The last frame of Kodachrome...

At 11:40 Central Standard Time, the last frame of

Kodachrome film was shot in Parsons Kansas, one of about 800 shot since the 30th of December, 2010.

It is in the soup now and it was shot by yours truly. I am now shooting Tri-x as black and white reversal as Kodachrome comes to an

end...

<p>What reversal process are you now using for the Tri-X and at what speed are you shooting it?</p>

<p>Do you know how many total rolls they received in the month of December 2010?</p>

<p>Daniel,</p>

<p>I thought the owner of Dwayne's said he would expose and process the last frame.</p>

<p>Why do we get double posts? Darn</p>

<p>It happens it happens. :) :)</p>

<p>Dave,<br /> My guess is that Dwayne and Grant wanted to be in the last frame, so they let Dan expose it.</p>

<p>I can't wait to see it Daniel....</p>

Dwayne ran out of film...;-)

Since December 26th, they ran 20,564 rolls of 35mm, 3,565 of 8mm and 57,655 feet of 16mm.

<p>And hopefully one roll of 828.</p>

<p>(Yes I know 828 is 35mm.)</p>

<p>Was 828 ever made in K14?</p>

<p>anyone know when Dwayne's is going to be shipping back these last rolls?</p>

<p>You did not get yours yet? Hmmmmmm</p>

There is still a huge backlog to be mounted, I had to leave Parsons with over 100 rolls still there, you simply have to

be patient...

<p>"Since December 26th, they ran 20,564 rolls of 35mm"<br>

When you consider it took 3 weeks to process this film that is about 1,000 rolls a day. Seems like a lot but consider that this is the peak of the end. It is not as much as I would have hoped. I though that in December they would have gotten a least a full years worth of film in that month alone. After Kodak said Kodachrome was going Bye-Bye they got orders for 50,000 rolls. That along with all of the old rolls still out there I would assume there would be a lot more last minute rolls to be processed. Consider that 20,000 is less than one master roll. Seems like Kodak really did us a favor by keeping Kodachrome around as long as they did. Thank You Kodak.<br /> PLEASE keep some E-6 around. I just ordered a 100 rolls to last me the next two years. I ordered a big batch of slide film to push me to shoot more. I know it is only a roll a week but I hope it will help out. Maybe I will finish it in a year. Let's hope.<br /> PS I really only shoot slide and B&W film. ALMOST NO COLOR PRINT. For prints I shoot digital. So Kodak if you want my dollars PLEASE keep Slide Film around or you will get nothing from me. This is not a threat just a fact.</p>

<p>Brian, Kodak's business plan seems to indicate that they are no longer actively pursuing the slide or BW market, aside from the educational market. I say this not because they ditched Kodachrome, but because in the last few years they've reformulated almost their entire professional colour print film line, and redone TMax as well. By comparison, there have been very few changes in the slide and 'non-educational' BW lines. I strongly suspect that over the next few years, Kodak will taper off their slide production, leaving just Ektachrome (or is it Elite now? I forget) 400 for students, and maybe EPP for hobbyists. I seem to recall several of Kodak's BW developers being hard to get last time I tried too.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, Fuji has done the opposite; they've redone Velvia, and dropped several reversal films. And then there's Ilford, whom I've always maintained is better than Kodak in every way, aside from Tri-X beating out HP5. But they specialize, so that's to be expected.</p>

<p>Maybe it's time to try some new films Brian? Kodachrome developed its sterling reputation (get it?! Because it has silver!) back when other colour films pretty much sucked. Now we have some phenominal choices; even the lowly Fuji Superia Extra 400 is better than some of the old pro films. I've been a shoot-and-scan guy for years and shot Velvia, but if you have a similar workflow you might want to give the new Portra a try. I know it's a reversal film, and I know the reds don't look quite like Kodachrome. But the detail, grain, and tonality are all astonishing. The new Ektar reversal is supposed to be excellent as well and look similar to Kodachrome. I've been told it's great in 120mm and 4x5, but I tried a roll in 35mm and was not pleased with it. The colours (especially the reds) were great, but the dynamic range was lacking. Then again, if you're used to slides ... ;)</p>

My congratulations Dan in making Kodachrome

history! I'm left wondering now if

perhaps you may have done Kodachrome yet

another service in it's history by retaining it within

it's 75th year? The published 1935-2010 will most

likely be the lifespan that history will use but in my

thinking the 75 years of Kodachrome actually took

place between 1936-2011. I'm most likely wrong,

but in all my years of collecting vintage

photographica and motion picture films, I've thus

far not encountered any 16mm Kodachrome that

indicated sale or processing before 1936. With you

now having shot the last roll of Kodachrome that

will be processed in K-14 now well into 2011..., I'm now

wondering if it's first introductory

sale to the public had actually occurred in 1935 or 1936? Does anyone

know for sure?

