Ektachrome Returns(?)

Perhaps closer to a shelf near you:

 

The Return of Kodak Ektachrome Film is Nigh

Back around the time that Ektachrome was discontinued, I bought my first and (I thought) last roll of Ektachrome. But it's still in my freezer! I was always a Provia shooter for reversal film. I do love reversal film though, so I am glad that we are going to have more, not fewer, options available in this area. I love my Noblex and Rolleiflex cameras. Such fun to shoot, and results always so satisfying.

Just in case all of us have not listened in, here's from the horse's mouth. The Kodakery

Last spring I bought a mediums sized box full of expired film at a garage sale for $10. There was a wide variety, including Super 8 and 16mm. I sold one reel of 16mm film for $20 on eBay so it's like free film to me. ;) There are 2 or 3 of rolls of Ektachrome. I've shot one but it's sitting in the fridge until I shoot some more. I've been wanting to try my hand at E6 chemistry but it doesn't last that long so I'm waiting to have a good 6 or 8 rolls ready.

 

Very much looking forward to Kodak releasing fresh stuff. Even if I don't end up buying that, the prices on expired stock should come down.

 

The broadcast Chuck linked to is worth a listen. It gives a good explanation of why it's taking so long and why they think it's a viable product now after shutting down production just a few years ago. The big reason is that they're developing a new production line that can produce it smaller batches to better match what the market demand is. The old production line was designed for very large volume and was expensive to maintain. They couldn't sell the film fast enough to justify the production costs.

I think I pull some Elite Chrome out this weekend and shoot it just to get me back into the Ektachrome "mood." I still have probably 8 unopened bricks.

 

I have a medium format roll or two of EPP stashed away also.

 

I don't have any E100G, although that was a film I didn't particularly care for. I recall a lovely "smoothness" to it, but it was too cool for my taste. E100GX was a nice balance for me-not as warm as Provia or Velvia, but noticeably more so than E100G. I never cared for E100VS-it seemed to me as a poor attempt at imitating Velvia.

 

Overall, of the whole late Ektrachrome "portfolio" I really think I liked Elite Chrome the best-it was a bit grainier than the E100 series films, but seemed to me to have the most neutral color rendering of the bunch. I guess there's a reason why I have so much in storage(down to 80 or so rolls from about 150 I bought) vs. only occasionally turning up a roll of one of the other films.

 

From the podcast, it sounds like they're shooting for E100G, or maybe they'll split the difference and make something between E100G and E100GX(kind of like what the new "consolidated" Portra line-up did with NS and VS). If the film is an E100G clone, I'll probably have to step up to an 81B or C from my customary 81A :) .

I cross process all my slide film.

I cross process all my slide film.

 

Sounds like a waste of good film to me.

Whether Ektachrome returns or not, the real downside these days is sub-par E6 processing. Quality started deteriorating well over a decade ago when pros abandoned transparency materials for digital.They kept the labs open for the rest of us and when they bailed, quality ebbed. Tight E-6 lines could easily allow the differences among films to shine through on a light table. Now? Not so much. Garage JOBO processing can't consistently rival the predictable results the big Refrema could crank out. Home kits? Forget it. If you're shooting slide film for entertainment and novelty, great. But it's just not the same now and often isn't worth the cost and wait times that seem the norm.

I get great Provia 100F slide film processing from Dwayne's photo Lab.

Sounds like a waste of good film to me.

 

 

Not to me it isn't. Plus I use expired slide film mostly. I like the wonky color shifts

As long as good processing is available I'm in. I've done a lot of E-6 processing myself and it isn't hard if you use one-shot chemistry. The problem comes in using larger machines that keep refreshing chemistry. They work well as long as they are used very regularly but chemistry balance is a real problem if not. Been there too. I'm glad to see film making a comeback, I've been moving that way and have purchased several film bodies this year. The CoolScan is sitting here on my desk, the darkroom is back together and there is new Ilford paper in the freezer. Too bad I can't get CibaChrome any more.....

 

Rick H.

Edited November 19, 2017 by Rick Helmke

I think the film will be popular among those that shoot e6. I guess its tied to the super 8 project and have no clue about that film and the market. I am going to skip it all myself. If super 8 is suitable for the movie industry i will be happy to go check it out if the movie appeals.

