Someone figured out how to process Kodachrome (sort of)

From when I was young, and my father explained the difference between Kodachrome and Ektachrome, Kodak always charged the same price for processing.

Around the time that I could afford color film and processing, (K12 and E4 days), I tended to prefer Ektachrome, and my father also mostly switched about the same time. One reason was that I usually liked the higher speeds available. (I never tried Kodachrome 200 when it was available.)

I suspect that Kodachrome will always cost more to process, especially if at smaller scale, such that there is no economic reason to bring it back.

A few years ago, after someone mentioned the chemicals used for the couplers, I tried to price them. One is available commercially for hundreds of dollars per gram. The others could be custom made for even higher prices. I suspect $250/roll is about right. (That would be for reagent grade chemicals. It is hard to find people who make photographic grade, which is almost the lowest grade they make.)

I find it a bit ironic that we're talking about using 35mm movie film in our still cameras. That's how Ernst Lietz got started and built the first 35mm Leica camera. Full circle.

I too lament the passing of Kodachrome. I don't think its coming back. The processing is too expensive, the market is too limited and there are probably environmental regulations that any new processing facility would have to overcome.

For a long time, I firmly believed that, as the flagship product, Kodachrome would be the last film that Kodak made. I was wrong.

I still have several film cameras and I like to use them occasionally, but, if Kodachrome DID come back, I might buy one roll, out of curiosity, but I would not be a regular user.