Kodachrome K64 has been discontinued...

<p>The day we long expected has finally come:</p>

<p>Kodak has announced that after 74 years, they are discontinuing the last of their Kodachrome films, K64 . You can see the full press release further down on the page. Now, before we get into a frenzy of wailing, teeth gnashing, and hotheaded accusations I think everyone needs to admit something: <strong>We all knew this day was coming.</strong> Yes, everyone knows that the song says “Mama don’t take my Kodachrome away”. But Paul Simon also says in that same song “I can read the writing on the wall”.</p>

<p>Read the rest here:</p>

<p>http://www.photo.net/learn/film/slide-film/kodachrome-discontinued/</p>

<p>When you think about it, 74 years is an incredibly long time for the continuous manufacture of any single product line. Josh is right - we all knew this was coming. The only surprise is that it lasted this long. So, just as we did after Hudson automobiles, 8-track stereos and Laserdiscs, we have to move on......</p>

<p>(But if the Jack Daniels distillery ever quits making Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey, I'm going to be seriously pi**ed off.) </p>

Bummer, man.

<p>Now I know why something was telling me to buy a few rolls last week at Tempe Camera. Unfortunately, I did not do so. I'll probably have to grab a few online.</p>

<p>This is a sad day.</p>

<p>Well I've never actually used Kodachrome, but now that I've read this I want to. Put in an order for a few rolls.</p>

<p>Josh Loeser: Don't worry, the article says Kodak will keep selling it until they run out, so you can still get it.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Don't worry, the article says Kodak will keep selling it until they run out, so you can still get it.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>But it also says that Dwayne's will process it up to the end of 2010 so don't take too long using it.</p>

<p>Well I knew this day would come! I am sad as I will miss my Kodachrome that I have been shooting now for 18 years. I also shoot digital but if you ask me there is no comparison, hey just my opinion. I will be shooting film for as long as it is around. Hoping for nicer weather as I have 15 rolls of K64 in my fridge just looking to be loaded into my EOS 3. I think Paul Simon needs to come out with a revised version now.</p><div></div>

<p>I wonder if the folks at Dwayne's are upset about this news?<br>

I would have to imagine that Kodachrome processing sales are a good source of income for them.</p>

<p>Bummer! Just last week I was telling my wife that I wanted to get my K64 out of the freezer and use it. </p>

<p>Dwane's said they will continue to process it through 2010. I'll be shooting some this summer with my F100.</p>

<p>Here is the story on Huffington Post (<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/22/kodaks-kills-kodachrome-f_n_218813.html">link</a> ).</p>

<p>Sob.</p>

<p>Nice to see that I had exactly the same information as Huffington Post. They do good work there. Of course, I had the advantage of being out at Kodak for meetings last week and getting to talk to people about this exact issue and announcement.</p>

<p>It is my firm belief that we shouldn't read anything into this as far as the demise of film in general. I got nothing but honest enthuasism from the Kodak crew when I was out there. They know that ending Kodachrome sucks and I didn't get the feeling that they were doing it lightly or without understanding what it means to photographers. But they are also focused on making Kodak as healthy of a company as possible. And Kodachrome was the odd man out. The money wasn't there and it took time and resources that could have been used for other things. I'm sorry, but as much as I like Kodachrome, I'd rather see something like an Ektar 400 get invented than to watch K64 limp along for another 5 years. Not that you can say that one directly affects the other, but you get my point.</p>

<p>Times are much different for film companies than they were 10 years ago. And when times change, smart companies change to survive. I don't know about you all, but I want Kodak (more specifically the film division) to survive. So while it sucks in the present, I think the end of Kodachrome is a good thing in the long view.</p>

<p>Now get out there and shoot. We've got 18 months (4-6 months to buy film 18 months to process).</p>

<p>There is no reason to simply say "bummer man." Despite the digital camera juggernaut, many, many people are still using film. May of us would like to continue using Kodachrome. It was a drag when they killed off Kodachrome 200. Now we can't even work with 64. We need to write to Kodak and ask them to reconsider. Of course, I'm aware of market realities. But we can do this.</p>

<p>In the meantime, I will publish any and all Kodachrome pictures on my blog, www.gonecity.blogspot.com, as a form of protest.<br>

sevignyj@yahoo.com</p>

<blockquote>

<p>We need to write to Kodak and ask them to reconsider. Of course, I'm aware of market realities. But we can do this.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I'm here to tell you, it's not going to happen. The time for this was 5-10 years ago when the sales numbers slipped far enough to be alarming. How many rolls of Kodachrome did any of us buy last year 10? 20? 50? 5? Kodak can't make money on K64 any more and there is only one place in the world to get it processed. What's done is done. We've reached the end of the line. Kodak needs to focus on supporting, producing, and improving tri-x, t-max, ektar, and the films that ARE selling.</p>

