What is this benchtop linear film processor at the Aaton factory?

Geffen Avraham · January 10

The old Aaton factory had this benchtop linear film processor, so they could run tests in house.

Does anyone know what it is? It would be a dream to own something like this.

"Super Emeraude" seems to be unfortunately just a nickname, not the name of the machine.

Mark Dunn · January 10

Only for short loads from the size of it.

That diamond logo rings a bell. Maybe you can get AI to sharpen it. Or even find it.

Edited January 10 by Mark Dunn

Joerg Polzfusz · January 10

Unfortunately upscaling doesn’t help

Joerg Polzfusz · January 10

Could it be the logo of Arhuero? (At least, it’s also a French company…)

https://www.filmlabs.org/docs/doc_comm_arhuero.pdf

Geffen Avraham · January 15

I bet this is the answer! how on earth did you find them? there is zero documentation about them online!

Joerg Polzfusz · January 15

I only dimly remembered that I saw this kind of logo somewhere on filmlabs.org. Hence I simply browsed through their images and manuals.

However, I‘m still not sure whether it’s really a device from Arhuero as a „two triangles“-logo is quite „generic“. E.g. the company of a relative uses a very similar logo (that’s why I remembered that logo): https://schmees-ladenbau.de/

Robert Houllahan · January 16

I think there were a number of small tabletop B&W processors made over the years. I remember seeing a 3ft x 4ft form factor machine in LA years ago for doing tests.

Geffen Avraham · January 16

BW would make sense if the goal is testing registration and sharpness.

Steve Switaj · January 17

20 hours ago, Geffen Avraham said:

BW would make sense if the goal is testing registration and sharpness.

When I first got into the VFX business back in the 90's I worked for quite a few houses that still had an optical printer.

They often had either a darkroom or a small processing machine like the one shown. It was common to do quick alignment tests before spending a whole day putting a comp together and they used a B&W Kodak product called RAR film.

If I recall correctly this was a film specifically designed for quick turn arounds in industrial (and maybe broadcast) uses.

It did not make a great picture, but it was very fast to process at a stupid high temperature and it dried almost instantly. Half a minute after it came out of the soup they could have it projecting in a downshooter to inspect the lineup.

Edited January 17 by Steve Switaj

Brandon Paterno · January 18

9 hours ago, Steve Switaj said:

They often had either a darkroom or a small processing machine like the one shown. It was common to do quick alignment tests before spending a whole day putting a comp together and they used a B&W Kodak product called RAR film.

If I recall correctly this was a film specifically designed for quick turn arounds in industrial (and maybe broadcast) uses.

Huh... I had thought RAR (rapid access recording) was mostly distributed within the (US?) military. All of mine was labeled for high speed cams, w the perf difference too if I recall.

I had a source of 2498 that with a bit of care made excellent images, but the big strangeness of it has been how thin all the (few) types of stocks I've used from this line are. seriously!! so thin!!! I think it had to do with being for high speed cams but the density had to play a contributing factor in the drying.

whatever made the drying so quick would be nice to have now too, but I'd assume that the end of this line (asides from the obvious) has to do with maybe the fact that its estar based or that it has some sort of extra sauce that either cost too much or was unpredictable in some way

Steve Switaj · January 20

Brandon:

I seem to recall them referring to it as RAR, but at my age "seem to recall" is a pretty big disclaimer. Maybe to the optical guys "RAR" is a category instead of an exact stock number.

Since you actually dealt with the stuff, and I only watched it being used, I'm happy to defer to your judgement.

Whatever it was, it was B&W and it processed very fast at high temperature and it dried really quickly. I was familiar with developing Tri-X still film and the like in D-76 and I was struck by how hot and fast it was by comparison.

I suppose it could have been some normal B&W stock run at really high temperature, but I distinctly remember the drying speed.

I don't remember handling it so I can't vouch for Estar base or not.

Probably a negative stock, but I don't really recall. The optical guys would project it frame-by-frame on downshooters to examine things like matte edges and alignment. As far as I could tell they didn't really care about the actual image, just whether it was in focus or not.

I imagine it would have to have camera perfs though, otherwise it would probably wander around in the printer.

Out of curiosity, what did you use it for?

Edited January 20 by Steve Switaj

Joerg Polzfusz · January 20

Film Types

Type	Sensitivity	Speed	Processing	Base	Backing	ASA
2479	Extended Red Pan	500	Negative	4 mil Estar-AH	Fast Drying (PX)	320 in D76
2490	Blue	64	Negative	4 mil Estar	Dyed Gel
2492	Ortho	160	Negative	4 mil Estar	Clear Gel
2494	Extended Blue	50	Negative	4 mil Estar-AH	Fast Drying (PX)
2495	Ortho	320	Negative	4 mil Estar-AH	Fast Drying (PX)
2496	Extended Red Pan	125	Negative	4 mil Estar-AH	Fast Drying(PX)	80 in D76
2497	Extended Blue	50	Negative	4 mil Estar	Dyed Gel
2498	Panchromatic	320	Reversal	4 mil Estar-AH	Fast Drying (PX)	250 Negative, 250 in D19
3493	Extended Blue	50	Negative	2.5mil Estar	Clear
5498	Panchromatic	250	Negative	5.25 Mil Triacetate	Static Resistant	250 in D19, 250 Reversal

This information comes from data sheets dated 1980 and 1976.

Other info

RAR stands for Rapid-access Recording. There were (are) a wide range of films for high speed photography, oscilloscopes recording etc.

The description of 2496 is: Kodak 2496 RAR film (estar-AH base) is a member of the Kodak family of RAR films designed especially for rapid-access recording and high temperature (up to 130 deg F) processing.

USES: