Grahame N's Web Pages
THE CELLULOID IMAGE
| FILM DATA SHEETS |
An amalgam of all the data sheets published in previous editions of The Celluloid Image plus new ones
Data Sheet 9: Cine film (acetate only) film cement (June2013)
Data Sheet 8: Cine camera Depth of Field tables (June2010)
Data Sheet 7: Movie film size specifications (April 2010)
Data Sheet 6 : Cine lens mount specicifcations (June 2007)
Data Sheet 5: Top 100 films in the UK (December 2006)
Data Sheet 4: Useful strobe discs (Spring 2006)
Data Sheet 3: Film speed ratings comparison table
Data Sheet 2: Picture width table for various lenses and film
gauges
Data Sheet 1: Movie print stock date codes
FILM DATA SHEET 9 - June 2013
Formulae for movie.cine Film Cement (acetate base only)
Years ago movie films both amateur and professional were joined, 'spliced' using a special solvent known as 'film cement'. It is important to note it is not a glue or adhesive, but a solvent that 'melts' the two ends of a film together.
These days most film stock is on a polyester type base and has to be joined using special adhesive tape (no NOT sellotape!) - like PEC tape etc (normally available on my sales lists).
At the moment supplies of commercial film cement are readily available (see my sales list for 'Hama')
However the time may come when a little 'do-it-yourself' may be necessary. The following formulae come from various reference books - the chemicals may now be difficult to source legally and some are highly volatile and flammable - mix in fresh air with no naked flames or cigarettes nearby!!
Formula 1. This should join both acetate & early nitrate film bases:
Acetone 8 parts Ether 10 parts Acetic acid (glacial) 1 part
Formula 2.
Acetone 15 grams
Acetic acid 15 grams
Formula 3. (from a 1950s 'Amateur Cine World' magazine):
Acetone
80 ml
Chloroform 16 ml
Acetic acid (glacial) 8 ml
Formula 4 (from a French cine book)
Ethyl
acetate 200 ml
Acetone 200 ml
Amyl acetate 3 ml
Acetic acid 60 ml
Once the film cement is made, dissolve a
short piece of film base (clear film) in the mixture
before pouring it into small glass bottles. Plastic based
containers are no use as the cement
will dissolve the plastic! I sourced 12ml nail varnish remover
bottles when I sold 'home made'
cement some years ago - these also had a small brush fitted to
the screw top. - gln June 2013
FILM DATA SHEET 8 - June 2010
Depth of Field Tables
For those still using cine cameras with focussing lenses, it is nice to know just how much of the filmed image will be in focus when the lens is focussed on a particular distance. This range of acceptable focus is known as 'Depth of Focus'.
The range of acceptable focus increases as the lens aperture is 'stopped down' so that where a large depth of focus is required, one tries to use a small lens aperture setting like f8 or f11, whereas if it is desired to just keep the subject in sharp focus (head close-ups) for example, then a larger lens aperture is required - f4 etc.
Short focus (wide-angle) lenses have a larger depth of focus, whilst long focus (telephoto) lenses have a small depth of focus. Depth of focus is greater at long distances, but much less at short distances (close-ups).
One could write a whole book on the subject of depth of focus - one only needs to look at decent vintage films to see the careful use of this technique when shots were planned. These days with automatic digital cameras, sadly there is far less thought to scene presentation to the viewer.
Anyhow., back to the tables - the first are for 20mm lenses, hence most useful for standard lenses on 9.5mm and 16mm cine cameras.
