[rollei_list] Re: Old film

  • From: "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 30 May 2005 16:05:41 -0700

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jerry Lehrer" <jerryleh@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2005 3:48 PM
Subject: [rollei_list] Re: Old film


> Richard,
>
> One of my summer jobs in NYC was in a Lab, processing
> Anscochrome and enlarging Ansco Printon prints.  The
> Anscochrome transparencies were not too bad, but Printon
> was baaaad!
>
> My last summer job was at Kurshan & Lang processing
> commercial Ektachrome sheet film and working on Dye
> Transfer prints for Lenny Zoref.  I even tried 
> Flexichrome,
> or was it called Crawfordcolor?  Remember those?
>
> Jerry

   I remember Flexichrome because I wanted to try it. I 
think it may have been purchased by Kodak from Crawford, but 
am not sure. For those not familiar with this Flexichrome 
was a dye absorption material using a gelatin matrix similar 
to (but not the same) that used in dye transfer, that one 
painted with dyes in a sort of paint by the numbers method. 
The dye set was very extensive.  If done skillfully the 
result was excellent but it was a real specialty similar to 
the kind of oil coloring that looks like a real color photo 
and not just sort of tinted. I doubt if there were many 
people who were really good at this. Flexichrome was popular 
for advertising art since anything could be any color at 
will.
   My memory was that Printon had a bad reputation. 
Evidently it was capable of at least acceptable quality if 
handled just right. I've only ever seen a couple of Printon 
prints that were OK looking. Its virtue was simplicity. By 
memory the processing took only a few steps similar to 
modern color materials. Kodak color materials were processed 
like color film in a finicky multi-step process. AFAIK, at 
least throgh the 1950's the best quality printing was done 
on Kodak Dye Transfer material, with possibly some color 
carbro still being used. Both dye transfer and color carbro 
are extremely fussy requiring very good control over many 
things. Dye transfer is somewhat less fussy. From what I've 
heard about three color carbro from those who worked with it 
it was an exceptionally fussy process requiring 
referigerated processing rooms. I've seen a number of 
excellent dye transfer prints but color carbon prints do not 
seem to show up in museums. Its not permanence since it is 
an extremely long lived process. Perhaps there simply were 
not many in circulation.
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

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