Kodachrome....it's time.

I have a gut feeling it might go in the next two years or less. One guy I talked to who is a tech in

Rochester said the last coating was in 2005.

 

That is my hint I guess. The other is the recent closing of the Swiss lab. Other sources ( B&H )say that it

actually selling OK. Who can guess? All I know is that I have spent about $10,000 and two years getting

ready for this big project with it. I wrote David Alan Harvey an email tonight asking for grant advice.

 

I have 125 rolls of 25, 100 rolls of 200 and some 850 rolls of 64. I'll shoot it in my Nikon film rigs and

Hasselblad XPan. Ironically enough, Not a single piece of camera gear for the project is even made

anymore. So I reckon I need about $8,000 to give Dwayne's to secure the chemistry and lab time, that will

have to come from grants. Two years ago, the lab manager agreed to allow my film to be the very last

batch he processes, I don't think he was quite expecting 1,100 rolls.....:-)

 

So many people rag on the film. I grew up shooting it. Started at age 13 on the very first Space Shuttle

landing in 81. When you nail it on Kodachrome, man, you have really nailed it. So I am doing a tribute to

it. I hope I have a good two years or more to take my time shooting some 40,000 frames. I am going to

keep it in the US only.

 

After-all, Kodachrome is legendary. It made Life, Time and National Geographic what it is today. I have

got a great Canon set up for digital, two 5D's, 9 lenses. But with the exception of key clients who pay

well, I am taking a sabbatical from digital.

 

Digital will be around for a long time. Kodachrome won't. It's time I got on it and gave it the tribute I

know I can.

 

Now if I can just get Paul Simon to let me do a portrait of him on it...wouldn't that be something. Maybe

my friend Lynn Goldsmith can put me in contact with him. I'm sure he would love it!

"Our American Dream"<div></div>

Hi Daniel

I'd agree, Kodachrome is special, i have a few rolls in my fridge and it will be my colour

film of choice until it's no more.

 

Funnily enough I hadn't shot a roll for about 12 years (digital only) until recently. Last

Christmas my Father in law asked me to scan his slides, and to cut a long story short I was

'bewitched' by the quality and have started shooting film again.

 

His 1950-70s slides still had a vibrancy and quality that I doubt many digi shots will be

able to attest to in 40 yrs.

 

God bless Kodachrome!<div></div>

<I>After-all, Kodachrome is legendary. It made Life, Time and National Geographic what it is today.</I><P>

Circumstances made those publications what they are. Not Kodachrome. If there had been no Kodachrome they would have persisted just as well.<p>

And you didn't know that Paul Simon was a prophet, did you? You should have listened to him then and prepared. Now carefully consider all the other things he warned you about.

<i> I wrote David Alan Harvey an email tonight asking for grant advice.</i><p>

 

 

In the late Sixties or early Seventies a man named Simon Nathan got free film from Fuji as long as he promoted the film. Simon photographed pieces of thousands of signs in every shape and color, filed them carefully by color and letter, then filed a copyright for each as an effort to build ground to trademark the alphabet.

<p>

You should have such luck. :)

<p />Sadly, Paul Simon sang correctly. I've always liked its results. And a portrait of him in

K25 would be an affirmation of something prophetic.

<center><img src="http://www.wsrphoto.com/web-images/slide154n.jpg" /></center>

<p />In the days where people had easy access to races and drivers. And now I only have a

dozen rolls of Kodachrome left, half K25 and half K200. On another note, I'm curious about

your experience with the 5D's. I'm looking into adding a full-frame DSLR with a few lenses

within the next year, and it's on the top of my to look at list.

Well, here's an good place the question I've been considering for a while. What's the latest expiration date anyone has seen on a roll of Kodachrome? On the three remaining films, 64, 64 Professional, and 200. (We know that 200 professional is gone.)

 

I suspect that Kodak is subsidizing Dwayne's K-14 line, at least by paying them generously to process the mailers. They probably aren't making much money selling them the chemistry either. That plug will probably be pulled 6-12 months after the last roll of Kodachrome expires.

The last real Kodachrome was Kodachrome 25. It's over.

