I Researched An Unfamiliar-To-Me Kodak Film, Using AI and HI (Human Intelligence). Which Got It Right?

My friend meant well. I know he did. While I awaited a response from my contacts who were "in the building" and could provide a first-hand answer, he posted the result of his query to Gemini, Google's latest, greatest AI assistant. 

The post started out innocuously enough: 

"Hey Facebrain (especially film nerds:

"A client just sent me a stack of slides, some of which were labeled "Kodacolor Transparency Film." I haven't seen this before.

"It's not Ektachrome, which generally fades to blue over time, and (based on how the blue/green dyes have faded, leaving very red-ish results), it's definitely NOT Kodachrome. To further complicate matters (or perhaps just me), "Kodacolor" was generally used to denote negative (print) film. Here, however, it was used for a slide film. Usually, slide film would end in "-chrome"

"The slide holders were stamped to indicate they were processed in 1961, if that's of any help. A google search brought up next to nothing.

"So, what's the story? When was this film available? What was its ISO? What process was used--E6, or something else?

Actually, I must admit I tried ChatGPT, and it was clearly wrong because the film it referenced was a Disk film that was available in the 1990s, and another film that existed in the 1940s. I was looking for a film that existed in the early 1960s, based on the date stamped on the slide holder.

Here is what Gemini said. None of its conclusions were true.

(Note: This is quite long. Skip past the indented text if you don't want to read it all.)

"This is a fantastic question that delves into a really niche and often confusing corner of Kodak's film history! You've hit on some key points that make "Kodacolor Transparency Film" from 1961 particularly perplexing, and it's no wonder a Google search didn't yield much.

Let's break down the story behind this elusive film:

The Story of "Kodacolor Transparency Film" (1961)

You are absolutely right to be confused because "Kodacolor" was, for most of its history, the brand name for Kodak's color negative film (producing prints), while "Kodachrome" and "Ektachrome" were for color reversal (slide) film. However, there was a very brief and somewhat experimental period where Kodak dabbled with a "Kodacolor Transparency Film" that was indeed a slide film.

This film was a short-lived product, primarily developed and tested in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Its existence is a testament to Kodak's ongoing innovation and experimentation in color photography, even if it didn't become a mainstream success.

Key Points:

* When was this film available?

* This film was primarily available for a very limited time, likely in the late 1950s to very early 1960s. The fact that your slides were processed in 1961 strongly supports this timeframe. It wasn't widely marketed or available to the general public for long, if at all, outside of specific test markets or professional applications. Its brief appearance and lack of widespread documentation contribute to its mystery today.

* What was its ISO?

* This is tricky because official documentation is scarce. Given the technology of the time, it's highly probable that this film would have had a very low ISO, likely in the range of ISO 10 to 32. Films like early Kodachrome were ISO 10, and some early Ektachromes were ISO 32 or 64. Given it was likely an experimental or niche product, a lower speed would be expected.

* What process was used—E6, or something else?

* Definitely not E6! The E-6 process was introduced much later, in the mid-1970s (1977), specifically as a replacement for the older E-3 and E-4 processes for Ektachrome films.

* The "Kodacolor Transparency Film" from 1961 would have used a proprietary and likely complex process unique to that specific film. It wouldn't have been C-41 (for color negatives) either, which also came much later (1972).

* Given it's a slide film, it would have been a reversal process, but one that was chemically distinct from the Ektachrome processes (E-1, E-2, E-3, E-4) and vastly different from Kodachrome's complex dye-coupling process. The fading characteristics you describe ("blue/green dyes have faded, leaving very red-ish results") suggest a different dye stability profile than Ektachrome's tendency to go blue or Kodachrome's relatively stable but sometimes green/magenta shifts. This red cast could indicate issues with cyan or magenta dye stability in its unique chemistry.

Why the Confusion and Rarity?

* Experimental Nature: This film was likely a test bed for new dye technologies or emulsion formulations that Kodak was exploring. It might not have met their criteria for widespread market release (e.g., stability, cost, ease of processing, or market demand).

* Branding Anomaly: The use of "Kodacolor" for a slide film was a significant departure from Kodak's established branding conventions, which itself points to its unusual status. It suggests they were perhaps trying to leverage the "Kodacolor" name's recognition but applied it to a different product type.

* Limited Production: If it was experimental or niche, production would have been very limited, leading to its extreme rarity today and the lack of historical documentation.

What You're Seeing Now:

The heavily red-shifted appearance of your slides is a common aging characteristic for many early color films, especially those from the 1950s and 60s, regardless of their specific process. The organic dyes used back then were not as stable as modern dyes, and they fade at different rates when exposed to light, heat, and humidity. The fact that the blue/green dyes have faded (meaning the cyan and magenta layers have degraded) is consistent with many types of early color film degradation.

You've found a truly unique piece of photographic history! It's rare to come across this particular "Kodacolor Transparency Film," and it represents an interesting footnote in Kodak's continuous pursuit of better color imaging."

The bottom line is that while some of the Gemini's history of Kodak slide film is peppered with factoids, giving it the illusion of truth, this was actually a word salad of AI hallucinations.

Then I heard from Human Intelligence, in the form of Gordon Brown and Ben Gibson, who both worked at Kodak and were involved in both developing, marketing, and educating the public about Kodak films. I also got a phone call from my former boss, Steve Rosenbaum. All told the same basic story from slightly different angles. For film nerds, it's fascinating. For those of us watching the world shift to an AI-reliant "reality," it is troubling.

Gordon Brown: This was from a color negative film printed on Kodacolor PRINT film making a transparency. If the transparency is color balanced correctly it looks like a regular color slide. The print film has very high resolution and very fine grain. We used to print the color negs on the 8x10" Print fit to get High Rez transparencies, and then dupe those for Coloramas. It was a general-purpose film, but few people knew about it, and there was low demand for it!

(Note: Coloramas were huge transparencies that were displayed in New York City's Grand Central Station. Back in the day, that was one of the most high-tech visual displays in existence, and great advertising for Kodak.)

Photo: Gordon Brown's collection of digitized Coloramas

Ben Gibson:  Kodak Here! .. It is hard to tell exactly what this is but some of our internal Gurus believe it is Vericolor Print. It was a way of printing C-41 films onto transparencies instead of paper in case you wanted to make slides but "forgot" to shoot Color Reversal Films!

Steve Rosenbaum, who was at Rochester Institute of Technology at the time the film was around and whose teachers were Kodak employees, confirmed that it was a negative print film and was used similarly to movie film. The original was a negative, and was "printed" onto another negative film to create a positive—a slide.

So there you have it. Three independent sources confirmed the provenance of this mysterious film, while AI flailed, used a lot of energy resources, and made stuff up. Chalk one up for Human Intelligence!