There was a time, not so long ago, when those of us working with motion picture film in Spain had a small but mighty ally provided by Kodak: a special adhesive tape designed to number cartridges, mark film cans, or indicate the type of emulsion loaded into a magazine.
Its great advantage was decisive: it did its job perfectly and, after a while, could be removed without leaving the slightest residue.
But when Kodak closed its Spanish office in the early 2010s, that tape vanished. Filmmakers were forced to improvise with substitutes — most commonly painter’s tape from the hardware store. The problem? Once removed after weeks or months (say, on the end of reels when, after exhibition, they went into archival storage), the tape left behind glue residue, unsightly marks, and sometimes even minor damage to the surface of a cartridge, magazine, or reel edge.
The good news is that there’s a solution — and it comes, fittingly, from another classic: 3M. Their tape, code 2071 Pro UU001544699 (Painter’s Tape, 18 mm × 50 m), has proven to be the perfect successor to Kodak’s original. It can remain in place for months, even years, and when removed leaves no trace whatsoever.
For those of us who reuse filming cartridges time and again, this isn’t a luxury — it’s an absolute necessity. And as an added bonus, this 3M tape allows you to write on it with a permanent marker without ink bleeding through to the cartridge, magazine, or reel beneath — a virtue that even Kodak’s own tape never quite matched.
Proudly made in the USA, this 3M product is readily available worldwide and easily ordered via Amazon. In Spain, it can be purchased for just 5 euros, shipping included, with 24-hour delivery.
Small discoveries like these help keep the machinery of our film passion alive and well. Because sometimes, the difference between chaos and order… fits in just 18 millimeters of tape.
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