[Leica] OT - old slides

[oliverbryk at iqmail.net (Oliver)]

I just completed a review of some 1200 transparencies that I had shot
between 1953 and 1975 with various cameras including Leica IIIf, M3, and SL,
a Rollei35S, and some that I don't remember. They had been stored in the old
style metal boxes in my ex-wife's attic and never opened until one of my
daughters discovered them, negotiated their release, and sent them to me as
a fathers' day present.

I thought that this unscientific and unplanned asessment of the archival
qualities of several transparency films might be of interest to LUG members.
The sample universe consisted of approximately 200 Agfachromes, 260
Anscochromes, 440 Ektachromes, 100 Kodachromes, and 200 old Kodachromes (red
border.) The Kodachromes retained their color best, followed by the
Agfachromes and Ektachromes. The Anscochromes faded almost completely in the
dark, leaving only magenta, regardless of where the Anscochrome had been
processed. Some of the old Kodachromes had fungus and some of the
Ektachromes had become mottled or splotchy. Many of the Agfachromes had bled
into the cardboard frame but without loss of image quality.

Of about 300 slides that I scanned for a CD project for the birthday of one
of my kids, 270 were salvageable without excessive manipulation in PS7 (I'm
not interested in spending hours restoring one snapshot.) Although I prefer
VueScan for scanning current work I found the (recently upgraded) NikonScan
to be more convenient for this project (I use a Nikon 4000ED.)

Oliver Bryk