This first table is for 20mm focal length lenses and is in feet & inches Top row shows the lens focussing setting, then the nearest & furthest distances are listed for each lens aperture. H.D. is the hyper-focal distance - if the lens focus is set at this, everything from half this distance to infinity will be acceptably sharp.
| Aperture | H.D. | 3' (ft) | 4' (ft) | 5' (ft) | 7' (ft) | 10'(ft) | 13'(ft) | 15'(ft) | 20'(ft) | 25'(ft) | Inf |
| f1.4 | 50' | 2' 11" 3' 3" |
3' 7" 4' 8" |
4' 4" 5' 10" |
5'10" 8' 9" |
7' 9" 14' 0" |
9' 6" 20' 6" |
11' 6" 28' 9" |
12' 8" 35' 6" |
14' 6" 88' 0" |
35' 0" inf. |
| f2.8 | 21' | 2' 10" 3' 5" |
3' 6" 4' 8" |
4' 3" 6' 2" |
5' 6" 9' 6" |
7' 3" 16' 3" |
8' 8" 26' 0" |
9' 6" 35' 6" |
10' 1" 87' 0" |
11' 0" inf. |
21' 6" inf. |
| f4 | 15' | 2' 5" 3' 8" |
3' 3" 5' 4" |
4' 10" 14' 6" |
4' 10" 14' 6" |
5' 9" 38' 0" |
6' 5" 340' |
7' 0" inf. |
8' 0" inf. |
8' 7" inf. |
13' 6" inf. |
| f5.6 | 10' 6" | 2' 3" 4' 6" |
2' 9" 7' 3" |
3' 2" 10' 3" |
4' 0" 32' 0" |
4' 9" inf. |
5' 4" inf. |
5' 8" inf. |
6' 3" inf. |
6' 10" inf. |
9' 6" inf. |
| f8 | 7' 6" | 2' 0" 6' 0" |
2' 4" 12' 0" |
2' 9" 30' 0" |
3' 6" inf. |
3' 9" inf. |
4' 1" inf. |
4' 4" inf. |
4' 8" inf. |
4' 10" inf. |
7' 0" inf. |
FILM DATA SHEET 7 - April 2010 (updated Oct 2011)
Movie Film Size Specifications
There seems to be much interest recently about actual specifications of the various cine film sizes - most are available as UK British Standards or the equivalent overseas. My main interest is the 9.5mm film gauge and Pathé in France obviously produced specifications, but oddly there doesn't seem to have been any 'official' standards set in the UK, and those in France were only registered in the 1960s when 9.5mm was commercially being abandoned!
9.5mm - below are a few of the published 9.5mm film specifications
The original Pathescope 9.5mm specifications printed in UK Pathéscope sales catalogues from 1928 through to the early 1930s. The 9.5mm (silent) image is compared to the 16mm image. (Picture size 8.5mm x 6.5mm; pitch 7.54mm)
This shows the specifications for 9.5mm sound films when they were launched in the UK in 1938/1939 - (from a UK Pathescope film catalogue) The sound image was not quite 4x3 on UK optical sound prints as Pathescope generally tried to fill the frame and hence lost some of the image edges. After 1944 French Pathé printed a proper 4x3 picture on their 9.5mm optical sound prints, so the picture height did not extend to the perforations. Incidentally picture to sound separation is around 26 frames (same as 16mm)
When 9.5mm magnetic sound was introduced in the early 1950s, the magnetic track occupied the same position as the optical sound track. Nowadays with the use of converted 16mm machines for 9.5mm use, the magnetic sound track tends to be on the oposite side to the optical track - as per 16mm. The few printed 9.5mm magnetic sound films issued (by myself - 'Presto Films') were produced to the 16mm standard with the track on the opposite side to optical sound track position. Picture to sound separation was 28 frames. For normal amateur films the magnetic track will be on the film base side so can be either paste or stripe. Magnetic track width is around 0.8mm to 1.0mm - the same as Super 8mm. For printed films which are contact printed, the magnetic track has to be on the emulsion side of the film, so can only be paste stripe. Because the linear speed of 9.5mm film is virtually twice that of 8mm, good sound quality can be obtained.
