Does Kodak still process Kodachrome?

[Skinny McGee]

I guess the title asks it all.... 😕

 

[dmr]

Here in the States, the only shop that does daily Kodachrome processing is Dwayne's Photo in Parsons Kansas. They do an excellent job.

I've heard that Kodak will accept the film for processing, but they send it down to Dwayne's. 🙂

I've also heard that in Europe and Japan, Kodak does still have active Kodachrome labs.

Last I checked, Rocky Mountain did it too, but had a couple weeks turn-around.

Hope this helps. 🙂

 

[afaceinthecrowd]

If I recall correctly ... the last time I purchased Kodachrome at my local London Drugs (Canada) they told me that they sent it out Joe's way to Edmonton. I have several rolls sitting on my desk that I should drop in the mail ... then I'll know for sure rather than just speculating 😀

dan

 

[Flinor]

I sent a couple of rolls out in Kodak mailers recently and they went to Dwayne's. Kodak's web site shows Dwaynes as the only North American processor. What I find scary is that Dwaynes main business is K-14 movie film. With the movies talking about switching to digital how much longer will Dwayne be around?

First my K-25 went away and now my Scala apparently follows.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

So, is the answer "Kodak doesn't process Kodachrome anymore, just a few labs still do"? I'm curious too.

 

[julianphotoart]

I have another thread going about the Kodachrome 64 I just bought. When I bought it at Samys in Santa Barbara 2 days ago (they also had Kodachrome 200), I asked they who processes it and they said they send it off to the place in Kansas. Kodak is totally uninvolved.

 

[thmk]

I sent my last rolls to Lausanne, Switzerland. So for Europe there is still a lab available. Return time was about a week (within Switzerland...).

Cheers
Thomas-Michael

 

[trev2401]

For those in northern cali, particularly the Berkeley area, the lil shop called Looking Glass photo still accepts kodachrome for processing... they send it down to kodak to get it k-14ed, takes around a week i think...

 

[Pherdinand]

One can find Kodachrome rolls even here in the netherlands that includes processing in Lausanne, Switzerland...I thought it's a joke but it's true.

 

[airds]

Kodachrome labs

Kodachrome labs

One can find Kodachrome rolls even here in the netherlands that includes processing in Lausanne, Switzerland...I thought it's a joke but it's true.

Kodakchrome labs and FAQ for the UK

Very good service for my last film - to & from Lausanne in a week

 

[Trius]

In North America, Dwayne's is the only lab Kodak endorses and that's where they send it. I've dealt directly with Dwayne's and their service was swift and efficient. I've heard of others who have done things like write date, camera, or other identifying information on the roll, and that information was transferred by the staff to the box containing the mounted slides.

I have a couple of rolls of K64 I need to send off.

I'd be surprised if there is still processing in Canada, Edmonton or elsewhere. If so, it would decrease turnaround time, which would be good. Let us know, Dan.

Trius

 

[oftheherd]

Dwaynes:

(all I did was a control C, honest)

http://websearch.cs.com/cs/boomfram...est=1&remove_url=http://www.dwaynesphoto.com/

 

[Skinny McGee]

It is amazing that one of the most popular films in the history of photography is gone and only 3 places in the world still develop it ( What have we done)

 

[Stephan]

I sent my last rolls to Lausanne, Switzerland. So for Europe there is still a lab available. Return time was about a week (within Switzerland...).

Cheers
Thomas-Michael

I think that's the last place that still processes Super8 film in Europe too, a friend of mine sends films off there occasionally.

 

[dmr]

It is amazing that one of the most popular films in the history of photography is gone and only 3 places in the world still develop it

Oh, it's not dead yet. Many places still stock it. I and a co-worker ordered 5 rolls just a while ago. I ended up with all of it, since he was unaware that you had to send it off to get developed. The conversation went kinda like this ...

Me: {holding up finished roll of Kodachrome}

He: You gonna take that over to Hamilton's? (local lab with same-day e6)

Me: Uh, no, gotta send it away to Dwayne's in Kansas.

He: Huh?

Me: Yeah, only place in the states that still processes Kodachrome.

He: That sucks, you mean I gotta send mine off.

Me: Uh-huh.

I ended up trading him 3 rolls of Fuji 400 for his 3 rolls of Kodachrome.

I think the inconvenience of processing is one of the main reasons that Kodachrome is going away. Lots of people seem to like it, but shoot less and less of it all the time. It also doesn't have the vivid colors of some of the newer films.

