Don't Take My Kodachrome Away

NL2377 said:
call me new school, since I've never heard it before, but it's amazing, non-the-less...
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Amazing that so many have never heard it. It's in moderate to heavy rotation on many oldies stations. You really can't miss it. It's also a background music fave.

Not to be a {whatever} here, but I never really cared for that song. It was yet another commercial top-40 pop song of the era. I consider it to be one of S&G's (together or separate) weaker tunes. Sorry, but that's the way I feel. Yeah, prolly not the most popular view here. :)

Nice bright colors? By today's standard, Kodachrome is muted. Green of summer? I always thought of the Ektachrome of that vintage being better on foliage and cooler tones in general.

One thing I cringe when I anticipate is that when Kodachrome (I love the film far more than the song and I'm having a final fling with it) is that all the news programs will produce incredibly shallow full-of-factual-errors cliche' filler news pieces of the demise of Kodachrome, punctuated with clips of the song. Just thinking of it makes me want to buleme! :(

Oh well ...
 
It looks like distribution in Switzerland is disappearing as well...2 stores have started discounting it. I bought a brick of 10 but it's expensive stuff.
 
I shoot K200 for one reason:

archivability!!

No way I'll fix my family memories on a support that fades after a few decades.
So I order K200 abroad, shoot, stock in the freezer and send to dwayne a pack to develop from time to time. Not particularly expensive too compared to E6.
It;s frightening to see how conservation of pictures is no longer a consideration in our digital world...

Shoot Mr K, she worth it! :D


Michael
 
Scott Thanks for your info, actually I did mean all pro K14 rather than one film in the Kodachrome range, using the process ID a la E6.
I should of made myself a little more clear, I was wondering about colour and colour saturation, however since reading this I’ve dug out all my Kodachromes. Earliest example dates back to 1967, thinks.......this is becoming a depressing thread! The colours seem to be as good as the day they were taken, which is more than I can say for the Agfachromes of the same vintage, which have nearly turned clear. I haven’t used the Kodachromes for many years now but this has whet my appetite, kind of like going back to an old girlfriend between relationships, you know what to expect!
Cheers
 
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Here is a mid 50's Kodachrome shot from the hotel Balcony with an Argus C3. Pretty good "keeping" characteristics.:D


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:D :D RFF doesn't seem to like links to pnet. Oh well:D :D

Take a look and see if you are interested in unmatchable 35mm positive film.
 
Hmm, had a look around and it seems I can get Kodachrome 64 locally and from UK. I have never tried it. Maybe I should before it is too late? Processing included it says. How does that work in reality? Do I pay postage to US or can I give it to my local shop (I did not pay them??) ?

/Håkan
 
GeoffL0505 said:
this is becoming a depressing thread!
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It does not have to be, get out and shoot it, you will kick your self if you don't. Pretend that Kodachrome is the only film or medium for that matter to shoot, shoot it like you don't have tomorrow, because you might not.

Fact: In addition to some 1,400 rolls, I have 200 more fresh ones coming today from B&H.
Fact: I bought a brand new ( in 05 ) Toyota Tacoma truck just to shoot this project from.
Fact: There is another big Winter storm headed this way, I am going to document it, on Kodachrome.
 
KM 25
The depressing thing is the fact that I have slides that are 40yrs old! Taking into consideration I wasn't born with a camera in my hand this can only mean I'm pushing 60. I see you are 39 which only seems like last week to me it's a slippery slope over 40!! I wish you all the best with your project.
Cheers
 
GeoffL0505 said:
KM 25
The depressing thing is the fact that I have slides that are 40yrs old! Taking into consideration I wasn't born with a camera in my hand this can only mean I'm pushing 60. I see you are 39 which only seems like last week to me it's a slippery slope over 40!! I wish you all the best with your project.
Cheers
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Ah, well, fair enough. I know I have to use it while I can ( the youth and the film ).
I am pretty sure that Kodachrome will dissapear before you or I, knock on wood.

Bring back your youth! Shoot the Chrome!!!!
 
Some time ago I found a great book on Kodachrome. Here's an interesting excerpt:

From "Kodachrome: 1939-1959" by Els Rijper:

"From the beginning of the color era, it was Kodak's intent to convert as much of the market as possible from BW photography to more profitable color films & prints.....although Kodak was long aware of the superior image permanence of Kodachrome - and the relatively poor stability of its other color films - the company kept it a closely guarded secret until the mid-1970's.

"Kodak felt if it provided image-permanence data for Kodachrome - its most stable color film- photographers would ask how other color products such as Kodacolor negatives and prints and user-processable Ektachrome transparency films compared. And that was something the company did not want to reveal.

"Ansco, Agfa, Fuji, Konica et al followed Kodak's example in maintaining silence on the subject of color film permanence. Kodak's secrecy policy remained in effect for more than 40 years, with far reaching ramifications. For example,
because the company could not advertise improvements in image stablity, there was little incentive to produce more stable color films and papers. Had photographers in the 1940's and 50's been aware of the superior permanence if Kodachrome film, many would have continued using it instead of changing to much less stable color materials. In additon, the market for Kodachrome would have grown, which would have spurred more research and development into more advanced Kodachrome films...."

So, besides the advent of digital, we had a corporate mentality at Kodak that may have precipitated the apparently slow demise of a film many love, and would have loved today. Three cheers for big business!

Chris
canonetc
 
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