Replying to a message of Robert Comer to Phil Payne:

 RC> From: "Robert Comer" 

 >> a) What was the state of digital image analysis technology thirty years
 >> ago?

 RC> Film wise I wouldn't know at that speed, but probably not that bad.

The film grain in some reconnaissance film was so fine you could use a
microscope (don't know what power) to view very small items in each frame. 
That's much finer than the low speed fine grain b/w film then available to
commercial photographers (at the time I think that was Panatomic X).  If
memory serves the frames were a LOT bigger than the standard 35mm frame.

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