I'm still partial to K64. I just shot three rolls of this film on a trip to Canada alongside Ektachrome Elite 100 (I shoot transportation subjects). While I was pleased with the results I achieved from the EB film, the K64 results were simply more satisfying.

 

I'd also like to put in a good word for Dwayne's - their quality has been excellent. In fact, now that I've found a good local lab to process my E-6 film and no longer have to rely on District Photo, I consider it the best of both worlds.

 

Basically, I reached the point where I'm just not going to worry any more about the impending death of Kodachrome and film in general. I'm going to shoot my favorite films as long as I can, and if they go away I'll find something to replace it.

 

Jim

The first line about "crap I learned in high school" kept Kodak from considering wanting to use Paul Simon's song in marketing. Kodak has always been a strong supporter and support for reform in education.

 

I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing the last coating you refer to might be for Kodachrome 40 movie film.

I recently shot three rolls of slide film and sent them to the MD address in Kodak mailers. The two rolls of Kodachrome came back in 2 weeks. The KL looks great and the KR might have a slight magenta cast. The roll of Ektachrome Elite Chrome 100 has still not come back after almost 5 weeks. I called the Kodak number and was told to be patient. Is the location in Beltsville doing so little E-6 now that it could take months to get a roll back? Maybe Kodak should shift all of its E-6 mailer processing to Dwayne's too.

 

I am going to inventory my remaining Kodachrome, shoot it by this coming fall and use up my remaining Kodak mailers. My E-6 film can go to A&I or The Slideprinter. At this point I'm concerned that neither K-14 nor E-6 processing will be available much longer.

I was reading your posts on Kodachrome slide film, and I thought I would contribute a pic from my dad's collection of pictures from 1953/54(pic says 1952, but he meant 53/54). He used slide film through a Zeiss Contessa, which he still owns in working order. The slides where scanned, then my dad wrote on them for the slide show he put together. Anyways, he said it was cheaper to buy color slide film, and then they would send them to the states and I think they were processed for free or a nominal charge, anyway, it was cheaper and faster getting them back then processing B/W film over there. The slide is over 50 yrs old when scanned, and it could have been shot yesterday....enjoy.<div></div>

My latest Kodachrome stash includes a few rolls of Kodachrome 25, E#1273 12/2002, Kodachrome 64 E#1532 3/2007 and Kodachrome 200 E#2671 4/2007. It appears it's not unusual for Kodak to pull out coated master rolls from the "salt mine" and have the same emulsion finished with differing expiration dates. This happened last year, that is with some Kodachrome 200 I bought from B&H. It had the same emulsion number, but with dates expiring 02, 03, 10 and 11 of 2006. All looked fine to me. I have tried to keep track of how many rolls Dwayne's processes each day by checking the "twin check" numbers on the film I leave at Wal-Mart. It's hard to do because apparently they reset it often to a number in the 30 to 60 thousand range and start over. I figure they are at present running 280 to 300 rolls of 35mm a day for the Fuji/Wal-Mart send in envelopes. Does anyone know whether they have a differing set of numbers for Kodak/Qualex/District Photo send in along with film received direct at Dwayne's? They could be processing just hundreds, then again maybe thousands a day. I don't think they are telling, but I haven't called and asked - not that they would tell! Grant, Dwayne's son, is the plant manager if anyone is so inclined!

 

According to second-hand, but what I consider reliable Kodak information, they are coating Kodachrome like only once or twice a year, so any K-14 film last coated in 2005 wouldn't signal anything drastic!

 

I only have maybe 100 rolls total in my frozen stash. I'm sorry I didn't buy a case of the last Kodachrome 25. The way it has been selling on e(greed), I could have bought me lots of fast Nikon glass with the approximately $7 to 8 THOUSAND profit it would have brought! OR maybe I could have purchased more Kodachrome?

 

Are all you "Kodachrome fans" subscribed to the Kodachrome e-mail list? It can be found here - http://lists.kjsl.com/mailman/listinfo/kodachrome Can I say that here? You'll reach a few hundred die-hard Kodachrome fans including 3 or 4 with xx@kodak.com addresses. Bend an ear!

