*RIP* Kodachrome Film

[launderess]

Eastman Kodak has announced they will cease production of Kodachrome film by the end of this year.

For those of us of a certain age an Instatmatic camera and Kodachrome film was THE way of preserving memories. Bet many a house still has books and or boxes filled with snaps taken on that great film, preserving events, persons and memories long after either have gone.

L.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090622-707645.html

 

[athanasius80]

So long old friend!

I shot this last summer.

 

[davek]

I shot my first ever Kodachrome earlier this year. It's still amazing!

 

[cleanteamofny]

Great film before digital cameras!

Hard drives may store more, but everything can be lost in a nanosecond if not backed up on another hard drive or web-server.

Another great thing bit the dust!
Sorry but you must leave this world......

View attachment 6-23-2009-05-12-30--CleanteamofNY.jpg

 

[panthera]

I supose

for the real photographers out there this will sound like heresy, but I won't miss it.

Yes, I am well aware that current digital media do not begin to approach the quality of Kodachrome - whether in resolution or color depth or archival stability.

I also know that since digital photography has become cheap and reliable, I have made and received more wonderful pictures than in all the years of analogue technology previously.

The old technology is gone, it is now time to focus on improving the optics and storage systems for the new. Holographics, anyone?

(By the by, Kodachrome was black and white - the colors emerged during the processing. This was what permitted that incredible resolution, natural colors and incredible depth).

 

[whirlcool]

I am so happy that digital photography has advanced to where it is today. I bought a Nikon D90 about a year ago. The images are very good. For the untrained eye, I think it can pass for film.

What I never liked about film was that if you were taking serious photos, you had to wait until they were developed to see the results. If a photo didn't come out right, you were SOL.

And in recent years I noticed that the places that process your film weren't as careful as they once were. I once had a roll processed by one photo shop and everything turned out too dark. I took the negatives to another photo shop to be printed and the pictures looked perfect. Go figure.

This photo is of our Chocolate Lab, Sammy taken with the Nikon D90. Look at the green grass. I didn't use the VR lens, but you get the picture (no pun intended!)

 

[whirlaway]

1939 Worlds Fair

If you ever get a chance buy the 3dvd set on E-bay of the 1939 New York worlds Fair.Its all on Kodachrome,its so beautiful.We always think of that era and the 20s as being dull no color mainly because of the movies,it was actually a very colorful time.I have bought old 16mm home movies from thrift shops from those eras.What beautiful color. I hate to see it go.The main problem with digital people take so many mundane pics,they dont take time to plan.like cell phones so much boring conversation.

 

[cornutt]

Kodachrome or Kodacolor?

Isn't Kodachrome the slide film? I keep seeing people referring to prints.

 

[davek]

Kodachrome is slide. Kodak will still be making Ektachrome slide film, and the normal set of Kodacolor print films.

 

[whirlaway]

Slides or prints

You can request one or the other,but you are right only one lab is still doing full Kodachrome,but I think the movie film was Kodachrome,I need to go uostairs and look at the boxes,whateverit is its Kodak and still beautiful.I have several old sound movies on16mm full length pictures,but the ones printed from the negative to Eastman prints dont hold up as well as technicolor.They turn red,but the true negatives are technicolor,Bobby

 

[whirlaway]

Color

I looked in the manual for my Kodak Signet 35 camera.All color film in the book is referred to as Kodachrome.The manual was printed in Sept of 1952.In the book it says to be sure to tell the pharmacy or store that sends the film to Kodak whether you want transparancies or prints.If you didnt you would receive slides.Thanks Bobby

 

[j2400]

An arcticle about Kodachrome:

An Affectionate Farewell to Kodachrome

An Affectionate Farewell to Kodachrome, Charles Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2009.06.23. After 74 years on the market, Kodak has discontinued its most famous brand of transparency film.

lowendmac.com

 

[sudsmaster]

In the 80's I got into photography in a big way. I remember taking color slides (Kodachrome and others) and making very nice prints in the lab with a Cibachrome slide-to-print kit. It was the only color print technology at the time that didn't require a complex setup - the prints were as easy to make as with black and white prints (which I also did at home).

I also remember that Kodachrome came in two ASA's: 64 and the earlier 25. As I recall the 25 had even finer resolution and very true colors.