Bluefire Laboratories

Important information regarding processing
very old black and white films

Exposed black and white films which are many years past their "process before" date require special attention, and even then, not all of them can be salvaged.

That is because very old films have often been seriously fogged by heat and background radiation. The exception is films which have been stored cold or frozen, in which case they may not have deteriorated to any serious extent.

However, only in exceptional cases have very old films been properly stored, so you should expect deteriorated images.

Having said that, it is important to understand that failure is not inevitable. 

Unless the film is completely fogged, there is often a useful latent image remaining in the developed emulsion. Properly developed negatives which appear unprintably faint or indistinct to the naked eye can often yield printable images.

We employ advanced development and scanning methods to minimize fog and recover as much image as possible from very old films.

We have many years of experimental data to guide us in modifying the development process to compensate for the effects of age. With contrast masking, which is a function of our image processing software, faint or fogged negatives can often be printed surprisingly well.

No results can be guaranteed. However, if images cannot be recovered, we refund your payment.

We encourage you to send your old films. At best, we will be successful in recovering images. At worst, it will cost you no more than your postage.

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