Kodak is Bringing Back Ektachrome Film... Is Kodachrome Next?

[Kisatchie]

See:

http://www.shutterbug.com/content/keep-your-fingers-crossed-ektachrome-back-and-kodak-exec-says-kodachrome-may-be-next#d6cjOb1rg4P5d9Mv.97

I rarely used Ektachrome film, but Kodachrome...!!! That was my favorite color film of all time. I hope it does go back into production.


Hmm... yeah, Kodachrome
64 can capture my natural
orange coloration...

[johnb]

Good to see this, I miss real film

[thomasjmdavis]

Going to have to clean up and adjust the old OM-1.

Thanks for passing along the good news.

[Lenny53]

They might, Kodak is looking into it.

https://petapixel.com/2017/01/09/kodak-investigating-take-bring-back-kodachrome/

[robert3985]

See:

http://www.shutterbug.com/content/keep-your-fingers-crossed-ektachrome-back-and-kodak-exec-says-kodachrome-may-be-next#d6cjOb1rg4P5d9Mv.97

I rarely used Ektachrome film, but Kodachrome...!!! That was my favorite color film of all time. I hope it does go back into production.


Hmm... yeah, Kodachrome
64 can capture my natural
orange coloration...

I shot miles of both Ektachrome and Kodachrome back in the day.  Each had its "look" with Ektachrome being available in faster ASA's and Kodachrome being the finest grained of the two.

However, I was able to process Ektachrome at home (I still have my spools, tanks, film clips, light table, safelight etc.), but Kodachrome needs a factory to process.

I doubt Kodachrome will be coming back because of the infrastructure needed to process it.

However, my favorite positive film was Fujichrome Velvia...finer grain than Kodachrome, and I liked the color it produced much better too...especially for model railroad photography.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[robert3985]

Good to see this, I miss real film

Not me.  Sold my film Pro Nikon bodies years ago, and I haven't looked back.

It's great to know that my digital photos aren't slowly deteriorating, or growing fungus (or whatever), and that my digital photos, many of which are taken with the same lens I had on my film Nikons, are sharper than the film I used to use (Kodachrome, Fujichrome Velvia), and that I can instantly review my photos when I'm shooting an event that will never be repeated, and...that the sensitivity of my digital files is MUCH greater when I shoot RAW than I ever could expect from any film ever created, revealing details in both highlights and shadows that simply are beyond film's capability.

Oh...and I can shoot thousands of exposures in a single session and never have to worry about missing the action while switching camera bodies or loading new film, or worry about the expense of buying enough film for the session and then the expense of having it processed...with the possibility the lab would screw it up.

I don't miss the horse & buggy either...

Just sayin'....   

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[MK]

Bob, my sentiments exactly.  I was going to chime in also but you beat me to it, about the infrastructure needed to support developing Kodachrome.  I'm not sure if there is a commercial place now that can do.  If there are, I bet it's only a handful or two.

And then, who still owns a slide projector? 

My D500 with 10 fps can really pump out the JPEGS if you are of the "spray and pray" type.  All you need is more hard drives for storage and they are cheap!

[C855B]

While I won't go back to film, either, I much appreciated Kodachrome's rich rendering of colors, and the archival stability.

Ektachrome, on the other hand, suffer(ed)(s) greatly from the E-4/E-6 process. Yeah, you can do it yourself, but you still have to pay attention to technical details such as being precise with developer temperature. There were too many photogs in the day who were lazy (or cheap) and bypassed the second fix bath, or didn't use fresh fixer, and... 10, 20, 30 years later... the image is gone, or nearly so. Commercial E processing was also notorious for stale second fixer.

So... I guess in the greater scheme of things this is good news, that there is acknowledgement that digital imaging is not the end-all, be-all, and analog has artistic merit, too. But if the revival is limited to Ektachrome, what I perceive as the lesser product and process, then... well... meh.

[jdcolombo]

Not me.  Sold my film Pro Nikon bodies years ago, and I haven't looked back.

It's great to know that my digital photos aren't slowly deteriorating, or growing fungus (or whatever), and that my digital photos, many of which are taken with the same lens I had on my film Nikons, are sharper than the film I used to use (Kodachrome, Fujichrome Velvia), and that I can instantly review my photos when I'm shooting an event that will never be repeated, and...that the sensitivity of my digital files is MUCH greater when I shoot RAW than I ever could expect from any film ever created, revealing details in both highlights and shadows that simply are beyond film's capability.

Oh...and I can shoot thousands of exposures in a single session and never have to worry about missing the action while switching camera bodies or loading new film, or worry about the expense of buying enough film for the session and then the expense of having it processed...with the possibility the lab would screw it up.

I don't miss the horse & buggy either...

Just sayin'....   

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

Amen, Bob.  I never really cared much about photography until I got my first digital SLR (a Canon 20D); the ability to take literally a thousand shots and keep only the best, playing around with f-stop, composition, etc. as you go is not something you could do with 36-exposure 35mm film, unless you had Warren Buffet resources.  That 20D was what taught me photography, because I could do things and not worry about paying for mistakes.

I like music.  Some folks swear that turntables and analog LP's sound better than CD's or higher-resolution digital files.  But my entire music collection is stored on an NAS sitting in my basement; I can access it anywhere in the house; I can make up playlists to mirror concerts I've recently heard at the Chicago Symphony or at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts here in Champaign; I can take my collection with me on a really nice but not very expensive portable digital player (the Fiio X5), and I don't hear pops and clicks from the record surface.  And I think my digital files sound terrific through my Apple Mac Mini connected to my Meridian G68, Musical Fidelity power amp, and two made-in-Bear-Lake-Minnesota Magneplanar 1.6 speakers. 

I'm fine with digital 

John C.

[Doug G.]

I still have a Kodak Carousel slide projector.

Doug

[robert3985]

I still have a Kodak Carousel slide projector.

Doug

Me too...and carousels full of slides waiting to be digitized...

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[wcfn100]

I need to hit the local auction and try and get a projector.  I'm always surprised by how many slides I've bought over the years.


Jason

[Lenny53]

The problem with slide projectors is being able to find replacement lamp bulbs.

[peteski]

The problem with slide projectors is being able to find replacement lamp bulbs.

Maybe (like with vacuum tubes for old radios) there is some Russian company still making replacement projector bulbs? 

[Kisatchie]

Maybe (like with vacuum tubes for old radios) there is some Russian company still making replacement projector bulbs? 

I found this source:

http://www.topbulb.com//slide-projector-lamp-brands/kodak-slide-projector-lamps?gclid=Cj0KEQiAtqHEBRCNrdC6rYq9_oYBEiQAejvRl8_k6E0IFd4gaE_9b_6eB7OavVy-_BfreHvjQVG0GFQaAruF8P8HAQ


Hmm... my slide projector
is so old, it uses a candle...