Bruce,
Thanks for the reply, I too am surprised there isn't more interest in the
subject. This may be because most people don't realise their treasured
mementoes have an even shorter lifespan than they do. The archivist of the
Royal Photographic Society told me that even in optimum conditions (near
freezing, moderate humidity, complete darkness) colour shift is inevitable
after 30 years. This puts us at the beginning of the end of the life span of
pictures taken during the great boom in colour photography. It must also have
consequences for the important (and increasingly valuable) collections of
photographs.
What I was hoping to find was a thread from a couple of months ago in which
someone said that the US Army kept its most important records engraved on
metal because of the impermanency of other media. As you pointed out magnetic
tapes have a very short life span. Digital media might not be so perishable
but the hardware is developing so fast that in many cases the information is
there but impossible to retrieve.
Now for some Olympus content.... I value the lightness of my 135mm F3.5 and
I'm prepared to sacrifice some screen brightness in order to get it. But am I
also losing picture quality by using a cheap lens. Could anyone tell the
difference between pics taken at F8 on cheap/expensive Zuikos of the same
focal length?
Simon
PS is there an easy way of getting these little arrows (>) at the start of
each line without typing them in individually?:^)
>>Debrux@xxxxxxx wrote:
>
>> I am researching an article about the longevity (or otherwise) of modern
>> colour photographs. Many pictures taken as recently as the 60s and early
70s
>> are already showing signs of colour shift and fading. I vaguely recall a
>> thread on this subject a couple of months ago and I'd be grateful to anyone
>>who is able to mail me a copy. If any of you have views and/or knowledge of
>>the subject or are aware of examples, well-know or otherwise, I'd like to
hear
>>of them. In 100 years time I guess there will be a 30 - 40 to year black
hole
>> in the 20th century when the only original pictures which survive will have
>> been taken by those eccentric die hards who insisted on sticking to black
and
>> white...
>As far as I know, the best source for this information is the following
>book:
>"The Permanance and Care of Color Photographs: Traditional and Digital
>Color Prints, Color Negatives, Slides, and Motion Pictures" by Henry
>Wilhelm, published in 1993 by Preservation Publishing Company, Grinell,
I>owa, ISBN 0-911515-00-3.
>This is a thick book, over 700 pages, but it is excellent. It provides
>historical information on past color emulsions, and perhaps more
>important for the list readers, it provides estimates of the permanance
>of color emulsions that are now being sold.
>I am surprised that this subject has not generated more comments on the
l>ist.
>Bruce Miller
PS For the list members who are into digital media, the poor longevity
of some color photographic emulsions looks great compared to the
permanence of magnetic recording media.
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