E100G was my very most favorite chrome. I hope the new stuff is better, and at least relatively affordable. I miss the "slide look", even though I can sorta fake it with digital. (I like Ektar, but IMO, it doesn't really replace E100G.)

Right toward the end, I shot some Ektachrome, and the color was almost in the league with Kodachrome. I was impressed, but by then I was shooting almost entirely digital.

 

I hope it works out, but the color film I shoot these days is all color negative - then digitize.

Kodachrome has a certain color look that you can either like or hate.

 

Reading about the process, after the first developer, the red sensitive and blue sensitive layers are exposed and then redeveloped. (I might have the order wrong.) Then for the green sensitive layer, the film is chemically fogged which will redevelop all the so far undeveloped parts in any layer, and color them magenta.

 

The result of this is a color error different than usual for incorporated coupler films.

Honestly, although I did not object to Kodachrome's various "tints" (older versions had a sort of "purple" cast), it was the sharpness that I loved.

Right toward the end, I shot some Ektachrome, and the color was almost in the league with Kodachrome. I was impressed, but by then I was shooting almost entirely digital.

 

I wouldn't consider that a compliment :)

 

I should say that K64-which is what I shot the most of(K25 was gone by the time I got into photography, so all I shot was old stock) always felt a bit flat to me. The last roll I shot was at a family reunion in 2008 where my grandfather "hired" me to get photos of him with all of his great-grandchildren and I though Kodachrome seemed a perfect film for the occasion.

 

I will say, though, that I always thought Kodachrome handled reds very gracefully, and the best looking Kodachrome images I've seen seem to have a lot of reds in them. Even with K64, I have some fall slides that are not half bad looking.

 

I also looked back over some E100G the other day. Even 8 or more years later, they are still too cool for my taste and don't have the presence of a well-exposed Velvia slide that jumps off the light table. Still, I do have to say there's a certain beautiful smoothness to its rendition, particularly in blue tones. Skies are so clean that they almost look like a digital capture. The tonality is beautiful, and it doesn't seem to block up like Velvia(Kodachrome is out of the discussion on that, since I found that it lived up to its infamous reputation for blocking up). I'd rather look at results than data sheets, but I pulled the one for E100G the other day and I think I remember an RMS granularity of 7. If that's the case, it would make it finer grained than Provia.

 

As I've said, I just wish that they would make E100GX or else split the difference between the two films. Fortunately, the 81 series filters don't come with much of a light penalty and can make things more to my taste.

Hardly ever used anything faster than ASA25 in Kodachrome. And I do consider it a compliment for the late Ektachrome to say it was similar. In the last days of film, I had switched to C/N film and scanning before I went totally digital.

 

I used GAF 500 and High Speed Ektachrome for available darkness shots. Not exactly fine grain....:rolleyes:

I'll put in a good word for Ektachrome. I have Ek slides from over 50 years ago. They've not faded a smidgen. I have Agfa slides from the same period that have turned totally amber.

I only have them to about 40 years ago. As well as I know, those are fine.

I think the most interesting part of the Kodak podcast is that they are making smaller emulsion kettles for making smaller batches of film. The old kettles made enough emulsion for at least 6 master rolls (52 inches by 6000 feet each). That meant one batch of Ektachrome was way too much film to sell through before it expired.

 

Kodak's factory was built to make huge amounts of film cheaply. But it's now an albatross without the volume of Eastman Color Print film for movie release prints. (That was 90% of their production volume!) All gone due to digital projection in movie theaters. So it's important for their survival to be able to make smaller runs of film economically.

 

So I suspect Kodak is using the Ektachrome project as a "pilot" of smaller batch technology. Right now it's the only way to make Ektachrome at a profit. But in a few years, it may be the only way for Kodak to profitably make any color films. After all right now the movie industry is subsidizing them to keep Eastman Color Negative film available for cinematographers who want it. That subsidy won't go on forever.

 

So it's only a matter of time before they have to switch other color films from the big kettles to the small kettles. So it is important to Kodak's entire film business that they put the capital dollars into the new kettles, and then jigger the film recipes to use the new kettles.

John, good point. I recall a few years ago that they wanted to bring back old emulsions (e.g. 5247), and they were working on a way to make film in very small batches. Perhaps this is actually starting.

Maybe my much-beloved Plus-X will make a come-back also...

Add Panatomic-X, unlikely but would be nice.

Panatomic-X, Plus-X, and Verichrome Pan