Particular about lenticular: the optical digitisation of Kodacolor

Digitisation Technician Eleanor Wass highlights her recent work on 16mm Kodacolor film, including rare colour film of the young Princess Elizabeth 

In 2023 I began work on a project to digitise all Kodacolor films held in IWM's collection. The most prolific filmmaker amongst this collection is socialite Rosie Newman; we hold 10 titles and 20 reels of her Kodacolor films. 

Kodacolor was a revolutionary film stock that came into production in 1928

For the first time it allowed amateur filmmakers to capture the world in colour. The stock is unique in that it requires specific equipment including two red, green and blue filters which would be fitted to the camera during filming and projecting. Due to these characteristics, it is a notoriously difficult film stock to digitise with modern film scanners, often only being scanned in black and white. After doing thorough research into how this stock was reviewed in the 1930s, I examined an original Kodacolor lens and made a scaled replica for our film scanner. This allowed me to digitise our Kodacolor collection in colour. I digitised them without any postproduction enhancements, so the colours you see are primarily from the filter system. My work on Kodacolor was first showcased at the Eye Museums annual conference in 2025.

Rosie Newman’s collection showcases a rare female perspective into the 1930’s and 1940’s including her efforts to capture the Second World War in colour. The digitisation of her work in full colour is a significant addition to IWM’s collection and has been a joy to work on.

Find out more

Female filmmakers of the Second World War

Contact the licensing team for further information and help with archive research.