Ektachrome Returns(?)

Was supposed to

hit store shelves in the 4th quarter of 2017.

any sightings yet?

Was supposed to

any sightings yet?

 

I am waiting too!

I'm waiting eagerly for Ektachrome to appear.

 

I checked B&H Photo in New York, but nothing is listed on their web page ( bhphoto.com ) :(

Somewhat of an update......

 

Kodak's Ektachrome Reboot is on Track Despite $46M Loss and 425 Layoffs

Ouch. I thought they were doing well.

What's really needed, IMO, is an economical B&W and colour printing process that's not based on overpriced ink-wasting jet printers. One that equals the quality of silver-gelatine paper.

 

Or a halfway honest inkjet manufacturer that doesn't charge Chanel perfume prices for its cheaply made ink. I mean, if Ektachrome can produce excellent colour reproduction together with a neutral greyscale, using only C M Y dyes (no black), then why the **** can't those same, or similar, dyes be supplied in a form suitable for a printer, and at less than $5 per millilitre?

 

Kodak has a real chance to clean up by addressing that market. I doubt they'll create any sort of economic ripple by trying to promote a revival of bootlace sized cine film.

Edited January 8, 2018 by rodeo_joe|1

Kodak was selling inkjet printers with the claim that they didn't overprice the ink as much as others.

 

That the printers were more expensive, but ink was wasn't.

 

But otherwise, silver bromide paper based digital printers are still common enough for production printing.

 

I get my Christmas cards from Shutterfly, which prints them on Fuji Crystal Archive.

 

If you read the data sheet for Crystal Archive, you find that it is designed for either seconds exposure

or microseconds. That latter is what you get from a scanning laser.

 

So, you can print your digital pictures on AgBr based paper, or your scanned film with inkjets.

I'm well aware of lightjet printing, but it seems quite wasteful to produce a silver-bearing paper, only to remove the silver after doing the job of producing a dye.

 

I'm sure Kodak's former chemists had the expertise to produce those dyes directly, economically and in quantity. Then surely it's no great quantum leap to squirt said dyes directly onto a suitable paper?

 

Crystal archive and other lightjet processes don't address the need for home and small scale in-house commercial printing. For which the likes of Epson and HP are ripping off their users to the tune of millions, and for pretty mediocre results. Mediocre print quality that doesn't even have the permanence claimed for it.

 

Kodak printer division's claims for ink economy were greatly exaggerated!

Edited January 10, 2018 by rodeo_joe|1

All I can say is it's a shame that Kodak is no longer the wonderfully vertically integrated company they use to be.

 

Having a full blown chemical company at your disposal I'm sure made all of this kind of stuff easier.

 

 

The Eastman name is newer than Kodak for bulk chemicals and is still in business, but I'm not actually sure where I'd go to buy their chemicals at least in the US unless it's directly from them. None of the big three in the US(Sigma, Fisher, VWR) carry Eastman chemicals that I can tell, although Sigma does carry some other Eastman products.

Imax movies are still shot on film. The Walking Dead is shot on film. And QuentinTarantino still makes his movies on film So they are still making it for that.

I have an article and will post the link:: Basically it says that Eastman Kodak is primarily making the tech stuff and the motion picture film. They are making the new super 8 film and they are also the Kodak losing money these days. However Kodak Alaris is probably not losing money and they are selling us the films that we would normally purchase such as Tri-X, Ectar etc.

 

Ekatchrome is apparently super 8 movie film but it's repackaged and formatted to fit our 35mm camera's. It is going to be sold by Kodak Alaris but the Super 8 film is made by Eastman Kodak. Anyway Eastman Kodak's finacial problems could or probably is affecting the Ektachrome revival.

 

I do not really know anything so take if as a grain of salt. Just my take on it from the article in the link. Anyway I hope it all works out for everyone. Like I said before I would be happy to go to the movies and watch something shot on the new Super 8 film. I just recently went to see "The Post" and it was shot on Kodak 35mm film. I also watched Dunkirk recently at an IMAX (70mm film) and it was stunning.

