Kodachrome

[carouselvic]

June 22 2009 the day that Kodachrome died.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-kodak-film23-2009jun23,0,247186.story

 

[dhermann1]

Ilford or Fuji will probably produce it, if they don't already.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Not likely any other manufacturer would undertake Kodachrome, which is a patented process unlike the E-6 (Ektachrome) process.
All other slide films are E-6 process which is a subtractive process, stripping away the color layers one by one.

Kodachrome was unique as it was actually a black & white film base on to which the color layers were added (the additive process). This was exclusively a Kodak process and the labs were under license to Kodak to do the film developing. This process also lead to Kodachrome's incredible lifespan for completed images. Some old Kodacromes look as bright today as they did decades ago.

For those who have an interest in the subject, pick up the book 'Kodachrome; The American Invention of Our World 1939-1959' ISBN: 0-929445-13-9 Delano Greenridge Editions, New York

Beautiful old Kodachromes reproduced with quality printing.

Good Bye, old friend! I will always remember you at ASA25!

-dixon cannon

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Me and my Kodachrome 25 c.1975

Palm Beach, Florida with a brand new Nikon F2, loaded with Kodachrome 25.

-dixon cannon

 

[Hugh Beaumont]

Sad day indeed....

Kodachrome had the most wonderful color reproduction of any film. It had its own personality.

 

[MrBern]

Ilford or Fuji will probably produce it, if they don't already.

Ehhh, truely unlikely.
Kodachome is a different developing process than its sibling Kodak slidefilms or its competitors' various slide films.
So making the film is one thing, creating developing stations is another.

And yes, its really sad for me to not be able to go on a Hawaiian vacation without being about to shoot a little kodachrome, but we all saw it coming when Kodachrome25 was discontinued a few years back.

I believe various publications like NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC were warned about this a year or so ago, since it would be a concern if they were working on any longterm projects and the films wouldnt match through out the story.

It really is the end of an era, but it wasnt sudden

FYI, the irony:
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/shoptalk-3/

 

[Mike K.]

Just curious how many folks around here actually still shoot Kodachrome...or any film for that matter?

Even though my photography is 99% digital these days, I've kept my trusty film camera for those times when I want to use a more traditional media.

 

[MrBern]

my last roll?

I alternate travel jackets.
Im just back from a long weekend.
What did I find in one of the zippered pockets? Of course, a used roll of kodachrome.

I should hurry to the camerastore to send if in for processing.

 

[carouselvic]

If you send it for processing, it will come to Kansas.

 

[Lincsong]

Just curious how many folks around here actually still shoot Kodachrome...or any film for that matter?

Even though my photography is 99% digital these days, I've kept my trusty film camera for those times when I want to use a more traditional media.

I don't have a digital camera and still use my 1982 Canon AE-1 Program 35 mm.

 

[Hugh Beaumont]

Just curious how many folks around here actually still shoot Kodachrome...or any film for that matter?

I still do. I hate digital, even though I am forced to use it in video production.

I try to load up my 8mm Brownie movie and Starflex with film whenever I have a chance.

 

[Hugh Beaumont]

If you send it for processing, it will come to Kansas.

Yep, Dwayne's handles it all. Great company with great service.

 

[Pilgrim]

I really haven't shot on film in a couple of years. Just as I find CDs incredibly more convenient than vinyl, I confess that I find digital a lot more convenient than film. And that is a sheepish admission, because I have a much-loved Pentax ME Super and a Super Program sitting there unused. Even my dad's Leica M3 isn't being used. And I NEVER liked anything better for colors than Kodachrome. I'll miss it.

But - I took my Olympus C750 to a Good Guys car show two weeks ago and shot 400 pix in four hours. Try that with film!

And I have a new assignment at work that will give me the chance to shoot video with Prosumer equipment...I'm looking at the Canon XHA1S video camera - and hoping to get a hard drive to store the footage so I won't have to mess with tape all the time. Last time I shot video professionally it was with an Ikegami HL-53 and Sony Beta SP, a camera/recorder combination that cost $40,000....and weighed at least 4X what that Canon will weigh.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Just curious how many folks around here actually still shoot Kodachrome...or any film for that matter?

Even though my photography is 99% digital these days, I've kept my trusty film camera for those times when I want to use a more traditional media.

My Nikon F4 is in the closet with half a roll of (?) in it - still sittin'g there after a year.
I haven't touched it since I picked up the D80! I love the digital and HDR makes it all worth it!
-dixon cannon

 

[Dixon Cannon]

My last roll of Kodachrome....

This is the ASA10 stuff - dated 1952.

-dixon cannon

 

[nobodyspecial]

I'd love to load up my camera with Kodachrome 64, but I'm much too lazy a photographer to do so. Digital is just too easy.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Some of us still shoot exclusively on film. I do.

I have nothing against digital - my kids and father have digital cameras, and I grab one of their cameras when I need instant results. But for myself, I prefer my old film burners, and will continue to do b/w darkroom work for as long as I have access to the equipment and chemistry/paper.

I use beauitfully engineered cameras from the 50s, 60s, and 70s that have endured - whereas my kids and father have been through multiple digital cameras, typically getting just a couple of years out of them before something breaks (the shutter release, the battery door, the lens-retraction mechanism). For some of us, instant gratification isn't what it's cracked up to be: the skill, craft, and luck - and the time involved - with old-school photography has its own rewards.

(You wouldn't think that this POV would be so unusual or hard to understand on forums dedicated to great stuff of the past!)

 

[Subvet642]

Some of us still shoot exclusively on film. I do.

I have nothing against digital - my kids and father have digital cameras, and I grab one of their cameras when I need instant results. But for myself, I prefer my old film burners, and will continue to do b/w darkroom work for as long as I have access to the equipment and chemistry/paper.

I use beauitfully engineered cameras from the 50s, 60s, and 70s that have endured - whereas my kids and father have been through multiple digital cameras, typically getting just a couple of years out of them before something breaks (the shutter release, the battery door, the lens-retraction mechanism). For some of us, instant gratification isn't what it's cracked up to be: the skill, craft, and luck - and the time involved - with old-school photography has its own rewards.

(You wouldn't think that this would POV be so unusual or hard to understand on forums dedicated to great stuff of the past!)

I no longer have access to a darkroom, and now that I'm paying a mortgage, sending film to an outlab has become prohibitive. My primary camera is, and has been a Mamiya C 330 TLR in absolutely mint condition, but I also use a Pentax K-1000 SE. The loss of Kodachrome is something of a psychic blow to the head. I don't know what else to say.

 

[DBLIII]

Doctor Strange, I sure agree on the construction of digital cameras. My wife seems to get a new one every couple of years because something breaks or falls off. Meanwhile, I don't even know how old my Nikon F3 is, but I do know that it has always worked.
I have shot rolls and rolls of Kodachrome. Sad. I guess eventually all film will just go away.....

 

[dhermann1]

I'll just bet that somewhere, somehow, someone will start producing it and a lab will be available to process it. It may be the era of artisan film processors, sort of like breweries. It will of course be three times as expensive.