DI Resolution

[Russell Richard Fowler]

Xetron had an auto focus system in the early 1980's which they sold next to none. Newer lens designs started to show up at the same time with a greater depth of focus which required less movement of focus.

Kodak AF slide projectors had a sensor that read the position of the emulsion to move focus, if needed, as a slide would warm up. The projector would pre-heat a slide just prior to projection. The use of glass mounts made the auto-focus units work less.

[K Borowski]

Binoculars help a lot.

 

 

It's funny you should mention that. I had an old pair, very big, taht I always wore around my neck when working up in the booth.

 

EVERYONE made fun of me for them. "Hey, what's with the binoculars." Even customers would say stuff like "Gee, that guy must be a spotter for a sniper."

 

 

They do USUALLY help, but the way trailers got in the end, with all the rapid jump cuts, sometimes doing it by eye was as good as you coudl get because you couldn't' finde a grey grainy spot on which to focus.

[Robert Houllahan]

Just as a note about B&W processing...

 

We have a separate Allen demand drive (no sprockets) processor which has enough tanks to allow for both negative and print processing for B&W 16mm and 35mm the 35mm Negative processing is common for making YCM separations for long term storage and in restoration work. B&W is far from dead from where I am sitting as that processor runs all the time.

 

The idea of flushing chemistry to run B&W on a ECN machine is a non starter it would be a nightmare to flush a whole processor and replace the chemistry to run a different process. Doing that weekly would really be a nightmare.

 

As for the chemistry being corrosive.. Kodak changed much of the chemistry for film processing long before I worked in the lab business, there used to be things like Potassium-Cyanide and Chromium in the film chemistry none of that exists anymore. Probably our most volatile chemistry these days is B&W reversal bleach which is a mix of Potassium-Permanganate and HCL it does go in a Titanium tank but after being used it can be desilvered and PH neutralized so it is not really harmful. As for B&W Neg and ECN/ECP they are not really all that hazardous if treated correctly and PH neutralized at their end of life.

 

We have a big silver unit for the Color (ECN/ECP) machines and a smaller one for the B&W department once the chemistry is reused until it cannot be used anymore and all of the silver is out of it it is pretty benign. We have a MIT chemist who has determined how to blend used chemistry to PH neutralize it such that it can be treated as non hazardous waste.

 

-Rob-