Reclaimed Green: Experi-mental Chemistry

Our scientists have been at it again resurrecting materials in the lab to make this (mostly) new Green 600 Film. Yet, to understand how Reclaimed Green came into existence, we need to take a trip down memory lane. Not so long ago, in the near-to-distant past, the special edition film Reclaimed Blue found its way into your cameras. It was made with love by none other than our brilliant scientist Brian Slaghuis (Sagittarius). He typically avoids mixing black and white and color film chemicals due to their differences… but that’s exactly what Brian did to stumble upon the chemistry of Reclaimed Blue.

Initially, the team was tasked with figuring out how to use smaller leftover pieces of good quality material and out-of-spec negative film so we could avoid scrapping them. The negative film layer (for color film) contains light-sensitive silver halide crystals with three separate dye developer layers that correspond to the CMY (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) color system. Don’t try to make sense of it. So, when it’s out-of-spec it means the colors you’d hope to produce with this layer weren’t working exactly as they should be. Brian could therefore “reclaim” these out-of-spec negatives and use them as the basis for the new different colored film.

In this ongoing experi-mental investigation into making the best of all our materials, the big boss of film manufacturing, Andrew Billen, had an epiphany. Andrew came to the lab and spoke with Huub Schippers, our photo system chemistry engineer. (He’s a Taurus Gemini cusp.) He spoke of a very complex, difficult to grasp, complicated scientific phenomena. So, try to stick with us here while we try to explain. Andrew said, “Why don't we just add yellow dye to the blue film to get green?”. The whole lab was stunned. Blue + Yellow = Green. Silence struck everyone, followed by howling roars of cheering and laughter. Minds were blown that day. Something so obviously simple, it might just be genius.

It’s safe to say Huub was elated, he finally had the chance to go full Dr Frankenstein. Using the chemistry of the Reclaimed Blue 600 Film and the vibrant dye from Yellow Duochrome, Reclaimed Green rose from the dead. But here’s the thing: nobody knows how this chemistry works.

Now if that’s not spooky enough to get you into the reclaimed green spirit, we don’t know what else is. Shop now and get your freak on. No new film was harmed in the production of this film. Try at your own risk.