<p>Rather than waste your time trying to fight an impossible fight, get out there and enjoy the time you've got left with Kodachrome. Get your photos up here on photo.net and tag them with "kodachrome" so people can enjoy them for years to come. Write me an article for <a href="../learn/film/open-letter-to-film-users">VivaFilm</a> about what Kodachrome means to you and why you care about it so much.</p>

<p>Well, Kodachrome disappearing will suck, but Josh is right - haven't we all, except for a dedicated few, been neglecting it for a while? We can't really expect Kodak to keep making a product for old times sake when they're losing money on it and need to do what they can to keep their film business viable. On the other hand, they do keep improving their E6, C41 and B&W films, which are easy to get processed. There are excellent products in that line such as Ektar 100, Portra, the E100's, good old fashioned Tri-X, etc., and even the consumer grade C41 is far better than it was in the '90s, so it's not like Kodak is forgetting its customers.</p>

<p>It probably says a great deal about Kodak's dire financial situation that they couldn't even continue to manufacture Kodachrome six more months to celebrate its 75th birthday. I moved on from K64 several years ago but it's still a sad day for me.<br>

 

<p>Just my 2 cents worth, but I expect EK to discontinue E-6 transparency film as well, and continue to put their remaining resources into the print film market.</p>

</p>

<p>B&H is already sold out. I hope they'll be getting more in.</p>

<p>Aargh! And just when I was finally able to afford an ancient Leica (M3) and some too slightly worse for wear to be fetish objects to collectors but great for shooting lenses (erm, except for the Summaron 35 with the wonky eye that someone superglued in off-kilter) to go along with it.</p>

<p>They are just feenin' to throw some photons on a lil' K64. Better find me a few rolls and get to snapping!</p>

<p>How untimely that Kodak comes out with this news on the first day of summer.</p>

<p>Couldn't they have waited just a little while longer, or did they not want to put any money into a 75th Anniversary logo?</p>

 

Good point Jim, we all know this might happen but it does not make too much sense to discontinue a product six months before such milestone anniversary. Fuji could bring back Velvia 50 but Kodak can't do one Kodachrome run in a year... I also have hard time to believe that Kodak made all efforts to keep Kodachrome alive... It was thanks to people like Ron and Daniel I learned about Kodachrome existence and not from Kodak adds and promotions. We got to pay over 100USD to courier three roll films to Dwayne's from Ro to Kansas one way only, add the processing costs and the shipping back but we still wanted to shoot Kodachromes... We gave friends Kodachromes rolls as free samples so they could go out and try and get to know the stuff... It's not much we could do but we tried... We truly believed that the Kodachrome will be here at least till next year... My apologies for this post but this is not a good day at all....

<p>This of course will impact the supply of Kodachrome IT8 targets. So, for all those Kodachrome lovers who contemplate scanning their Kodachrome but haven't yet obtained an IT8 target, get one! I got mine from LaserSoft earlier this year, and am glad I did.</p>

<p>OPINION: The end of Kodachrome for me was 2-part: First, when Kodak stopped processing it. It never quite looked right from other labs. And second, when Kodak discontinued Kodachrome 25, the best color transparency film ever made...though it was contrasty as all hell! The 64 was grainier and less saturated, and the Fuji 50 and then Velvia that many photographers flocked to in the 1980's were clearly inferior products....though the oversaturated, incorrect-color approach of Fuji became the norm with the publishing world, and continues to this day.</p>

<p>To reply to the "75th anniv" accusations:</p>

<p>I think you guys are putting too much into that. As I understand it, Kodak has said that recently they were making one production run of k64 a year then spooling it as needed. They just recently made their production run for this year and have that film ready to send out over the next 4-6 months (depending on how fast they sell it out). Add to that the fact that Dwaynes is comitted to processing Kodachrome through the end of 2010, and Kodachrome is easily going to roll through it's 75th annivarsary. What difference would it have made, really, if they had waited 6 months and made the same announcement? The same people would be making the same complaints. At least this way they are giving us the maximum amount of time to enjoy the film we have less and be sure we can get it processed.</p>

<p>There really wasn't any reason for Kodak to make a big deal over the 75th birthday. What was that going to get them? Putting more money and resources into a film that wasn't selling well enough to pay for itself and has only one lab in the world that will process it? That makes no sense and is just throwing money away for the sake of a feel good story.I want Kodak to do whatever it needs to do in order for its film division to thrive. If that means cutting out films that aren't paying their way, so be it. Those of us shooting film need Kodak to be working on ektar 400 or t-max 6400 or whatever the mad scientists have cooking up in Building 38 at Kodak Park.</p>

<p>It's up to all of us to celebrate Kodachrome's 75th birthday. We don't need, nor should we want, Kodak to do it for us. They should be spending that energy in other places.</p>

<p>Adorama in NYC has Kodachrome in stock. I just purchased 10 more rolls of the good stuff. Now I will have 25 rolls in my fridge. I will slowly start stocking up on Kodachrome.</p><div></div>

<p>Just like when Agfa stopped producing AFX25, things move on. At least everyone has the opportunity to pick some up and enjoy the glow of chromes on a light table.</p>