Jump to content

The end is near...Kodachrome processing.


Recommended Posts

<p>Dwayne's will be terminating Kodachrome processing on December 30, 2010. </p>

<p>Forgive me if this has already been brought to everyone's attention but I did a search here and could find nothing. It will be a sad day marking the end of an era. Get out there and shoot your Kodachrome. </p>

<p>I made a cruel, but practical decision, three years ago when I chose to sell all of my Kodachrome to finance a full frame digital camera. Here is a short tribute to this phenomenal film. Perhaps you would like to comment and/or contribute. </p><div>00XaK0-296019584.jpg.4618946b1c718cce48565ea7b6b3aacf.jpg</div>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>I thought this had been extremely well covered, but depending on your search terms, you might not find it right away.</p>

<p>You are correct that the end of Process K-14 is 30 December 2010. Technically, this is the last date Dwaynes will accept Kodachrome film for processing. They may have to run the line on Jan. 2 and Jan. 3 to process all of the film. I've been trying to keep up with the latest news items regarding Kodachrome by posting them at: <a href="http://www.randrews4.com/kodachrome.html">http://www.randrews4.com/kodachrome.html</a></p>

<p>I applaud your call to "Get out there and shoot your Kodachrome." A roll of Kodachrome is a terrible thing to waste. I also encourage people to share their images. Photo.net is a great place to share them. I also have a collection of links to Kodachrome images at the above site. </p>

<p>I shot this image in 1967, but just scanned it this week. I have some K-25 slides waiting for me to scan them. I'll post one later.</p><div>00XaLK-296047584.jpg.7551e19aea2709be35c17e6c471bdde6.jpg</div>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>I've done my Kodachrome shooting. Over 50 years of it.</p>

<p>When I got my first serious 35mm camera, a Heiland Pentax H2, I quickly settled on the original Kodachrome (ASA 10) as my film of choice. The top picture from 1960 of the On-a-Slant restored Mandan village in North Dakota was one of my first shots using the film.</p>

<p>I stuck with it as long as I could, but the second picture, from 1961, was one of the first shots I did of a visit to San Francisco on a try-out roll of Kodachrome II (ASA 25). The original Kodachrome was phased out a little later. I transitioned to Kodachrome 25. When that was discontinued, I tried some Kodachrome 64, but it wasn't the same thing. By that time I was starting to scan slides, so by 2004 on my last trip with film, I shot various color negative films for the most part.</p><div>00XaO6-296079584.thumb.jpg.245393c73cfec6310240dd1dd80e703b.jpg</div>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>i think that its been common knowledge... but then again, not many people knew the stuff was around at all when they were still spooling it. still got a few rolls left, and should have one back this week at Wally world. one of my favorites here. shot from the hip in Israel last summer. Canon A1 w/50mm1.4.</p><div>00Xb6m-296719584.jpg.9b62148c58c869c514e0c4e75d2f11b9.jpg</div>
Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>I started with Kodachrome 64 back in the early 70s. Later I went to RGB (uuugghhh!!!), then in disgust went back to Kodakchrome (aaahhhhh...). Some years later it seemed to disappear, and thinking it was discontinued I went to the other current offerings from Kodak. Around 2005, just when I was getting more serious about photography, I went to Provia which I have been very pleased with. </p>

<p>So I was surprised to hear more recently that Kodachrome was being discontinued, as in my ignorance I thought it had been long gone. Well, off to the B&H site to order some... but how much to get? I decided on eight rolls which I could surely shoot by October, but then I proceeded to have the half-year from h*** at work. So much for my vacations I had planned where I was going to shoot this film. I wanted to save the Kodachrome for more serious purposes than just random shooting, and used digital when I wanted a faster ISO, so the Kodachrome mostly just sat. </p>

<p>Now I've finally used up five of the rolls, mostly on two short trips to the Sierra, and I have a good excuse to get out soon on a sunny weekend and shoot the rest in some beautiful area.... if the weather cooperates. Last Saturday was gray and hazy so I only shot a few frames at Pt. Reyes and Bodega Head. No scans yet, but I'm dropping off selected slides on Wednesday along with two more rolls. I like the results from my first three rolls, and they remind me of the photographic "look" I used to get so long ago. What a loss...</p>

<p> </p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>I have hundreds of Kodachromes, mine and my father's. However, I have been using E-100g for the past 5 plus years. I miss the Kodachrome some, but the E100g (and Elite Chrome) is really very good. And it is much improved over the older Ektachromes. (In particular, the longevity is much greater.) It may take the heat of projection better than Kodachrome too. Perhaps Ron Andrews can answer that. Don't quit doing transparencies, need to keep that film alive too. I have not used any of the Fujis much though.<br>

I wonder what William Eggleston will do without Kodachrome? </p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>Steve, Astia is well know for being a realtively low contrast film....especially as a chrome. It offers a good stop and a half more latitude than K64. And the grain is a night and day difference comparing Astia at RMS 7 and K64 with an RMS of 10. Simply means Astia has 1/8 the grain of K64. This allows for more noise free shadows in a good scan.</p>

<p>As to dialing in color for a film, is your question genuine or sarcastic. Post processing to obtain the color one wants is about as easy as it gets. Because of Astia's better latitude, you can record a greater range of density. This allows one to go back to the scanned file and adjust the color to make it look however you like.</p>

<p>Nostalgia aside, and I've shot a good thousand or so rolls of K64 and K25 in my time....the reasons to photograph with K64 died long before the film ever did. Yes, I loved the look. But really, this film was long supplanted by far better E6 films. </p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<blockquote>

<p>As to dialing in color for a film, is your question genuine or sarcastic. Post processing to obtain the color one wants is about as easy as it gets.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Genuine as I consider a slide to be the final product to be projected. It also therefore has no exposure latitude but different emulsions can have different dynamic ranges (or contrast).</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>If you think slide film has no exposure latitude because it will be projected, your knowledge of what "exposure latitude/dynamic range" is pretty much a zero.</p>

<p>I'd suggest you do some reading to understand what latitude is....because according to you, a film with 2 stops of dr/latitude is the same as one with 10 stops if it is being projected. Also, I'd suggest reading up on the differences between latitude and dynamic range....as you don't seem to understand either.</p>

<p>Once your done, feel free to post.</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>I am free to post with or without reading thank you.</p>

<p>When I think of film having exposure latitude I generally think of a negative film. A negative film can be correctly exposed, under-exposed a bit or over-exposed a bit. When it comes to printing, these 'errors' in exposure can be compensated for.</p>

<p>With a transparency film there is no secondary stage which can compensate for any variance in exposure. Metering technique aside, there is only one correct exposure with a little bit of 'artistic licence' variance.</p>

<p>What you are referring to as Astia's latitude, I would rather think of in terms of dynamic range. </p>

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>bruce,</p>

<p>Current Ektachrome (and Elite chrome) products are very stable. Wilhelm rates them at 220 years dark keeping vs. 185 years for Kodachrome. Ektachrome has always been better for light keeping (it is the light, not the heat that fades the dye in a projector.)</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...