16mm negative

Charles Brubaker · November 22, 2012

Does anyone have a list of companies that still manufactures 16mm negative film? Is Kodak the only one left in the world?

Dirk DeJonghe · November 22, 2012

For color negative the list is very short indeed. For B&W you still have Orwo (Filmotec) as well as Kodak. Probably some others as well.

Simon Wyss · November 22, 2012

Ilford may deliver from

10,000 ft on (108 rolls of 100'), Pan F plus/FP 4 plus/HP 5 plus. Ask them.

Gigabitfilm 40, 1-r. 3000, is available in lengths of 800, 400, 200, and 100 ft. Due to its 0,06 mm polyester base you can use the double lengths, so for example 800 ft in 400-ft magazines or 200' on 100' spools. $59 per 100'. Ask me.

Agfa Sound Track film 8 is available in 16, 2040 ft per roll. Agfa Color Positive film 30 in 16, 2000 ft per roll.

Charles Brubaker · November 22, 2012

Polyester negative? That's new. How's the picture quality? Are there any footage samples online with clips shot onto Gigabitfilm? And where can they be developed?

I'm glad that there are other manufacturers around the world. I'm surprised that there are some that manufactures black and white exclusively. Glad there's more option for those who wants to shoot in B&W, though.

Edited November 22, 2012 by Charles Brubaker

Simon Wyss · November 22, 2012

Yes, colourless PETP polyester base

Gigabitfilm 40, ISO 40 to daylight, was first used for cinematographic purposes in the 16mm format and processed on the 24th of January, 2005. Negatives out of the original developer have virtually no grain. Prints from Gigabitfilm originals on ordinary positive stock show their own grain structure, not that of the negatives.

When a shot is not perfectly focused, it shows. Gigabitfilm is like a mirror. I have not yet used it for prints.

I don’t have a scan and won’t order one soon because it’s impossible to display the film’s quality with pixels. It will only look like a video.

For the time being there is just hand processing with spiral reels. That’s the only way to handle this thinner material through the baths. Unfortunately I lost some time with the preparation of a new spiral reel based processing system. A 100-ft. and a 500-ft. reel shall be produced. The more serious interest I find the sooner I can come up with the first series. For more detailed information, please contact me via PM.

Gregg MacPherson · November 22, 2012

What happens when you try Gigabitfilm 40 with a continuous processor?

Cheers, Gregg

Simon Wyss · November 23, 2012

It takes something like a microfilm processor. The usual machines for ordinary motion-picture film may put on too much strain. I point to spiral reel development because of the huge advantages it has over machines:

Flexibility. Instant changes of processes, baths, temperature, time, and agitation
Evenness. Every part of a portion undergoes the same conditions at the same time. Agitation can be much more thorough. The drying film can be viewed at a glance.
Precision. Bath volume to film surface ratio can be kept to optimum at all times.
Cleanliness. All parts can be kept clean way easier than with a machine.
Security. Exact records can be made upon every single step in order to prove something to a customer. Pre-exposed samples (wedges or scales) may be processed together with each portion.
Price.

Mr. Gigabitfilm Detlef Ludwig and I cooperated towards a machine adapted developer formula. I still

have a bottle of concentrate but no processor any more. If anybody feels the urge to enter that realm contact with Mr. Ludwig is advised. I think he will like to continue where we stopped. There is the one-shot formula for hand development and a machine formula for continuous replenishment.

Edited November 23, 2012 by Simon Wyss

Pavan Deep · November 24, 2012

Where can you buy this Gigabitfilm 40 film from?

P

Simon Wyss · November 24, 2012

35mm and chemistry → Gigabitfilm Ltd, Heinrich-Böll-Strasse 17, 52372 Kreuzau, Germany. ww.gigabitfilm.de

16mm → Simon Wyss, forum personal message

See also:

retro photographic Ltd.

43 Alchester Road

Chesterton

Oxon OX26 1UN

United Kingdom

Tel. ++44 1869 240345

Fax. ++44 1494 529491

info@retrophotographic.com

http://www.retrophotographic.com

Gregg MacPherson · November 24, 2012

Simon, I went to ww.gigabitfilm.de but needed an ID and password. Any suggestions? Is there a website with info on this film stock?

Cheers

OK, forget that, I didn't spot the missing w in your message.

Edited November 24, 2012 by Gregg MacPherson

Simon Wyss · November 25, 2012

Is there a website with info on this film stock?

Unfortunately no

The ciné section of Gigabitfilm so to speak zonked out. Mr. Ludwig could need some help with his English Marketing Department as well as the overall website entrance. I am in a new harbour now, mechanic workshop and film lab supply.

To sum up what you should know:

Gigabitfilm 40, ISO 40 to daylight, in 16mm is a panchromatically sensitized black-and-white thin-layer negative film. It is coated on colourless PETP of 0,06 mm thickness (2.4 mils), has an incorporated anti-halo protection that disappears during development, and a very effective antistatic agent on the back. Chemist Ludwig has developed a formula that allows to make negatives of varying contrast between 1:1 and 1:0.3 while maintaining maximum density of the layer. That is his special achievement with the result of about twelve stops exposure latitude. The characteristic curve doesn’t have the typical toe of a classic film but a rather sharp rise from nothing. It then pulls away in a linear fashion up to log 2.2 to bend until log 2.4. Gigabitfilm 40 plus original chemistry in that respect behave like a mid-19th century wet plate. Where you underexposed, the negative is blank. Exposure must be increased by 20 percent for times shorter than 1/500 second, by 50 percent for times shorter than 1/1000 second.

I have some 12,000 feet in stock, emulsion 2005-2. It’s perforated one edge, 0.3000". The film’s total thickness is an idea less than 0,07mm (2.75 mils). No marks or edge numbers nor codes.

Gregg MacPherson · November 25, 2012

Simon,

I read somewhere about the amazingly fine grain of this film. Do you have any MTF charts? If I took a S16 Zeiss prime that shows a crisp 200lp/mm on the lens projector is the grain of the Gigabitfilm 40 so fine that I could see all of that on the processed negative?

Not looking to buy, just wondering, does the film stock get cheaper with volume. Are there set break points in price as volume goes up or is it a negotiation.

Can we call this film Gbf-40?

Cheers, Gregg.