Better than Kodachrome, ...

[tightsqueez]

Ever since the demise of Kodachrome I have been longing for return, replacement... something. Nothing compares. Why is this? I don't know. All I know is that NO film or digital counterpart equals the ability to reflect a true memory of the scene.

This is coming from someone who probably documented the very last war with the film. Wish I could say the very last war but we all know better.

 

[airfrogusmc]

The process is an additive process(K14 was the last one IIRC) and required special machines. Not anything like E6.

 

[oftheherd]

It was for me 🙂
Haven`t liked any other offering since apart from the colour of the Foveon sensor.

Me too. Before our house fire I had probably 10,000 slides. At least 2/3 to 3/4 were Kodachrome. For me, nothing could match it. I wish it hadn't been discontinued.

I wasn't a fan myself ... I miss CT18, and GAF500 in 120, I just picked kodachrome as a 'much loved film' it was that sensor in the SD1M that was impressing me, somewhat reminiscent of 60's slide film, in the same way the d70/rd1 sensor looks like ektachrome 400 from the 70's and 80's

GAF 500? Wow, that stuff was grainy to the max. But if you wanted color, nothing was faster except Ektachrome 160 pushed two stops to 640. I liked Ektachrome better for its color than the GAF. But it did have a distinctive look that some people liked.

 

[semi-ambivalent]

Kodachrome transparencies? A digital image will never smell as good.

 

[charjohncarter]

I want digital to out match Kodak Portra 160. Dumb shot from Christmas:

Not to say I didn't love Kodachrome:

 

[leicapixie]

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140852

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140852

TY all for posting images.
Kodachrome was unique.
The color was special, the look so extraordinary.
It is archival.

GAF i can't remember.It was grainy.
The slide mounts are empty..totally faded.Wow! a great film.
No delete button reqd.
Geavart slide film, another missing, in storage.
They were bought out by AGFA.
All their prints fading real fast..
It was because they did not use a certain chemical, that Kodak used.
It added an extra cost.:bang:

The M8 certainly has a similarity to Kodachrome.
I once photographed a Green coat in studio, with Kodachrome II.
It came out Brown-Black..
I showed a piece of cloth to Kodak.
Kodak said the coat was really that color,Brown,
on their "spectroscope-thing"!
I re-shot with strobe and Ektachrome.
I got green.😀

 

[mdarnton]

I never shoot color, but I keep telling myself that I need to get into Porta 160. I love the subtle colors.

 

[tempest68]

If you loved Kodachrome, it will probably never be fully replaced in your mind. It was unique. Once in awhile, I think the output from Leica M8 has a Kodachrome feel at times... but that is probably due to my only using Kodachrome a few times.

I've never shot Kodachrome but been shooting Fuji's Provia and Velvia. I have a few shots from my M8 that I thought reminded me of transparencies too.

 

[marcr1230]

Looks like my grandma

From a shoebox to eternity, did the 40's every really go out of style?

The like we will never see again, nostalgia though visceral images.

 

[__--]

... I keep seeing photos from the SD1M and 50mm f1.4, often from Keith in threads on here, and being mightily impressed ... and normally I don't even look at the gear side of things

Well, I think you need to. With color film one could chose various films for their color rendition. Some people insist — in my view incorrectly — that digital files can be processed to achieve any look that you want. However, different sensor assemblies (i.e., combined with CFAs) do have different color renditions. The one that I think is unique is the Leica M9, which has a color quality that no other 35mm digital camera comes close to.

—Mitch/Potomac, MD
Chiang Tung Days
[Direct download link for pdf file for Burma book project]

 

[goamules]

The colors may be different, but to me the brilliance of Velvia is pretty close. I need to buy another couple rolls for Spring.

 

[bobby_novatron]

More nostalgia for Kodachrome ...

This is a shot taken by my wife's grandfather, probably around 1947. A view of Banff National Park, here in Canada.

I found this slide and a bunch of others in an old box, and scanned them on my Epson v700 for my in-laws. They were delighted!

Again, the scans don't do the images justice, but they're nice to look at anyway.

 

[Photo_Smith]

In case anyone is interested here is my blog on how Kodachrome works and how the process (non substansive) differs from E6
How it Works:Kodachrome

And for real nostalgia some very early shots of 'The worlds Fair' in 1939
Kodachrome, the celebration of a legend

 

[shortstop]

Have you ever seen a 25 iso kodachrome slide projected by leitz pradovit colorplan on a 150x100 or wider screen? if the day will come when the digital can match the quality of the image (on a giant screen?), then the inventor will take the Nobel Prize. And I will begin photographing digital.😎
Fortunately we still have velvia 50. But kodachrome colours don't fade. Hope a kodachrome impossible project

 

[brbo]

Hope a kodachrome impossible project

If my memory serves me right... A few years back there was a guy willing to offer K-14 processing (or more like processing of Kodachrome as his process wasn't strictly K-14). With no fresh Kodachrome film being made it's not really bringing it back, but it's a start, right?! 😉

The price for development was $260/roll (minimum 5 rolls per order).

 

[Keith]

Having not had a lot of experience with Kodachrome I have no opinion on whether the foveon's output resembles it at all so I won't venture into that territory.

From what I've seen of the enigmatic film in question it possesses a distortion of colour that makes it quite surreal at times and this to me is what appeals with the foveon sensor. I now have three cameras based around this unique sensor and aside from the amazing black and whites it's capable of producing its finally starting to encourage me to venture into colour photography ... something that no other digicam (or film camera) has done so far and this includes four years of owning an M8!

All I can say is thank god someone actually created a digital sensor that has it's own unique look and also comes with software that allows and encourages a degree of experimentation when working with the raw files.

In my opinion the major similarity between the foveon's output and Kodachrome lies in a rather non conventional approach to colour imaging ... which Kodak obvioulsy appreciated as Sigma does also.

 

[Sparrow]

Well, I think you need to. With color film one could chose various films for their color rendition. Some people insist — in my view incorrectly — that digital files can be processed to achieve any look that you want. However, different sensor assemblies (i.e., combined with CFAs) do have different color renditions. The one that I think is unique is the Leica M9, which has a color quality that no other 35mm digital camera comes close to.

—Mitch/Potomac, MD
Chiang Tung Days
[Direct download link for pdf file for Burma book project]

... I'd have said the M8, what with the magenta colour-cast ... but I don't really subscribe to this idea of leica's uniqueness, one could say that of any camera surely

 

[Rodchenko]

Sure you might like the colours, but it still doesn't make it the high point in film development. I guess personal taste is just that; I loved KK and I'm not liking the look of the Sigma sensors, they look very different from Bayer but like any niche it will have its devotees.

It's great to have choice, and I hope Sigma continues to improve the technology it may have its devotees as did Kodachrome but they are very different.
With choice everyones a winner, I'm not sure what 'better than' means only that every so often someone claims (insert favourite camera) looks just like (insert favourite film)

It looks nothing like it, it is what it is and it's time to move on.

Precisely. I tried Kodachrome, as that was what one was 'supposed to shoot' in the 1980s. I thought it was awful. The yellows were too garish. It put me off slide film for a few years, but, when I tried Fujichrome, I was so entranced by the colours, I would use whole films just looking at the various shades and textures of green in my local woods. Enchanting.

But hey - personal choice. I felt that the adherence to Kodak was more tribal than anything else, but I suppose some people just preferred it. Tastes do vary.

 

[Sparrow]

... I'm surprised people don't see the similarities between the late version Kodachrome and the Sigma sensor ... they both have very similar colour shift to my eye

 

[Rodchenko]

I can well believe they engineered the sensor to emulate a very popular emulsion.