This shows the 9.5mm film size compared to std 8mm & 16mm. Pathescope tended to slightly exagerate the potential image width - camera gates were normally about 8.5mm wide, with projector gates slightly smaller. (Illustration from UK Pathescope 36 page sales brochure of around 1954)
The above comes from "How To Use 9.5mm" a Focal Press book by Dennis Neale originally published in 1951 and reprinted in 1955. Sadly there is a 'typo' for the 9.5mm pitch - it should be 7.54mm not 7.45mm! This error has caused widespread confusion both in the UK and France where the book was also published (in French of course!) Incidentally the 16mm pitch gives 40 frames to the foot - 9.5mm actually is about 40.5 frames per foot.
The French 1960s AFNOR 9.5mm film standards can be purchased at:- www.boutique.afnor.org search under "film cinematographique 9mm5" or just check out NF S24-201 / NF S24-203 / NF S26-201 The late Alan Lott wrote an article accompanied by a simplified illustration in an "Amateur Cine Enthusiast" magazine - when I find my copy I'll add it here (or maybe you can help ....!)
FILM DATA SHEET 6 - June 2007
The specifications for the various cine lens mounts may be useful for experimenters
----------------------------------------------------------------
"C" mount Pathe "D" mount
9.5mm & 16mm 9.5mm std 8mm
----------------------------------------------------------------
Thread: 1 inch 5/8th inch 5/8th inch
32 T.P.I. USSF 32 T.P.I. USSF
Register: 0.690 inch 1.000 inch 0.484 inch
----------------------------------------------------------------
Notes:
Register: Distance from the flange surface on which the lens screws to the film surface.
(must be accurate to +/- 0.0005 inch for accurate focus)
T.P.I. Threads per inch.
Pathe: The Pathe screw mount is used on Pathé and Pathéscope cameras using the 'H' type
film charger, hence it is often referred to as the 'H' mount. Cameras include
the 'H'; 'National 11'; 'Pat' and 'Prince' models. The 'H' mount lenses were
usually made by Berthiot in France - 'Cinor' in f2.5 & f1.9 20mm fixed focus
and f1.9 20mm focussing standard lenses plus a f3.5 50mm telephoto. In the UK
a similar range were made by National Optical Company (Dallmeyer?). The 1959
'Prince' was originally supplied with a 23mm f2.8 Colotar standard lens, later
bankrupt stock models were fitted with a f2.8 23mm? Kaydon lens made in Japan
and later with a decent f3.5 20mm French made Som Berthiot Cinor D lens.
FILM DATA SHEET 5 - Autumn 2006
THE TOP 100 FILMS IN THE UK
---------------------------
(by estimated total admissions)
1 Gone With the Wind Drama USA 1940 35million
2 The Sound of Music Musical USA 1965 30m
3 Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs USA 1938 28m
4 Star Wars 1V: A New Hope Drama USA 1978 20.78m
5 Spring In Park Lane Comedy GB 1948 20.5m
6 The Best Years of Our Lives DramaUSA 1947 20.4m
7 The Jungle Book Animated USA 1968 19.8m
8 Titanic Drama USA 1998 18.91m
9 The Wicked Lady Drama GB 1946 18.4m
10 The Seventh Veil Drama GB 1945 17.9m
11 Harry Potter & Philosopher's Stone 2001 17.56m
12 Grease Musical USA 1978 17.2m
13 South Pacific Musical USA 1958 16.5m
14 Jaws Drama USA 1976 16.2m
15 Jurassic Park Drama USA 1993 16.17m
16 Lord of the Rings-Fellowship of the Ring 2001 15.98m
17 The Courtneys Of Curzon Street GB 1947 15.9m
18 Thunderball Drama GB 1966 15.6m
19 Lord of the Rings -Return of the King 2003 15.22m
20 The Bells Of St Mary's Drama USA 1946 15.2m
21 The Ten Commandments Drama USA 1957 15m
