How to archive a 16mm film of an RCA 501

First thought. 16mm film is alomost certain to be 'safety film' [1] and thus have a sellulose acetate (not cellulose nitrate) base. Vinegar == acetic acit. I wonder if, alas, the film base is breaking down. Second thought. Tread carefully. You have what is probably an irreplaceable artefact there. Don't do anything if you're not sure... [1] 16mm was originally an amateur format, and from the start it was regarded as a Bad Thing to let amateurs use the very inflammable cellulose nitrate film. In fact the 16mm gauge was chosen to make it uneconomical to slit down from 35mm film stock to prevent offcuts of professional (and thus possibly cellulose nitrate) film ending up on amaetur spools Somebody else suggested scanning each frame sepatately. Now sound film normally runs at 24 frames per scond, so even if it's only a 5 minute film, that's still 7200 frames to scan. Rather a lot of work. If uou do manage to get it into a projectable state, I'd make at least 2 simulatanous recordings of the sound track. For example, if you're trasnfering to to a computer, that will do as one eecording, but I'd also make an analouge tape recording of the sound, and maybe some other recording too. Then if something goes wrong you've still got _a_ version of the soundtrack. It may not be very good, but it's a lot better than nothing. -tony