 

[kbg32]

Kodak broke their hold on Kodachrome processing around 25 years ago, which was a propriety and expensive process for them. This opened the process to independent labs, which at the time had to be licensed by Kodak. Nothing is free. This also led to an extreme drop in processing quality, which in turn led to an extreme drop in popularity and sales. Fuji started to make vast inroads into the US market at the time with their color films, which showed better color saturation and sharpness, and used a less proprietary process - E6. Kodachrome was never the same after Kodak let it go and many, many professionals stopped using it.

 

[zuikologist]

I recently found a roll of exposed Kodachrome 64 (1982). No mailer, but Kodak sent me one. Turnaround time to Switzerland was about 10 days. The photos were quite well preserved and included relatives now long gone. Thankfully Kodachrome lasts a long time.

 

[dmr]

Kodak broke their hold on Kodachrome processing around 25 years ago, which was a propriety and expensive process for them. This opened the process to independent labs, which at the time had to be licensed by Kodak.

Hmmmm ... curiosity got me, since I was sure I had Kodachrome processed by Berkey via a drug store when I was still in high school. I just dragged out a few old slides, and I do have one in my hand here dated August of 1971 in a cardboard mount. I'm sure it's Kodachrome, since it has the distinct "bas relief" pattern on the emulsion side. It's marked "Color transparency -- this side toward screen" but no lab marking and no Kodak logos or trademarks.

I have another one here. This one is dated August of 1978 (I seem to shoot Kodachrome in August for some reason) 🙂 and definitely shows the Kodachrome relief pattern. This is in a plastic mount, no lab logo. The color on both is quite good, considering the age.

This also led to an extreme drop in processing quality, which in turn led to an extreme drop in popularity and sales

As I think back, I can't ever remember having a bad job done on color slides. Yes, I've had negatives come back scratched and with yuck all over them, but slides seem to be good very consistently.

I don't know if Berkey Photo is still around. They were in the NYC area years ago and had a lion's share of the drug store type processing market. They did an absolutely abhorrent job on color prints, but their slides, both Kodachrome and Ektachrome, were always good.

Hmmmm ... these topics keep coming up, maybe we need a Kodachrome FAQ with a sticky. 🙂

 

[kbg32]

Hmmmm ... curiosity got me, since I was sure I had Kodachrome processed by Berkey via a drug store when I was still in high school. I just dragged out a few old slides, and I do have one in my hand here dated August of 1971 in a cardboard mount. I'm sure it's Kodachrome, since it has the distinct "bas relief" pattern on the emulsion side. It's marked "Color transparency -- this side toward screen" but no lab marking and no Kodak logos or trademarks.

I have another one here. This one is dated August of 1978 (I seem to shoot Kodachrome in August for some reason) 🙂 and definitely shows the Kodachrome relief pattern. This is in a plastic mount, no lab logo. The color on both is quite good, considering the age.



As I think back, I can't ever remember having a bad job done on color slides. Yes, I've had negatives come back scratched and with yuck all over them, but slides seem to be good very consistently.

I don't know if Berkey Photo is still around. They were in the NYC area years ago and had a lion's share of the drug store type processing market. They did an absolutely abhorrent job on color prints, but their slides, both Kodachrome and Ektachrome, were always good.

Hmmmm ... these topics keep coming up, maybe we need a Kodachrome FAQ with a sticky. 🙂

Open up the mounts and see what it says on the film itself. I have old Ektachromes that have the bas relief on the emulsion side. Berkey K&L was one of the largest labs around at the time. I worked for the former owner of K&L, who opened his own small custom lab -after he sold K&L - Zoref Color Labs, back in 1984. Clients Kodachrome was sent either to Kodak in NJ or to one of the first independent Kodachrome processing labs - New York Film Works. It was located on Broadway around 21st. I used to drop off the incoming Kodachrome for processing on my way home for the Zoref lab.

 

[rovnguy]

I put my exposed rolls of Kodachrome into a Kodak PK-36 mailer, put 2 stamps on it, drop it in the mail, and in about 2 weeks my processed and mounted transparencies arrive in my mail box. The yellow box they come in has "Kodak" printed on it. The word Kodachrome is on each slide.

Kodachrome is very demanding film to shoot. It has almost no exposure latitude. Metering and bracketing are critical. The process can be very frustrating to photographers used to trusting their in-camera metering system. The process is very rewarding to those who take pleasure in taking their time to set up a shot and give thought to the enitre process.

And for me, the archival nature of the finished product means my son can teach his grandson something special.