Kodachrome FYI

Well, in one day I have gone from knowing nothing of slide film, to

way more than I need to. I called Kodak in NJ and suprise, they no

longer develop Kodachrome (K14) [very recent change I suppose]. If

you send them your film, they are simply passing it along to one of

the following labs (w/markup). They referred me to three. 1) Film

Rescue, yeah, they don't do it anymore either. 2) Rocky Mountain

Photo Labs (303) 364-6444, they'll do it, but don't expect it in

less than a month. And finally, Dwayne's in Kansas (800) 522-3940.

They have a turn around time of 7-10 days, which is pretty good

including shipping. Anyway, just thought you might want to know

that Kodak (at least in the U.S. [they do in Switzerland]) no longer

processes their own film. This is becoming quite a pain. Watch out

for prices to raise too, according to Dwayne's, since they now have

a continental monopoly.

Kodak's <A href =

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=1147&pq-locale=en_US>

website</a> <A href = http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/pubs/kic/e540/

e540kic.shtml> listings</a> are out of date. They still list A&I as processing Kodachrome,

and the only other place listed, besides themselves, is Dwayne's. <p>

 

If Kodak really has stopped processing K14, it looks like Dwayne's (which I've never heard

of, not that it means anything) is your best bet.

Colt,

 

Are you absolutely sure! I would just call them in the morning, but they'll probably be closed tomorrow for the Good Friday holiday. I'll probably call around anyway. So far I can't find any mention of this on the Kodak web site.

 

I have been using Wal-Mart recently for K-14 because their prices are cheaper than the places that send to Qualex (Kodak Fairlawn). I can get E-6 processed locally, but the dealer's employees have a "bad attitude", which I go out of the way to avoid. It's rumored they would like to close down the E-6 side of the business, but are afraid whoever picks up the slack will siphon off part of their substantial digital business.

 

I do have one roll of Kodachrome outstanding to Fairlawn. When it is returned, I can tell from the way it is mounted, frame numbered and/or spliced together who processed it. Maybe A&I closed down a little quick, but I guess they probably knew more than the average Kodachrome user knew! I had been told (off the record) that Fairlawn processed more than 1,500 rolls of K-14 a day, A&I had dropped down to maybe two thirds of what it had been (rumored to be 1,500 rolls a day, but was probably a week) and I don't have any idea about Dwaynes. I think they start numbering rolls fresh each day?

 

I guess the good news is that there are still places that will process Kodachrome. The bad news for Kodak, at least among my friends, is that for every roll of Kodachrome they loose selling, another roll of Fuji/Agfa will be sold. My personal favorites for E-6 are Velvia 100F and Agfa RSX100. Good clean whites, good speed and not the "vivid" colors of Velvia 50 or Kodak E100VS.

 

Robert Johnson

Thank you for the information, Colt. I knew that A&I Lab in CA stopped processing Kodachrome this last May, but I didn't know about Kodak's Qualex in Fairlawn, NJ. The last time I sent Kodachrome for processing there they did a very lousy job anyway, I got the slides back with stains and scratches all over the place.

 

I think that the people at Kodak is trying to disappoint everybody that enjoys shooting film, the problem is that they aren't selling film, but they aren't selling digital products either, so I guess they are headed in the same direction as Pan-American Airlines.

 

With Fujifilm products, who needs Kodachrome, anyway?. If you think you like Kodachrome, get some Fujichrome Astia 100F together with the Fujifilm Lab mailers, and you will see why Kodak is going through

so many problems lately...

Nonsense. I got a set of 35mm Kodacrhome slides back this week, processed in NJ, usual one week turnaround time.

 

Maybe you're talking about Kodachrome 120 size, which is no longer processed.

Too bad all these Kodachrome shooters couldn't show some support for non-obsolete slide films and put their dollar muscle behind E100G to encourage Kodak to put more R&D into existing slide films.

Scott...just wait until ol' Hans Beckert comes knocking on this post's door, trying to convince you that "Kodachrome is FAR better than any E-6 film".

