Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2014/03/26

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Subject: [Leica] Film recorder services
From: hlritter at bex.net (Howard Ritter)
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 18:17:43 -0400

The more I read and think about the transient nature of digital recording, 
and the inevitable loss of our digital photos as recording media become 
obsolete, I wonder about how to preserve my best work. I can personally 
transfer files from, say, my hard disk to whatever medium replaces it, using 
wifi in order to avoid obsolescence of connectors etc?at least as long as 
wifi protocols remain backward-compatible. I know it's sheer vanity to think 
even my kids and their children would have any interest in seeing pictures 
from 50 or 100 years, let alone anyone else in the future world, but which 
of us isn't driven to some extent by vanity?

It seems to me that the best way to back up a digital photo in at least 
acceptably faithful form would be to print it on film (idea not original 
with me of course). The most accurate and at the same time most bulletproof 
way would be to print the R, G, and B components of a digital file each on 
its own frame of silver-based monochrome film, but that might be over the 
top except for the most important archival purposes of the most exceptional 
pictures. I'd think that printing at maximal resolution on a K/F'chrome 
emulsion (as long as they remain available) or a silver-based K/F'color 
emulsion would be practical and serve the purpose well. I make the 
assumption that there will always be a way to convert a film image to the 
digital du jour. Preserving the emulsions then is its own separate task, but 
maybe more easily accomplished than preserving a digital file. I could see 
doing this with the best few hundred of my photos that (IMHO) have some 
value other than family or temporary significance if the price is reasonable.

Questions: has any LUGger actually done this or heard of its being done? Is 
anyone making consumer film printers any longer? I remember them from 25 or 
30 years ago but a quick Google didn't turn up anything except what looks 
like industrial stuff for maybe for producing film for movie theaters. Is 
there a commercial service that will make 35mm film prints of digital files?

?howard



Replies: Reply from jplaurel at gmail.com (Jim Laurel (gmail)) ([Leica] Film recorder services)
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