Tips on shooting Kodachrome

[snaggs]

Just impulse bought 30 rolls of KR64 & 5 of KL200 to make sure I dont miss out on the chance to shoot this film (its already vanished here in Australia).

Now, Ill be using this on my holiday to South Africa and Sweden. Im worried my metering skills with the Leica might not be up to scratch (having come from the Nikon 3D matrix metering world) and that Ill come back with roll after roll of junk.

Any tips would be welcomed. I've read that it can turn pink on cloudy days? Also, what about X-Ray machines? They say theyre all film safe for film below 1600.. Im not so sure!

Daniel.

 

[Matthew]

I've passed both K64 and K200 through xray machines in the UK, Germany and India and had not a problem. As far as metering goes I've always used it the same as any other film. Compared to matrix metering the Leica meter is definitely different though and if you're not used to it I would shoot a test roll keeping notes. The meter is very good but can get fooled in some circumstances. The only time I've ever had trouble is in snowy or in extreme spot lit instances. I've never had problems with Kodachrome turning pink even when pushed. The color shifts a bit but isn't overly objectionable.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Don't worry about X-rays. I've had film (including scores of rolls of Kodachrome) X-rayed in tthe UK, USA, Near East, India, France, Germany...

Cheers,

Roger

 

[canonetc]

re: x-rays, as you know don't leave it in your regular luggage (those machines will kill all film), but the carry-on x-ray machine is okay. On my trip to India my slide film was zapped twice, and all was well.

re: Leica metering- depends on whether you have a metering M6 or the other non-metering Leica models. If you have the m6, remember the metering is center-weighted. I have found (for color film) that adjusting the aperture UNDER by 1/3 produced more richness in color and blacker blacks. This, I think due to the center-weighted metering, which will meter the center of your subject and not account for any brighter areas surrounding it. For example in my M6, if the aperture is a f/5.6, and my camea says "THAT"S GOOD", and displays the two red arrows pointing towards each other in the viewfinder, I THEN adjust the aperture to f/6.7, at which point, the left-side arrow remains glowing bright red, and the right-side arrow fades slightly. This has resulted (as long as your color lab KNOWS how to correctly print your images) in superb color images with proper contrast and color. I have a few examples (of color film not k64) in my RFF gallery.

Otherwise, go with the Sunny-16 guideline. It's worked for decades!

I've also been told with K64 to leave the ASA setting on your camera at 64; no pushing or pulling of the film speed.

Good luck. See my recent thread on Kodachrome 64; someone posted a cheap place here in the US for processing.

Cheers,

chris
canonetc

 

[Iskra 2]

Know your meter and meter carefully. From sunny 16 to handheld spot metering the easiest and best for me is my match needle FTBn. 🙂 High contrast and backlighting seems to fool my T70 and Electro. KODACHROME RULES! :angel:

 

[kiev4a]

I haven't shot Kodachrome in decades but as I remember, it less forgiving than most slide films (and none are very forgiving). About a half-stop is all the margin you have and even that will make a noticable difference. When you hit the mark there's nothing better. Guess that's why these days I tend to work with color negative and b&w, especially when shooting non-metered cameras -- a lot more latitude.

 

[phototone]

A point to remember is that people were shooting Kodachrome before WW2, and were getting good repeatable results without any kind of light meter, and with cameras that have far wider margins of error than todays precise gear. Can you say ARGUS?

Kodachrome should not be any more difficult to expose correctly than any slower speed 35mm slide film.

As a professional, I ALWAYS bracket any shots that are important. ALWAYS. Let me repeat....BRACKET!

 

[Doug]

A point to remember is that people were shooting Kodachrome before WW2, and were getting good repeatable results without any kind of light meter, and with cameras that have far wider margins of error than todays precise gear. Can you say ARGUS?

Indeed! 🙂 Though in the 50's, a USAF sergeant I knew later had been stationed to Hickam Field near Honolulu. In his off-time he snapped photos around the island with his Argus C3 on Kodachrome (ISO=10) and often sold the slides to a publisher of postcards. Twenty-two years ago I finally acquired an Argus C3 of my own -- It's been a good feeling to be fully equipped for salable postcards... and a humbling thought.