 

BTW, here's a message to Hans if he ever shows up at this post: Kodachrome's dead. Stop shooting it. Try a roll of Fuji Velvia 100F sometime. You'll be surprised at the color and sharpness.

 

I never shot a roll of Kodachrome in my entire life (and probably never will, now that I'm going straight digital tomorrow), and I'll probably never regret that decision.

It could be that Kodak may plan to stop processing Kodachrome in the U.S. Super 8 Kodachrome users for years have been used to limited processing, by Kodak's plant in Switzerland, and by Dwayne's in Kansas. Kodak has stated they plan very limited R and D in film altogether, be it print or slide films. I will continue to shoot Kodachrome as long as it's available, but I do buy new E6 films to try also. I do like Velvia 50, but wasn't too impressed with Velvia 100F...it's just not as sharp as Velvia 50, but the colors were better for people shots. Just picked up a roll of Kodak E100G, which I have heard great things about, and am hoping to use this as a substitute if Kodachrome goes bye bye.

Antonio wrote:

 

"so I guess they are headed in the same direction as Pan-American Airlines."

 

Does that mean that Kodak will go bankrupt, be dead for a while, and then get bought out of bankruptcy (dirt cheap) by Timothy Mellon/Guilford Transportation?

 

Wouldn't that be a hoot for all the railfans who love Kodachrome...

I was a Kodachrome-aholic untill Fairlawn started scratching film & not getting the color right.After much trial & error,I replaced K64 with Provia 100F for my general slide film,and aint looked back.Things change,and unfortunately the market for K64 shrank away.You can listen to disco,and wear bell bottoms,but you cant buy & shoot 1970's Kodachrome no mo'.

Hans Beckert is no longer a photo.net member (by that name). Won't take long to figure out if he's back with a new alias...

KODACHROME ALIVE AND WELL IN FAIRLWAN

 

I just spoke with a Dorothy at the Kodak/Kodalux/Qualex Fairlawn Plant (1-800-345-6973, number as found on the Kodak web pages). She confirmed that YES, they still process the K-14 35mm Kodachrome film there at the Fairlawn plant. "AS FAR AS SHE KNOWS", they are not planning to close down and send it on to Switzerland. She asked from where I was calling? I told her Tennessee and she seemed surprised. I told her that I used either mailers to send it direct to Fairlawn or dropped it off at COSTCO. When I said COSTCO, there was a little chuckle at the other end!

 

From my experience talking with Kodak people over the years, she appeared to have good knowledge on which she was speaking. I guess that's good news on Good Friday!

 

Have a nice weekend.

 

Robert Johnson

Last few times I had Kodachrome 64 processed it was run through a lab in Florida. They did good work. Supposedly they were using a process that differed somehow from the original processing method but I could be wrong. Anyway, the turnaround time was less than a week. When I first started using Kodachrome as a kid, 30+ years ago, turnaround time was two weeks to a month.

I'll 2nd what Robert Johnson wrote. I just called Kodak and they confirmed that Fairlawn NJ IS STILL processing K-14.

I appologize if my information was incorrect. I called the Kodak tech support for film number (800) 242-2424 X10, and they transferred me to the plant in NJ. They are the ones who told me that there was no more K14 processing there and gave me the other information. I am sorry if that is wrong, but glad to hear it. Thanks to everyone who looked into it.

Well, that wouldn't surprise me either, Colt.

 

The last time I contacted Kodak to request information about their new "Ultra Color" films (100UC and 400UC) they told me that the only "ultra color" films they produced were marketed in Europe and Latin America exclusively, and they sent me this link:

 

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=1993&pq-locale=en_GB

 

That's why I don't bother with anything that Kodak makes, they don't even know about their own products...

<i>Last few times I had Kodachrome 64 processed...they were using a process that differed somehow from the original processing method...</i>

<br>

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Could they be referring to the K-lab processing machine as compared to the original HUGE K-14 Processor?