16mm short pitch, when established?

[Peter Kuran]

I have been trying to figure out the dimensions of some old 16mm film to determine if it has shrunken. It seems there has always been a short pitch and long pitch for 35mm (i.e. .1866 vs. .1870).

But in reviewing some old documents from the 1950's, I have only found documentation for long pitch 16mm (i.e. .3000 vs. .2994). Was short pitch 16mm introduced later than the 1950's?

The documentation I have been looking at are: H-1 Eastman Motion Picture Films 1958 and Photo Lab Index 1946.

[Simon Wyss]

Must have come into use mid-Fifties with the color negative stocks, SMPTE Journal 1955, 1956.

[Brian Pritchard]

I have been trying to figure out the dimensions of some old 16mm film to determine if it has shrunken. It seems there has always been a short pitch and long pitch for 35mm (i.e. .1866 vs. .1870).

But in reviewing some old documents from the 1950's, I have only found documentation for long pitch 16mm (i.e. .3000 vs. .2994). Was short pitch 16mm introduced later than the 1950's?

The documentation I have been looking at are: H-1 Eastman Motion Picture Films 1958 and Photo Lab Index 1946.

The SMPTE standard for short pitch in 35mm and 16mm was proposed in December 1952. It was proposed because of the introduction of low shrink film bases. Prior to that the negative shrunk during processing and allowed it to be continuously printed onto normally perforated print stock.

 

Brian