Home Movies (1944)

PAGE 106 HOME MOVIES FOR MARCH • That the amateur will be able to process his own color films, similar to present reversal methods, is one of the possibilities offered in one color film to make its appearance for 8mm. and 16mm. cameras after the war. NEW COLOR FILMS MIT WAR'S EID... 'ETTER color films, cheaper color films that may be home processed — these await only the cessation of hostilities and the resumption of civilian goods production to become a reality. From the experience of many men in close touch with the field, the principal demands of post-war color films by amateurs are: 1. Good quality of color reproduction. 2. Greater permanence of colors. 3. A lower price, if possible. 4. The possibility of home processing, or faster processing service at reasonably near-by plants. What are manufacturers prepared to offer to meet these demands? We need not say a great deal here about Kodachrome because the amateur is already thoroughly familiar with that material. Constant changes and improvements are being made both in the film and in the processing technique, but substantially, Kodachrome remains the same. M Most interesting of the new color films promised is Anscocolor. This product, inherited by Ansco from the German Agfa organization, and considerably developed since then, is now being used solely by the Armed Forces, but it has been announced as available for civilian use after the war, in both 8mm. and i6mm. Because it is being used for military purposes, not much is being said about it, but considerable is known about the exploitation of Agfacolor in Europe before the war, and Anscocolor is substantially the same article. The outstanding feature there, was the matter of price. In England, for example, a 36-exposure Leica roll of Agfacolor cost about half the price of an 1 8 -exposure roll of Kodachrome, processing included. In other words, the price was about one-fourth. Many people considered the color reproduction on Agfacolor inferior to Kodachrome, while others preferred it. Since then, both materials have been drastically improved from this point of view. Principal reason for the low cost of Agfacolor was the greatly simplified processing. Basic cost of film manufacture is not a serious item in either case. In processing Kodachrome, each color layer must be separately re-exposed, then developed in a suitable color developer. In Agfacolor (and now Anscocolor), dye forming substances are incorporated in each layer of emulsion, and all three can be re-exposed together, then developed in a single bath which combines with the three different couplers to form three different dyestuffs — magenta, cyan (blue-green) and yellow. The saving in processing time and expense is obvious. The same simplification means a definite hope that the serious amateur can process Anscocolor film. The processing sequence will be about as follows: Negative development, followed by stop-bath and rinse. Re-exposure to light. Color development, with stop-bath and rinse. Bleaching of silver image, and rinse. Fixing. Washing. Negative development is in a pretty normal black-and-white developer, adjusted so as to develop the bottom image equally with the top layer. An ordinary developer would develop the top layer more vigorously than it would the bottom layer, due to exhaustion of the solution diffusing through the gelatine. The following formula does not pretend to be the Ansco formula, but it has been successfully used in processing Agfacolor, and may be taken as representative: Hydroquinone 50 g. Meto! 12.5 g. Sodium Sulphite (cryst.) 200 g Potassium Bromide 25 g. Caustic Soda 50 g. Water to 1000 cc. To each 100 cc. of this, 3.5 g. of Potassium Thiocyanate are added just before using. This takes 5 minutes, • Continued on Page 1 14