Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Medium Format / Film / Digital Backs – and Large Sensor Photography => Topic started by: foto_man on May 19, 2015, 09:43:13 pm

Title: What to do with my Kodachrome 64
Post by: foto_man on May 19, 2015, 09:43:13 pm
Hi All.

I have about 6-8 rolls of kodachrome 64 120 film. Is there anything I can do with it? I'd love to shoot it but from what I understand, labs no longer process it.

I heard there's a way to process it but as black and white. It could be pure conjecture but I thought I'd ask.

I love Kodachrome and even if it's not color, I'd love to shoot my stock.

Any suggestions?
Title: Re: What to do with my Kodachrome 64
Post by: tsjanik on May 19, 2015, 09:55:17 pm
I'm a big fan of Kodachrome too (II), sorry, the pun was too obvious.  I would sell them on ebay as mementos.  There are people who would value them.  I have a box of Kodachrome II I keep to remind me of when I first started in photography.
Title: Re: What to do with my Kodachrome 64
Post by: DanielStone on May 20, 2015, 01:47:46 am
I'd recommend doing some reading over on www.apug.org for info on processing Kodachrome as a b/w negative

Title: Re: What to do with my Kodachrome 64
Post by: Telecaster on May 20, 2015, 04:05:44 pm
I considered doing the b&w thing with my remaining Kodachrome stock, but ended up deciding to just hang onto it as a memento. Occasionally I'll give away a roll, still boxed, to a younger photographer with an interest in photo history. (I do the same sort of thing with worn-out Mullard & Telefunken guitar amp tubes. Younger players seem to get a kick out of having a piece of the "golden era" even as they sculpt cool new sounds with current digital gear.)

-Dave-
Title: Re: What to do with my Kodachrome 64
Post by: dougster_ling on June 01, 2015, 01:33:17 am
I miss it at time too. I was always hoping that they would make Kodachrome 64 for my Hassy..
Title: Re: What to do with my Kodachrome 64
Post by: MrImprovement on July 21, 2015, 12:57:27 am
Did no one buy the processing equipment and the process info out of Kodak bankruptcy?

I was so sad to see Kodachrome pass...
Title: Re: What to do with my Kodachrome 64
Post by: pfigen on July 21, 2015, 05:54:13 am
"Did no one buy the processing equipment and the process info out of Kodak bankruptcy?"

Kodachrome was incredibly complex to process and as volume steadily dwindled, all the labs around the world closed leaving Dwayne's in Kansas the final holdout. Kodak agreed to supply the chemistry to see them through processing of all the film that came in before the December 31 deadline several years ago, and once they finished processing all the film that came in at the last minute, including a piddly sixteen rolls from me - which took a couple of months, the chemistry was gone and the processor was destroyed. There were some folks who tried to figure out a way to process Kodachrome to color after that but never were successful. Kodachrome processed to a black and white neg just wouldn't be the same for me.

I remember when A&I Color Lab in Hollywood put in their K-14 process. I remember that back in the mid 1980's hearing that they spent over a million dollars on it. They also redefined the tolerances of the process making it almost predictable and adding pushes and pulls and same day processing.

With its colored history since the late '30's Kodachrome is one of the saddest casualties of the digital age.
Title: Re: What to do with my Kodachrome 64
Post by: Garry Sarre on July 21, 2015, 10:40:58 am
A fine doco about the last roll of Kodachrome http://youtu.be/DUL6MBVKVLI
Title: Re: What to do with my Kodachrome 64
Post by: hasselbladfan on July 21, 2015, 01:11:00 pm
The end of an era.

Time to turn the page and enjoy the future. :)
Title: Re: What to do with my Kodachrome 64
Post by: landscapephoto on July 21, 2015, 01:57:21 pm
Time to turn the page and enjoy the future. :)

Actually, we can only enjoy the present. Which I admit is good enough.
Title: Re: What to do with my Kodachrome 64
Post by: Telecaster on July 21, 2015, 02:57:11 pm
I remember when A&I Color Lab in Hollywood put in their K-14 process. I remember that back in the mid 1980's hearing that they spent over a million dollars on it. They also redefined the tolerances of the process making it almost predictable and adding pushes and pulls and same day processing.

Yep. I often shot Kodachrome 200 at EI 400 and then had it pushed. Always got good results…technically anyway.  ;)

-Dave-
Title: Re: What to do with my Kodachrome 64
Post by: pfigen on July 21, 2015, 11:04:08 pm
All I can say is that every time I slap one of those old Kodachromes - and PKM especially - on the drum scanner, it makes me wish we still had that film and processing today. I for one, would definitely shoot it. Thankfully I shot enough of it that I'm still discovering images I either overlooked or which are now viable do to high end scanning and digital manipulation.
Title: Re: What to do with my Kodachrome 64
Post by: Telecaster on July 22, 2015, 04:08:39 pm
My favorite way of looking at Kodachromes is in a slide viewer or on a light table. Photos with prominent red hues can take on a 3D-like effect that I very much enjoy. The only way to see this is to view the actual film frame(s).

-Dave-