22 Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers 2002 14.4m
23 The Full Monty Comedy GB 1997 14.19m
24 Harry Potter & Chamber of SecretsUSA 2002 14.18m
25 Mary Poppins Musical USA 1964 14m
26 The Third Man Drama GB 1949 14m
27 Goldfinger Drama GB 1964 13.9m
28 Star Wars 1 - The Phantom Menace USA 1999 13.59m
29 The Blue Lamp Drama GB 1950 13.3m
30 Ben Hur Drama USA 1959 13.2m
31 ET The Extra-Terrestrial Drama USA 1983 13.13m
32 The Greatest Show on Earth Drama USA 1952 13m
33 The Bridge On the River Kwai GB 1957 12.6m
34 The Spy Who Loved Me Drama USA 1977 12.46m
35 The Great Caruso Musical USA 1951 12.4m
36 Doctor In the House Comedy GB 1954 12.2m
37 Toy Story 2 Animated USA 2000 12.18m
38 Random Harvest Drama USA 1943 12m
39 The Towering Inferno Drama USA 1975 11.78m
40 Fanny By Gaslight Drama GB 1944 11.7m
41 The Jolson Story Musical USA 1947 11.6m
42 Picadilly Incident Drama GB 1946 11.5m
43 The Guns of Navarone Drama USA 1961 11.4m
44 Doctor Zhivago Drama USA 1967 11.2m
45 The Sting Drama USA 1974 11.08m
46 The Godfather Drama USA 1972 11m
47 Independence Day Drama USA 1986 10.79m
48 Carry On Nurse Comedy GB 1959 10.4m
49 I Live In Grosvenor Square Drama GB 1945 10.3m
50 Mrs Miniver Drama GB 1942 10.2m
51 Superman the Movie Drama USA 1979 10.19m
52 Bridget Jones's Diary Comedy GB 2001 10.15m
53 Monsters, Inc. Comedy USA 2002 9.93m
54 A Clockwork Orange Drama USA 1972 9.9m
55 Crocodile Dundee Comedy AUS 1987 9.8m
56 Finding Nemo Animated USA 2003 9.79m
57 Men In Black Comedy USA 1997 9.73m
58 For Whom the Bell Tolls Drama USA 1944 9.7m
59 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest USA 1976 9.65m
60 High Society Musical USA 1956 9.6m
61 Moonraker Drama GB 1979 9.41m
62 I'm All Right Jack Comedy GB 1959 9.41m
63 49th Parallel Drama USA 1941 9.3m
64 Lost Horizon Drama USA 1937 9.2m
65 Stars Wars 11: Attack of the Clones 2002 9.16m
66 One Hundred and One Dalmations USA 1961 9.1m
67 The Empire Strikes Back Drama USA 1980 9.09m
68 Saturday Night Fever Musical USA 1978 9.02m
69 Live and Let Die Drama GB 1973 9.0m
70 The Great Dictator Comedy USA 1941 9.0m
71 The Big Country Western USA 1958 9.0m
72 Bambi Animated USA 1942 9.0m
73 Rebecca Drama USA 1940 8.9m
74 Oliver! Musical GB 1968 8.9m
75 Four Weddings and a Funeral Com GB 1994 8.81m
76 Ghost Comedy USA 1990 8.78m
77 Love Actually Comedy GB 2003 8.76m
78 Reach For the Sky Drama GB 1956 8.7m
79 My Fair Lady Musical USA 1965 8.6m
80 Die Another Day Drama GB 2002 8.58m
81 Close Encounters of the Third Kind US 1978 8.54m
82 The Citadel Drama GB 1939 8.5m
83 Pinocchio Animated USA 1940 8.5m
84 A Bug's Life Animated USA 1999 8.41m
85 Lawrence of Arabia Drama GB 1962 8.4m
86 The Dambusters Drama GB 1955 8.4m
87 Stars Wars Vl:Return of the Jedi USA 1983 8.35m
88 Mr Deeds Goes To Town Comedy USA 1936 8.3m
89 Swiss Family Robinson Drama USA 1960 8.3m
90 You Only Live Twice Drama GB 1967 8.3m
91 The Exorcist Horror USA 1974 8.3m
92 The King and I Musical USA 1956 8.2m
93 Chicken Run Animated USA 2000 8.12m
94 The Lion King Animated USA 1994 8.08m
95 Notting Hill Comedy GB 1999 8.05m
96 The Matrix Reloaded Drama USA 2003 7.96m
97 The Private Life of Henry Vlll GB 1934 7.9m
98 Cinderella Animated USA 1951 7.9m
99 Gladiator Drama USA 2000 7.8m
100 The Magnifient Seven Drama USA 1960 7.7million
gln/20.12.2004
FILM DATA SHEET 4 - Spring 2006
USEFUL STROBE DISCS
