and, being a film intended for amateur use, the manufacturer does not hold to the close toleran¬ ces it does with its professional films. It has excellent shelf life, both before and after exposure. The color formers are a part of the developing process formu¬ lated for the film.. Let us now compare Kodachrome II with Ekta¬ chrome Commercial, Type 7255, which is a color reversal camera film of low contrast and prints to good projection quality. Ektachrome is a profes¬ sional film and its availability is a great deal more limited in some areas of the world than is Koda¬ chrome 11. Ektachrome has an ASA exposure index of 16 daylight (with Kodak Wratten filter No. 85), and 25 tungsten for which it is balanced at 3200° K. The film is latent-image edge-numbered and is avail¬ able with either silent or sound B-wind perforating. It is manufactured to close tolerances and the color formers are an integral part of the film. The repro¬ duction of Ektachrome via either Kodachrome dupli¬ cating film No. 5269 or Eastman Color Internegative No. 7270 and then to Eastman Color Positive No. Continued on Page 622 610 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER, OCTOBER, 1962