 

Robert Johnson me@robertejohnson.com

Best of luck with your project, Daniel. Sign me up for a copy when it's completed.

Gee whiz Daniel, how do you get a grant for using Kodachrome? Just because it's no longer used by most pros doesn't mean it's end is near. Will digital replace it, only as far as convenience IMHO. Slip some slides in a projector and compare the view with a digital system. Then wait around a few years to compare those slides to the same age E6 wannabees. That should settle your 'gut feeling' for awhile. Good luck with your grant. Regards.

No one knows how long it will be around. If I did then I could make definite plans around

that, so instead, I have to act on an instinct. I just want to shoot it. The project is first about

the stories I will uncover, then the film used. It just happens to be Kodachrome. I happen to

be very fond of it.

As a former product engineer for Kodachrome and a Kodak employee until the first of this year I don't know whether the last manufacturing run of Kodachrome has already happened. I don't believe anyone really knows. There might be a plan, but such plans have changed many times. (K-200 received a stay of execution a few years ago.) I can make a prediction of how it will happen.

 

At some point, Kodak will announce that production has ceased and sales will continue only as long as inventory remains--probably about 2 years worth.

 

There will be a hue and cry and gnashing of teeth from the faithful.

 

Kodak will stand by their announcement.

 

Processing will continue to be available for at least 2 years past the last shipment from the warehouse.

 

I will wager that Dwaynes will still be running K-14 in 2010.

 

I wish Daniel good luck in his endeavor.

I know that Kodachrome 64 is still being manufactured. Trust me on this. That's about all I can say in this forum.

Thanks Dan. I suspected it was just a gap in production. But for old time sake I bought a roll of K64 today just to have one roll available. I usually use E-6 for my slides. I still have 3 rolls of K200 to use up that someone on here gladly sent me. I'm waiting for a good snowy day for those.

Think about what you're saying: Suppose I had a case of the old tri-carbon pack paper that Life writers used to type their stories on and an old Royal manual upright all stashed away. I could go out and write stories just like they did back then, right? It was the pictures that made Life and National Geographic, etc., not what kind of film they were shot on. Kodachrome was great quality and the best available in its day so the printing process was tweaked to work with that as the source material. But if they had decided that Ektachrome or Anscochrome etc. worked then the same photos would have been created. Minor color variations, less archival, sure, but it's the pictures people remember, not the film.

Yes, that is true, but Kodachrome allowed a look to be had that could be gotten with any

other film. Still cant in my opinion. I shoot for the magazines, I have even had stuff published

in NG adventure and Life, the year in pictures. But now, I want to make it interesting and use

a medium that might not be around too much longer. If using Kodachrome makes me more

deliberate, focused and aware of a certain needed technique, then in turn, you the viewer will

be the recipient of something different. I think people are going to enjoy this, I know I will.

Mr. Bayer:

My hat is off to you, sir.

 

"I have a gut feeling it might go in the next two years or less. "

 

I had the same feeling last year when my local drug store chain put their

inventory of K64 out on their clearance table: I bought all I could lay my hands

on, and I've now shot more Kodachrome in the last year than I had shot in the

previous 20 years.

 

I too will be be sorry to see it go.

Kodachrome II was much nicer than Kodachrome 25 and a lot of people were very upset with the change. I don't think that K-25 and K-64 had been introduced yet when the song came out.

If you really want to have processing available down the road, I know where TWO complete and (were) operating K-Lab, K-14 processing machines are for sale. Also a possible third one is also available. Only like $40,000 to 45,000 each! You'll have to go pick them up. Should fit in a large size U-haul truck! This is a far better price than the I think when new EK price of $250,000. Get you a big "scientific freezer, lead lined" and you can enjoy Kodachrome forever! Enjoy!

 

Robert Johnson me@robertejohnson.com

Robert, before you load those K Lab's in the truck and drive off to the 'salt mines' make sure you have a source for the chemistry. My recent conversations indicate Kodak won't continue packaging/selling the chemicals needed for proper operation. Not to worry though, there are other ways to process these little K64 cassettes, I'm told. Regards.