Because of the way that our household electricuty is generated - as 'Alternating Current' - A.C. - the actual voltage level follows a sort of sine wave that has a frequency of either 50 Hz (cycles per second) in Europe or 60 Hz (cycles per second) in the USA. This means that lights actually flicker at 100 or 120 times a second. The most pronounced flicker is obtained from fluorescent type lamps but the usual filament lamps normally flicker enough to use this phenomena to our advantage in the film world.
If we shine a light onto a revolving object, the flicker will have the effect of causing the rotation to be 'snapped' only at the peaks of the electricity supply flicker rate. So for example if something is revolving at 100 times a second - if we light it with a mains electric light it will appear to be stationary. If we make up a disc with alternate black and white segments with the correct number of segments corresponding to the required speed of rotation it will appear to be stationary when rotating at that speed.
9.5mm Pathé Baby strobe
This first strobe disc dates back to an early 1934 issue of "Amateur Cine World magazine. The motor drive pulley of the Pathé Baby 9.5mm projector turns once for 7 frames of film. (Early 9.5mm movies were intended to be shot and projected at 14 frames per second). So for 14 fps it must turn twice per second. For a strobe to be stationary at this speed it must have 50 segments. For a strobe on this machine to be stationary at 16fps it will need 50 x 14/16 = 43.75 segments. The outer ring on this disc has 50 segments and will be stationary when the Pathé Baby 9.5mm projector is running at exactly 14fps. The inner ring has 44 segments and will be stationary at 16fps. The disc can be printed onto stiff paper, cut out and glued to the Pathé Baby main drive pulley.
Strobe for 8 tooth sprocket wheel
This strobe was originally designed for the 9.5mm Pathéscope 'Son' optical sound projector - it is small enough to be fitted to the 8 tooth sprocket that acts as feed and take-up sprocket on this machine and the 'Gem' and 'Mk 9 / 16' silent versions of this machine. In this case the segments are designed to indicate speeds of 16fps and 24fps. The strobe disc will work on any cine projector with an 8 tooth sprocket. I used this on my various 'Son' projectors in my youth to try to set the governor to an accurate 24fps.
Finally if you live in a country which has 60 Hz mains electricity then I'm afraid these strobes will not work. Sadly it will necessary to design something similar using the theory mentioned at the start of this article.
FILM DATA SHEET 3
FILM SPEED RATINGS COMPARISON TABLE
Correct exposure depends on two things: the amount of light that reaches the film via the camera lens when the shutter is open; and the sensitivity or speed of the filmstock. Whilst the light reaching the film is controlled by the size of the hole letting light through the lens (the aperture) and the time that the shutter is open (varied with the filming speed of the camera); the sensitivity of the film stock is normally decided for the user when the filmstock is purchased.
The amount of light reaching the film can be varied by opening or closing the aperture of the lens - f8 will provide twice as much light to the film as f11 for example. Generally when filming at the 'standard' silent speed of 16 or 18 frames per second, a cine camera shutter gives an exposure of about 1/32nd or 1/40th of a second. Some cine cameras are fitted with variable shutters which allow for this to be adjusted over a wide range (usually to a complete closure).
