Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Kodak Super-XX Film Pack

Following a discussion about pack film on the Photohistory listserv I acquired an unopened Kodak Film Pack. The "Develop By" date on the package is March 1955. I will annotate and add further information, including pictures of developed film negatives at some point. But here are the pictures for a start:












A 4x5 pack film negative showing the adhesive attachment stain along the right edge, and the negative number exposed onto the negative in the lower left corner. The image is blurred and possibly out of focus. Some of the original adhesive is still present along the left edge, but even where the adhesive is absent a brown image or stain remains in the film. This could have been caused by a chemical reaction between the adhesive and the silver image or by the pressure involved in applying the adhesive tape during manufacture (pressure exposes silver halide emulsions).

Film Pack Diagram from C.B. Neblette, Photography: Its Principles and Practice, 3rd Edition (1938)