Last hoora for Kodachrome!

<p>It was a sad day for me when I heard that Kodak was disconinuing Kodachrome. For me, that was the color film that I learned on. I continued to use Kodachrome through the 1990's until it became hard to find and hard (slow) to get processed. For a while I switched to E100S, E100G, etc until I got my first DSLR. <br>

As my last hoora for Kodachrome, I plan to shoot 3 rolls in 3 different "old" cameras. The cameras are: Canon IV Sb (1953 RF), Canon TL/QL (1971, my first SLR), and a Canon F1 (1975). With newer Film and digital cameras in my, bag those cameras get left at home a lot. Each of those cameras saw a lot of Kodachrome in their day. Therefore, I thought it would be fun to have a last hoora with each of those cameras with one last roll of Kodachrome. A return to my photographic roots! Now I have think about an appropriate subject for the photos.<br>

Any other ideas on an appropriate last hoora for Kodachrome?</p>

 

<p>Um, Greg, have you ever walked into a party and made some big announcement, and then it turned out that everybody had been talking about this for quite a while <em>before</em> you got there?</p>

<p>Well, you have now. There have been a lot of articles and threads on many different forums for weeks now, some exactly paying tribute to the film, showing scans (esp. on No Words), and generally commiserating.</p>

<p>Still, no harm done, the film deserves our fond memories, so welcome to the party, or rather, wake.</p>

<p>My problem is that there are a number of cameras and lenses I want to shoot Kodachrome with and I'm not going to have the time to save up to buy all of them before it is discontinued!</p>

<p>Travel to Bryce Canyon and take some photos of Kodachrome Basin.</p>

<p>I would try shooting something that is important to you.</p>

Is my black &white cat a good subject?

<p>I'm thinking it might be worthwhile to review some of my best Kodachromes from the early days, go back to those subjects/locations and reinterpret them on the current film. It would be a reinterpretation in two ways, as the only film I used back then was K25 which was sadly discontinued long ago. I no longer have the 35mm system I shot with at the time, so there would be no "equipment nostalgia" involved.</p>

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<p>Is my black &white cat a good subject?</p>

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<p>It all depends on how you season it. Otherwise it tends to be kind of gamey. Soy sauce and a wok are good.</p>

<p>I just don't get it. I must be the ONLY one who's MAD at Kodachromes demise. All the rest of you accept it with so much ease, or to be more specific, relief.</p>

<p>Mr. F...</p>

<p>You must not have been looking at Photonet when the announcement was made. I took a LOT of garbage for not only missing it but trying to do something to get Kodak to reconsider keeping it one more year for a 75th anniversary. </p>

<p>There is even a clown on sleezebay who recently changed his log-on to mourns_for_kodachrome. </p>

<p>Tom Burke</p>

<p>DF<br>

Five stages of grief, but we're not all at the same stage:</p>

<ol>

<li> Denial</li>

<li>Anger</li>

<li>Bargaining</li>

<li>Depression</li>

<li>Acceptance</li>

</ol>

<p><br /> see Wikipedia <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCbler-Ross_model">link</a></p>

<p>Glad to say I am at #5<br /> Well I am not mad, but I do think that pulling the film so close to the 75th anniversary is a mistake in terms of marketing and public perception, but what can you do? I met with Kodak last month about this, so did Josh Root, there is nothing we can do, the film simply did not sell enough to make it in this bad-for-photography economy.<br /> The amount of 2007 KR on ebay and the fact it has been there for nearly two years now should tell you how little sold. Believe me, if there is anyone who wants to see this film stick around until year #75, it is me, I started on this 5 years ago.<br /> But I had instincts that told me this could happen, especially after KL-200 disappeared and then the AP article last year, well at that point, I knew I had to stock up and I did.<br /> There is a brick of 20 on ebay with 11/2010 dating, so Kodak is supporting the film until 2010, they did not even have to do that in this bear market. <br /> A month ago today, Kodak made the announcement, the future was spelled out clearly, 18 months to live. You can either make the most of it and do something with the life you have with Kodachrome or you can go on asking why when it is a done deal.<br /> Seriously, get that film in the camera and get on something real, time is a wasting...</p>

<p> </p>

When first heard of the end of Kodachrome I thought - This can't be true. Those SOBs are going to pay for this! I promise to use more if that will entice them to keep producing it. I'm going to lie down and have a good cry but I guess there is nothing I can do about it.

 

Took me about one minute to go through the five stages of grief.

<p>yeah, im still pretty pissed about it. I cant say i have thousands of rolls to look through, maybe close to 30rolls of the stuff in 3years. But, i got to capture something important to me, so i guess thats what counts (managed to get the film 2weeks before the announcement). A two week trip to Isreal with my family. But im done with it, not going to buy anymore. Got a few rolls left, going to keep one forever, dont ask why, i dont know. Not sure what i'll shoot, dont really care. When i get something that makes sense to shoot, i'll shoot it. The same as i always have and will, no matter what the medium is.</p>

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<p>maybe close to 30 rolls of the stuff in 3 years</p>

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<p>and that, as they say, is the story in one short phrase since that is a high rate of use for these years.</p>

<p>I wish it were otherwise, but I really can't fault Kodak in this. Think of it this way, it almost lasted as long as the Soviet Union did. ;)</p>

<p>Yeah. but as an amateur, did people really shoot so much more when film was in its prime? I think the big killer today was price, both to buy and process. How much, 20yrs ago, did it cost per roll to buy, process, ship, etc?</p>

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<p>Yeah. but as an amateur, did people really shoot so much more when film was in its prime? I think the big killer today was price, both to buy and process. How much, 20yrs ago, did it cost per roll to buy, process, ship, etc?</p>

 

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<p>I don't know if many people shot more than 30 rolls in 3 years, but a LOT more people shot film back then. Even at its heyday, Kodachrome was never Kodak's best-seller.</p>

<p>Today, film holdouts probably shoot more C-41 film and B & W than slides (of any brand/type). Add to that Kodachrome's unique processing requirements, and it is surprising that Kodachrome lasted as long as it did.</p>

<p>Paul Noble</p>

<p>JDM, It seemed there are those who began at stage 5.</p>

<p>If you haven't done so yet, check out the Kodachrome Project.</p>

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<p>JDM, It seemed there are those who began at stage 5.</p>

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<p>I can see how this would seem so if you've just arrived at the wake, but many of us have lost all our old friends, one by one, over the years--K-25, K-200, and other films not in the Kodak family, so we've been here a long enough time to pass through the stages and not be shocked. It's a like a friend with terminal cancer, you already know the end is likely to come sooner or later.</p>

<p>I knew the end was coming in the next year or two, 2010 being 75th birthday, not afew weeks ago.</p>

<p>stages of grief...terminal cancer...This thread is way too gloomy. Let's look at it a different way. K-64 is like the popular sports hero who has announced his retirement at the end of the season. Lets go to the stadium to see if our guy can knock it out of the park one more time. Check out Daniel Bayer's www.kodachromeproject.com. Go get some K-64 and shoot it. Share your results here on photo.net or Daniel's site or my K-75 Celebration site.</p>

<p>I'm heading for Monterey, CA tomorrow with a few rolls of Kodachrome.</p>

<p>JDM, no, i havent lived through at least the passing of L25 (though obvious K200). I've said it a few times, im realtively new to this film. Its more like a new friend with terminal cancer, that you wanted to learn more about before they died...</p>

<p>Terminal Cancer? It's as healthy as it ever has been to me, taken last week at a kids rodeo:</p><div></div>

<p>Another....</p><div></div>