Walt, you're right that the ultimate authority on the image is the film
itself, but the life of film is not infinite. While proper storage can
extend the life of film, at some age the color dyes -will- break down. A
careful digital scan, capturing as much of the data off the film as is
possible, then preserved in a recoverable format, can be a much longer-lived
archive.
Note that the digital file needs to be kept apace of technology as regards
readability (it might be hard now to recover image files kept on 8" floppys
in CPM format...) but this is not any more onerous than keeping film in a
temperature- and humidity-controlled atmosphere under hermetic seal. IF you
keep the file's readability up with technology, the data will be preserved
indefinitely without degradation. Digital is forever, if you can read it...
and if you transfer to the newer format as they are developed, the data
comes along 100%.
I think the last really archival format was glass negatives, those seem to
have held up nicely since pre-Civil War times... but I doubt anything with
color will be as long-lived.
--
Jim Brokaw
OM-1's, -2's, -4's, (no -3's yet) and no OM-oney...
I would wonder even if there is some fading of some of the dyes
whether more recoverable information might be preserved on the film
over a long period of time than than be gotten currently off a scan,
especially one done currently by consumer grade machine that is not
optimized for film. That low quality scan is forever. Restoration
software like Digital ICE cubed and Photoshop will only get better.
Seems to me a more efficient plan might be to keep an eye on the well
stored slides and when there is noticeable fading to decide which
ones you really want to keep and then rebalance the color and scan
them with the best scan you can afford. Silica gel in tight ph
balanced boxes should control deterioration to a large extent.
--
Winsor Crosby
Long Beach, California
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