.

Eastman Kodak to Layoff Over 400; But Film Probably Isn't Affected

My photo lab still prints photos, digital and film, using a wet lab machine.

If I recall, Some of Kodak's problems were from hiring someone who worked for HP and this person was concentrating on making printers instead of film.

Just saw an up-date that Kodak is shooting for summer or early fall for Ektachrome. Also, they will make it available in 100' and 400' rolls of 16mm

Hi Chuck,

Do you have a link to this update?

Hi Chuck,

Do you have a link to this update?

This refers to super 8 and 16, but I have to assume it applies to 35mm, too.

 

Ektachrome comes in Super 8 and 16mm

Looking forward to return of Ektachrome, Fuji transparencies are just not that appealing to me :(

That's because most labs are under processing it to keep their control strips in line. Provia when given proper extended development is warm and rich and has a far longer color gamut than Ektachrome. Ektachrome has a bit longer density range but turns strong colors to smudge. Dye coupled E6 film isn't that much technologically different than c41 to manufacture, so it's not a big deal. Just more difficult to process. I just don't get the history revisionism with Ektachrome. Fuji killed it...not digital.

 

Of all the chromes I have archived the only ones that stand out are 6x7 Provia and Kodachrome 25 in 35mm.

I just don't get the history revisionism with Ektachrome. Fuji killed it...not digital.

 

The last generation Ektachromes stand out to me for what I'd consider technical perfection. I've referred to E100G as the "most digital-like film I've ever used) and even looking at frames I shot 10 years ago I'm reminded of that. Also, I never could get caucasian skin tones to look as good from Provia as I could films like the ancient Ektachrome Plus(EPP), E100GX, or even Elite Chrome.

 

With that said, I agree in general that Fuji killed Ektachrome. It was a slow death, with K25 being the first casualty to Velvia. Regardless of what Kodak tried, they never could seem to get over the "Ektachrome Blues."

 

Kodachrome did seem to really shine when it came to reds, but I'm like a lot of folks in that I went through a "Kodachrome phase" then tried Velvia and never looked back. I shot a bit of it along the way-Kodachrome did give nice amount of saturation in warm colors while still holding skin tones very nicely(I was looking at a roll I shot in 2008 at a family reunion the other day and was reminded of how good it was). It was hard for me to get around how easily colors would "block up" though.

 

I do regret never trying Astia.

I like the last Ektachrome roll I shot. It's very neutral and didn't have much of the characteristic of old Ektachrome. Waiting for the new Ektachrome but look like it won't come.

"Waiting for the new Ektachrome but look like it won't come."

 

 

Let's not forget Kodak's less than brilliant decision to sell off their processing business in the late 1980's. I had been a devoted user of Kodachrome (especially 120) until they decided to only process 120 in California and lengthened the wait time to 2 weeks for return to the local stores. Try telling a client that! Ektachrome color in the 1980's and 1990's never looked quite right to me, but Fujichrome did, and I could get it processed locally and quickly with good quality. Digital imaging would have decimated the professional film market in any case, but Kodak made some major errors in the 80's and 90's IMHO.

If fuji eventually stops slide production, just like it stops every other film photography related product, it might be actually profitable for kodak to step into the market. Until then they might release a test batch or something like that to see how well it will sell.

If Fuji stopped slide film production and Kodak doesn't make Ektachrome then I can't shoot my film hic hic.

If Fuji stopped slide film production and Kodak doesn't make Ektachrome then I can't shoot my film hic hic.

 

Even though I still buy fresh stock(I want fresh Velvia/Provia when I'm doing something important) I do have E6 piled "high and deep." As long as I can get E-6 chemistry(when you're a chemist, that's not really an issue-under the terms of my employment it's permissible for me to buy from Sigma, VWR, Fisher, etc out of pocket as long as I'm not doing something illegal with it) I'll be set for a while.

 

Of course, color at home is still a pain in the rear...