Kodak discontinues Kodachrome K64

<p>The day 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>This is what I don't like about Kodak. They love hiting the Discontinue button to the dismay of enthusiast. What does it hurt this company if they continue manufacturing an item, but at a smaller volume. I new this was comming so I got a few rolls on freeze, luckily there still is Fuji. You notice how the Japanese(Fuji) and the British(Ilford) are still selling their tradional stuff like film and paper, but Kodak is allawys super quick to bail out. </p>

<p>They had already cut production down to once a year and they weren't selling enough to make it feasible. What more do you want them to do? Should they cut production of a film like t-max to finance a failing product like Kodachrome? Should they stop development of a new film like ektar to finance Kodachrome?</p>

<p>Just out of curiousity, how many rolls of Kodachrome did you buy last year Harry?</p>

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<p>Just out of curiousity, how many rolls of Kodachrome did you buy last year Harry?</p>

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<p>And are you willing to pay $30/roll (without processing)?</p>

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<p>And are you willing to pay $30/roll (without processing)?</p>

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<p>True, that is the other way they could have gone. But at the end of the day, there's still only one place in the world that processes Kodachrome. I'm not saying that it doesn't suck to see K64 leave, but we all knew it was coming. The market and the phographers dictated that it would happen. You don't stay in business selling something that too few people are buying.</p>

<p>I bought 5 rolls. I was going to buy more, until the guy at the camera store told me about the processing headaches. He told me to stick to Fuji. Fuji is OK, but sometimes I find the saturation a bit overdone. Nothing looks like Kodachrome K64 in a slide projector. </p>

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<p>I was going to buy more, until the guy at the camera store told me about the processing headaches. He told me to stick to Fuji.</p>

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<p>That is terrible misdirection, there are no processing headaches, you send the film to Dwayne's and it comes back great, period. It is this kind of mis-direction has not not done Kocahrome any favors in terms of how the public perceives it.<br>

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<p>That is terrible misdirection, there are no processing headaches, you send the film to Dwayne's and it comes back great, period. It is this kind of mis-direction has not not done Kocahrome any favors in terms of how the public perceives it.</p>

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<p>To be fair, I think "misdirection" implies that there was some sort of agenda or malice behind it. More than anything it was probably just simple ignorance on the part of a local camera store guy.</p>

<p>Fair enough, but you get the idea, the kind of advice Harry got is just not helpful.</p>

<p>True, not helpful.</p>

<p>ICE doesn't work on scanned Kodachrome, which puts it at a big disadvantage today. Newer films are designed to scan well. Goodbye, Kodachrome, and thanks for all the memories.</p>

<p>Just got back into film to shoot some kodachrome.</p>

 

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<p>Just got back into film to shoot some kodachrome.</p>

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<p>And as long as you get your hands on some in the next few months, you've got a year and a half to do so. enjoy!</p>

<p>Mike Johnston has posted an appropriate response on "The Online Photographer" at <a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2009/06/kodachrome-ends-74year-run.html#comments">http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2009/06/kodachrome-ends-74year-run.html#comments</a></p>

<p>Sigh. I'll miss good ol' Kodachrome, I have the same memories a lot of folks have mentioned. Granddad's old original chromes from the 30s and 40s, the excitement when K64 came out, all of that. Knowing that a frame I shot was really archival if I took care of it, those gorgeous real colors...<br /> <br /> Not that it's much of a surprise, and I don't shoot much film anymore either, but I do/did love my Kodachrome. :-(<br /> <br /> Well, you move on. Things change, tools are different but the spirit's what makes the photograph(er), yadda yadda...<br /> <br /> Farewell, Kodachrome, we'll remember you fondly!</p>

<p>One thing I was told is that the chemicals used in processing Kodachrome are much more toxic than more current films require. Leads to more expensive toxic chemical disposal.</p>

<p>It shouldn't really be a big surprise. Aside from Kodak's economic troubles, maintaining ONE fairly unpopular emulsion amoung dozens that uses completely different chemistry and has the most expensive manufacturing and processing costs simply does not make any business sense. The fact that many slide film shooters switched to Ektachrome or Velvia decades ago doesn't help matters. I would not be surprised if Kodak halted production of E-6 films as well, letting Fuji suck up the remaining slide market... it also wouldn't surprise me if they came out with a better B&W C41 film and dropped T-MAX and TRI-X and let Ilford have that corner of the market... let each player do what they do best for as long as they can.</p>

<p>Fond memories...I started shooting Kodachrome (64 and 25) in 1970, and did so until the digital switch four or five years ago. Some of my best work over the years has been on that film (it was ALL I shot during that period - never used print film at all). I have some K64 slides done in Turkey by my father in law from the late 40s, early 50s, that are as sharp today as they were then. <br>

But economic reality has to set in at some point, and I guess that point is now. All I can say is RIP (and I'll buy a few more rolls to stick in my freezer).</p>

<p>The answer is Fujichrome Astia 100F-everything you want in a Kodachrome replacement. I've been using it since I first tried it. www.vividlight.com/articles/2814.htm</p>

<p>The discontinuation of Kodachrome is not a surprise, and after shooting it for decades, I began to explore E-6 films for alternatives once I "saw the writing on the wall."<br>

Where I was shocked by Kodak was in learning that they had discontinued support of their proprietary PCD file format. Before I had my own scanner, I invested rather heavily in Photo CDs. A year ago I learned I had a couple thousand "stranded" images on this "obsolete" medium, that I had invested resources in making backup copies did nothing to reduce the potential loss of access to these images. I'm glad to report that I found a way (Infranview) to convert them to TIFF files. <br>

The Photo CD was available just about anywhere in the early 1990s; drugstores, for instance. Did Kodak do anything to advise the public that they were discontinuing support for for the PCD format? If so, I missed it, and I suppose that is my fault for not spending time scanning Kodak's latest market statements. Still, I wouldn't have expected it from a company whose CEO announced that Kodak was going to be the leader in digital photography, while simultaneously abandoning their earlier digital file format with little notice. </p>

<p>Really its sad that these things are happening. In fact, I was looking at IR photography and realized that there are no films anymore to do pure IR. I wanted to shoot with the b+w 093 but there are apparently no films for it... Its really sad.</p>

<p>From a historical perspective it is a noteworthy if not sad passing. From a personal perspective, it is the passing of a medium that I enjoyed, respected and still cherish (thanks to its archival qualities). I have fond memories of starting my photo career running rolls to Fair Lawn for process from the NYC studio I worked in. Heck they even did special "clip tests" back in the day. I really did enjoy the 120 chromes I got out of the Fuji 617. But as so many products and companies fall by the wayside as the "new" technology marches forward I often wonder if 100 or so years ago photographers were lamenting the passing of wet plates or the advent of flexible film in the same way.</p>