Is Your Cine Film Deteriorating?
Somewhere in the loft, in a wardrobe or at the back of a cupboard, many families have a box of small film reels. Holidays, weddings, children on the beach, grandparents in the garden. Most of it was shot between the 1950s and the 1980s on Standard 8, Super 8 or 16mm cine film, and much of it hasn't been watched in decades.
It's easy to assume film lasts forever if you leave it alone. It doesn't. Cine film slowly breaks down, and the damage is often well underway long before anyone opens the tin.
The good news is that film usually gives clear warning signs. Here's what to look and smell for.
It smells of vinegar
Open the tin and sniff. A sharp, sour smell like vinegar is the most common warning sign, and it has a name: vinegar syndrome.
Almost all home movie film was made on a cellulose acetate base, sold as "safety film" because it replaced the flammable nitrate film used before. Acetate is far safer, but over time it breaks down and releases acetic acid, the same acid found in vinegar.
Three things make this serious:
The process speeds itself up. The acid released by the film drives further decay, so once it starts, it speeds up, not slows down.
It spreads. A reel giving off acid in a closed tin or a shared box can set off the same process in reels stored next to it.
It can't be reversed. Cleaning treatments can mask the smell, but they don't stop the decay.
Heat and humidity are what start it and push it along. Lofts and garages, hot in summer and damp in winter, are about the worst places film can be kept.
A faint smell doesn't mean the footage is lost. Film in the early stages can usually still be digitised perfectly well. It does mean the clock is running.
The colours have turned pink
Hold a short length of film up to the light. If the colours look washed out, or everything has a pink or red cast, the dyes in the film are fading.
Colour film is made from layers of dye, and each layer fades at its own rate. When the blue-green layer goes first, what's left is a pinkish, faded picture.
How badly this happens depends a lot on the type of film:
Kodachrome holds its colour remarkably well. Many Kodachrome home movies from the 1950s and 60s still look vivid today.
Ektachrome and other colour films, common for Super 8 in the 1970s and 80s, are much more likely to have faded or shifted towards pink.
The film type is often printed along the edge of the film or on the original box.
Faded colour can often be improved a good deal when the film is digitised. The further it fades, though, the less colour information is left to work with.
The film is brittle, curled or warped
Healthy film is flexible. Film in trouble feels stiff, cracks when bent, or no longer lies flat on the reel. You may see it curled across its width, rippled along the edges, or wound unevenly.
This often goes hand in hand with vinegar syndrome. As the film base breaks down, it shrinks, and it shrinks faster than the picture layer on top of it, which pulls the film out of shape.
Shrinkage matters more than it sounds. Cine film moves through a projector by its sprocket holes, and even a small amount of shrinkage means the holes no longer line up. That's when film tears, jams, or gets chewed.
Mould, powder, stickiness or rust
A few other signs are worth checking for:
Mould. Fine white or grey threads or spots on the film, usually from damp storage. Mould feeds on the picture layer and can etch into the image.
White powder or crystals along the edges of the film, a sign the film is breaking down chemically.
Sticky film. Layers that cling together on the reel. Pulling them apart can strip the image off.
Rusty reels or tins. Rust usually means damp, and acid from decaying film corrodes metal. Either way, the film inside needs looking at.
If you find any of these, handle the reel as little as possible.
What to do now
Don't put it through the old projector. Old projectors and old film are a risky combination. Brittle or shrunken film can tear, and a projector lamp left on a stuck frame can burn it.
Move it somewhere cool and dry. A cupboard in the main part of the house is far better than the loft, garage or shed. Keep it away from radiators and outside walls.
Separate any reels that smell of vinegar. Store them apart from the rest of the collection so the problem doesn't spread.
Let the tins breathe. A sealed tin traps the acid. Don't tape tins shut or put film in airtight plastic boxes.
Get it digitised sooner rather than later. Decay can be slowed but not stopped. Once the footage is digitised, you can copy, share, and keep it safe, no matter what happens to the original reel.
Bring your family films back to life
At Photo Revivals, we digitise Standard 8, Super 8, and 16mm cine film, so you can watch those holidays, weddings, and family days on a TV, laptop, or phone, and share them with the whole family.
We handle your original reels with care and return them to you.
