Notes on the Application of Fine-Grain Film to 16-mm Motion Pictures

In September, 1939, J. A. Maurer reported in the Journal on “The Present Technical Status of 16-Mm Sound-Film” and in November, 1940, on “Commercial Motion Picture Production with 16-Mm Equipment.” The first paper compared the quality of direct 16-mm sound with that of reduction prints from 35-mm negatives; the second compared the graininess of prints by the reversal (intermediate fine-grain duplicate negative) fine-grain print method with reduction prints from 35-mm original negatives. The comparison appeared so favorable to direct 16-mm that the next step was obvious: to put the procedures into commercial use. — Early experience with Dupont fine-grain materials in 1930 and 1931 left behind an elementary yet important consideration: if the expected improvements from the use of fine-grain materials and methods were to materialize, something more than the mere use of fine-grain materials was required. Muck in developer, fixer, and wash water must be reduced; films must be properly dried. Only with these elementary conditions satisfied could the quality be significantly improved. — Dupont was the first manufacturer to offer fine-grain release print film to the 16-mm market; the experience with Dupont 605 was so satisfactory commercially that all ordinary positive materials were dropped entirely. Eastman 5203 was found to be the best duplicate negative material available; all other materials were dropped. For original negatives in 16-mm direct sound recording, Agfa 250, a high-resolving-power yellow-dye film, was the first satisfactory material on the market and remained without competitors for several years. With such excellent materials under accurate control, decidedly improved films were bound to result. — It is interesting to note that these present-day materials have a resolving power of the order of 100 lines per mm; this is of the same general order as that of the materials that Dupont produced experimentally in 1931. While resolving power of this order is considered sufficient for better-grade present-day projectors, there is real need for pushing the quality standard still farther upward to 150 lines per mm. The techniques for the manufacture of such materials are fairly well known today; the big need is for Government contracts to call for such high-grade materials and for Government inspectors rigidly to reject inferior materials such as ordinary positive prints. — The selection of the most suitable materials and the manner of determining the operating conditions for the machinery selected are described.

Print ISSN

0097-5834

Published

1943-11

Content type

Original Research

DOI

10.5594/J09791