Looking for a list of grain sizes for older negative films

[DG]

Hello and thanks for the help,

I'm archiving some old negatives (1920-1960), and I'm having difficulty
finding the grain size. I need these sizes to confirm my choices for scan
resolutions (1200dpi vs. 2400dpi vs. 4800dpi), so that I don't waste a lot
of time scanning at the wrong resolution.

The films are mainly Kodak Black and White negatives with the "Kodak Safety
Film" stamps. Unfortunately, they don't have any other useful information
on their labels.

I've searched the web looking for a table of representative grain sizes for
films from the 1920s, 1930s, etc., but couldn't find anything. There are
comments about the effects of grain size, but no actual numbers (example:
0.1mm x 0.05mm average).

I would appreciate it if someone could point me to a reference showing the
typical grain sizes of older negative films.

Thanks,
DG

 

[CSM1]

Hello and thanks for the help,

I'm archiving some old negatives (1920-1960), and I'm having difficulty
finding the grain size. I need these sizes to confirm my choices for scan
resolutions (1200dpi vs. 2400dpi vs. 4800dpi), so that I don't waste a lot
of time scanning at the wrong resolution.

The films are mainly Kodak Black and White negatives with the "Kodak
Safety Film" stamps. Unfortunately, they don't have any other useful
information on their labels.

I've searched the web looking for a table of representative grain sizes
for films from the 1920s, 1930s, etc., but couldn't find anything. There
are comments about the effects of grain size, but no actual numbers
(example: 0.1mm x 0.05mm average).

I would appreciate it if someone could point me to a reference showing the
typical grain sizes of older negative films.

Thanks,
DG

Maybe you can find what you want in these Technical Documents.
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/databanks/filmDatabankList.jhtml

You may want to check out:
E-58
Print Grain Index

The best way to find information on Kodak films is to search Kodak.com.
Kodak is not the easiest site to search, but they have a pretty good search
engine.

It is hard to find information on the web about really old films.

Some people have had good results by calling the Kodak support Phone
numbers. Sometimes you get information sent to you in the mail that you can
not get any other way.

Also if you can find old books in used book stores. I have one book title
"Kodak Color Films" Publication E-77, CAT 152 7928 that has data sheets for
several Kodak Color films. Copyright 1980.

 

[Philip Homburg]

I'm archiving some old negatives (1920-1960), and I'm having difficulty
finding the grain size. I need these sizes to confirm my choices for scan
resolutions (1200dpi vs. 2400dpi vs. 4800dpi), so that I don't waste a lot
of time scanning at the wrong resolution.

Why not compare actual scans? Typically, grains sizes are listed as RMS.
But that doesn't say much. It is possible that there is very fine grain
in dense parts of a negative (and coarse grain in the shadows).

If the negatives are sharp, then you are very likely to lose details by
scanning at 2400 ppi.

 

[Kennedy McEwen]

Hello and thanks for the help,

I'm archiving some old negatives (1920-1960), and I'm having difficulty
finding the grain size. I need these sizes to confirm my choices for scan
resolutions (1200dpi vs. 2400dpi vs. 4800dpi), so that I don't waste a lot
of time scanning at the wrong resolution.

The films are mainly Kodak Black and White negatives with the "Kodak Safety
Film" stamps. Unfortunately, they don't have any other useful information
on their labels.

I've searched the web looking for a table of representative grain sizes for
films from the 1920s, 1930s, etc., but couldn't find anything. There are
comments about the effects of grain size, but no actual numbers (example:
0.1mm x 0.05mm average).

I would appreciate it if someone could point me to a reference showing the
typical grain sizes of older negative films.

You should neither be assuming that the grain in any film is a fixed
size, since it varies with density and development, nor that it is a
measure of the film resolution, since resolution is determined by other
factors such as emulsion thickness, granular scattering and film base
reflectivity etc. So even if you find an upper limit to the data you
are asking for, it probably won't give you the information that you need
for your purpose. What you want is the film characteristics, such as
MTF etc., but I seriously doubt that anyone measured such parameters
back then.