<p>Charles:</p>

<p>I have a roll of 16mm shot by my Grandfather in the UK that is marked use by July 1938 - but I don't know when it would be produced for this to be the best before date. In addition there is a sticker on the original box saying that it is faster than that previously supplied, suggesting that this is the revised system based on controlled re-exposure rather than just on controlled devlopment. To me this suggests that the film, assuming a 6 - 12 month shelf life, might have been made middle to end of 1937, and that the previous version was available in the US prior to that. I don't know the original shelf life of Kodachrome to determine this, or how long the original version was available before the revamp - the books say two years which puts the film's introduction well back into 1935. </p>

<p>Elite Chrome 400 and EPP are already gone.</p>

<blockquote>

<p><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=5657447">Zack Zoll</a> , Jan 19, 2011; 12:39 a.m. Brian, Kodak's business plan seems to indicate that they are no longer actively pursuing the slide or BW market,</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Really? Odd that they just recently released the new TMY400. </p>

Greetings Nick, Forgive me, but it's a genuine joy to

read of someone who still retains their family's

photographic heirlooms beyond the second

generation. I often assist with appraisals in estate

sales and too often witness such things being

discarded or sold off at the request or hands of

the younger beneficiaries. The kodachrome film

created by your grandfather is no doubt a genuine

family treasure. Have you looked up the date code

printed on the film?

 

I myself have "read" where Kodachrome was

supposedly first introduced and sold to the public

market in 1935, but most of this material was

written within the last few decades. The oldest

introductory mention of Kodachrome I've been

able to find in print was on microfilm in the Los

Angelas Times in March of 1936.

Another reason I'm skeptical is I have yet to see a

1935 date code on any Kodachrome film. I was

hopeing to have finally met the opportunity when I had

acquired a large collection of 1930's home movies

from an estate in New York, where all the footage

had been shot by an avid member of a amature

motion picture guild. His dwelling no doubtly

indicates that he was from the upper class and he was

seemingly eager in trying out the new color film at

the first opportunity. His earliest two boxes

were 16mm, each for $8.10. They are bothe stamped as being

processed at Kodak in March of 1936. Both films were

manufactured in the Rochester plant and both

films have 1936 edge markings...not 1935.

 

I'm not saying there isn't any 1935 Kodachrome in

existance, but I have yet to see it. I'm hopeing

someone here can put my skepticism to rest and

prove otherwise, but for now I consider the 75

years of Kodachrome's marketed use to actually

have occured between 1936-2011, with Mr. Daniel

Bayer being it's last user in 2011. Again, I'm likley

wrong and I would like for someone to prove me

so.

<p>Mr. Watkins....</p>

<p>According to a book published by National Geographic about 10-15 years ago, National Geographic photographers got some of the first promotional rolls of Kodachrome and began buying as soon as it was available to the public. I would suspect the National Geographic Society, if they wanted to, could answer your questions. </p>

<p>A. T. Burke</p>

<p>Well, for whatever it's worth, <a href="http://www.kodak.com/global/en/corp/historyOfKodak/1930.jhtml?pq-path=2700&pq-locale=en_US">Kodak says</a> 16mm Kodachrome was introduced in 1935; with 35mm slides and 8mm movie film following in 1936.</p>

<p><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/photogalleries/kodachrome-color-film-discontinued/">National Geographic says</a> their first Kodachrome 35mm shots were taken in the summer of 1937. This article also states that NG's Luis Marden saw a demonstration of Kodachrome in a Washington, DC camera shop in 1935 -- format not stated.</p>

<p>Thanks for the Stats on what was processed. I am STUNNED there was that much 16mm Kodachrome proceesed! 16mm K14 has not been available for some time....glad to see (hopefully) my 5 rolls of Super 8 were in there too. I'll keep shooting Kodak Ekatchrome 100D in Super 8 and sending it to Dwayne's! Kodak is doing it's best to support the film community.</p>