We report a study of the growth of conductive single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) films with ultra-high transparency (typically above 98% at 550 nm wavelength) on quartz substrates. Ferritin was used as the catalyst precursor and ethanol as the carbon feed. The effects of experimental parameters on film structure and performance have been investigated. Catalyst concentration and pre-annealing of the substrate after catalyst deposition seem to be important parameters to optimize the resulting films. Analysis of these trends gives further insight into the mechanism of SWCNT film growth and termination, which may contribute to more effective synthesis of SWCNT films. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.