Some filstocks are more sensitive (or 'faster') than others. For example for normal outdoor filming a 25 to 50 asa film stock will be fine in sunny conditions, maybe needing an exposure of f8 say. However in very dull conditions the lens aperture with this film stock might need to be around f2 - not too practical. Hence a more sensitive (or 'faster') film stock would chosen, like 100asa for example. Filming indoors would need an even more sensitive stock - say 400asa to avoid the need for lots of extra lighting.
Today most film stock is advertised with it's sensitivity indicated in ASA (American Standards Association) notation. With this rating system the speed number is doubled when the sensitivity of the film stock is doubled - so that a film rated at 20 asa is twice as sensitive as one rated at 10asa. It follows from this that if a film stock rated at 10asa needed an exposure of f8 then a film stock rated at 20asa would only need an exposure of f11.
Film stocks originating in Europe used to be rated in the DIN notation (Deutsche Industrie Norm / German Industrial Standard) and in the UK a BS Log. (British Standard) notation sometimes turns up in magazines. These film speed notations are logarithmic, the film speed (sensitivity) being doubled when the speed rating number goes up by three. So DIN 18 is twice as fast as DIN 15.
With the Weston exposure meter being considered the standard exposure for many years, the Weston ratings were often quoted - this is ambiguous as the Weston rating became the same as ASA from the Weston model 111 onwards.
Finally it is always best to check indicated exposure settings for a particular film stock using the same exposure meter and camera etc. to see if any variation from the indicated exposure gives improved results.
ASA (& Weston 111/1V etc) 200 160 125 100 80 64 50 40 32 25 20 16 12 10
Weston Master early models 160 125 100 80 64 50 40 32 25 20 16 12 10 8
BS (log.) 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21
DIN 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
Scheiner 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22
(A figure in any column represents a film sensitivity of one third faster than that in the next column to the right)
FILM DATA SHEET 2
PICTURE WIDTH TABLE FOR VARIOUS LENSES AND FILM GAUGES
All measurements are in feet (') and inches
("). Lens focal length comparisons are 1" = 25mm;
2" = 50mm etc.
The figures for 9.5mm refer to silent films - 9.5mm sound films
have a rather square format as the sound track uses part of the
picture area. The picture width for 9.5mm sound films will be
perhaps 80% of the width quoted for the silent films.
Remember a sharp bright smaller picture is far better than a
larger soft and dull picture!
Always try to show films in a properly darkened room.
FILM DATA SHEET 1
MOVIE PRINT STOCK DATE CODES
(kindly provided by the late Warton Parfitt)
Original 35mm and 16mm movie print stock from the major manufacturers carries a date code along the edge of the film. Although 9.5mm stock came from Kodak/Pathe 35mm stock, the edges were removed when the triple 9.5mm prints were slit, hence losing the original date codes. Later 9.5mm printed films from Walton etc. were printed on 16mm print stock and again the date codes were lost once the edges were trimmed off to make the 9.5mm print.
The data below shows when the film stock was manufactured, and for Kodak stock, the location of the factory. White printing refers to information about the negative stock; black printing about the positive print stock.
For example: The black printing reading left to right on a print of "The Producers" is " ++ ". The chart below tells us the print was struck in 1968, which is indeed when the film was released. Naturally the filmstock date is not always the date of the film - it may be a re-release print printed many years later or a laboratory may have been using older print stock which had been fridge stored etc.
For Fuji professional filmstock there is a 4 digit code on the perforations. The first two numbers are the year the filmstock was manufactured. For example: " 83JM " is filmstock manufactured in 1983.
If you have any film data you would like
included or corrected please contact the editor
Grahame L. Newnham, 22 Warren Place, Calmore, Southampton, SO40
2SD, UK
email: presto @
pathefilm.uk (no spaces in actual address)
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First published March 2004 ........ Last updated: 26 March 2017 ........ cel11.htm .......... ©MM1X-G.L. Newnham