Storing and viewing slides?

[Ghoste]

I just got my Kodachrome back from Kodak on the other side of the country o.0 It was K-14 processing. It looks great just incase anyone is wonder.. or.. atleast what I can tell from the slides. I haven't had them printed yet. But I was wondering if anyone could tell me how I should store them. Also I have this old light table that was my grandpas. The only problems it's just kinda this flimsy thing and the lightbulb gets it really hot. If the slides get pretty warm from the lightbulb can this mess them up? I'm afraid to even leave them on it =p. Thanks guys. Can't wait to post the shots.

 

[LaFoto]

One suggestion that I can make, Ghoste, is: never store them in transparent boxes. Put them into boxes where the slides will remain in total darkness all the time.

My son undug a mover's box in the cellar that read "Slides", and it contained a couple of long-lost slides (of my own, i.e. taken by me) that had always been stored in transparent boxes. The front and back slides have turned all green! They are beyond saving. All I could do, after I had scanned the whole lot, was convert the green ones into black and white.

So to save you from that (my slides were 28 years old, mind, but since you are asking) I will urgently suggest you choose solid boxes that will not let in any light.

That old light table (for which I envy you, I wish I had a light table!) sounds ok for as long as you only put on the slides for a short moment. They will not like the heat from the light bulbs! As soon as they start to get wavey, they must go away from the source of heat. Actually, they should never go wavey at all. So you might prefer to use a lower Watt bulb that doesn't give out so much heat (and light, I'm afraid...), or you think up a way to lift the table higher up above the bulbs?

I can't wait to see the result of your first slide film!

 

[terri]

You can pick up a new light table fairly inexpensively. If you want to be able to spread out your slides and study them awhile with the loupe, it may be a worthy investment. LaFoto is right - the last thing they want is to feel warm. Light Impressions makes excellent acid-free storage boxes for slides, prints, etc. They're not the cheapest place but it's a good company with a lot to look at, to get an idea of your storage options. Slides can last an amazingly long time with proper care; a little investment now can ensure you'll still be enjoying those slides in 30 years with very little color shift.

 

[Ghoste]

Thanks Terri and LF, I appreciate it. This thing isn't really a light table? It's... like... this little flimsy metal thing.. Err.. maybe I'll just take a picture lol.

 

[Ghoste]

Does anyone know a site where you can learn how to make your own custon light boxes?

 

[wharrison]

Ghoste:

Meander around some of the older camera shops in your neck of the woods and see if they might have some old Smith Victor slide cases left over from the 1960's or 1970's. They will hold about 750 slides per case. I suspect that these and other slide storage cases might occasionaly find their way to Ebay.

Their (Smith Victor) light sorting devices were poorly made and the 40 or 60 watt lamps became too hot for long term viewing/sorting.

As for making your own light box; I obtained an old Coca Cola illuminated menu board - using flourescent bulbs - that was gathering dust in the basement of a restaurant; it was about 18 to 24 inches wide and about 30 or more inches long; I cleaned it up; and slid in a frosted piece of plastic. Of course the "color temperature" will be off, but it became a wonderful device to sort through my slides.

Otherwise, you might find a small one and rather nice light box also gathering dust in one of the older camera shops.

Hope this is helpful.

Bill