Kodachrome

nealjpage · May 8, 2007

Since it gives us those nice, bright colors and the greens of summer, I want to buy a few rolls of Kodachrome 64 to mess around with. I'm at a loss though. What's the difference between regular Kodachrome 64 and Kodachrome 64 Professional?

shorty6049 · May 8, 2007

you have to be a good photographer to use the professional.... my REAL guess would be how the finished product looks... it might give you sligtly better tonality and color and all that good stuff, also maybe less grain? i dont really know much about film... lol

jwkwd · May 8, 2007

From what I have read, the pro has more consistent emulsion from being made in a controlled environment, in smaller batches. Also it is supposed to have more subtle color balance and less red in flesh tones.

ksmattfish · May 8, 2007

Consumer film is designed to be stored at room temperature for longer periods of time without significant image quality degradation. Professional film is designed to peak in quality shortly after leaving the factory, and needs to be stored refrigerated. Pro film emulsion batches are also tracked, meaning that if you are doing hundreds of shots under the same lighting, and you use all the same emulsion batch, the printing corrections should be the same for every shot.

Fresh pro film that has been stored correctly might look a little better than consumer film. If it's old, or hasn't been stored correctly consumer film will probably give better quality.

Get your Kodachrome kicks while you can. Kodak has been trying to dump it for decades (long before digital) because K-14 processing is expensive, very toxic, and a pain in the butt. Public demand, and outsourcing the processing is the only thing that's kept it alive this long. Last I checked (5+ years ago) there were only two labs in the USA still doing K-14 process. Between that and Kodak's determination to get out of the film biz (see recent profit reports) I imagine the end is near.

EDIT: with this bit of film heresy I notice that this is my 5666th post

selmerdave · May 9, 2007

ksmattfish said:
Last I checked (5+ years ago) there were only two labs in the USA still doing K-14 process.

Now there is one, Dwayne's Photo. I think there's one in Switzerland, and that's it for the world.

Dwayne's is perfectly good to use, they are very quick and it is affordable, particularly if you do several rolls at a time for shipping. Perhaps since they are not part of Kodak they will keep it alive for a while, we'll hope...

Dave

mysteryscribe · May 9, 2007

I loved kodachrome 25 haven't tried anything since

dinodan · May 9, 2007

selmerdave said:
Now there is one, Dwayne's Photo. I think there's one in Switzerland, and that's it for the world.

Dwayne's is perfectly good to use, they are very quick and it is affordable, particularly if you do several rolls at a time for shipping. Perhaps since they are not part of Kodak they will keep it alive for a while, we'll hope...

Dave

The one in Switzerland closed last year. Dwayne's is it.

TBaraki · May 9, 2007

dinodan said:
The one in Switzerland closed last year. Dwayne's is it.

Yup.

I shot a roll out of sheer curiosity this winter. It was also my first experience with slide film of any sort. I absolutely loved it. I was worried about my exposures but managed to lose very few highlights despite shooting in very harsh light.

The colours and detail really impressed me.

fmw · May 9, 2007

Pro emulsions differ in two ways. The first is that the base of pro films is thinner making it easier to use in process cameras. The second is that pro film is aged prior to sale. Then it is refrigerated and sold near its peak as mentioned above. You need to use pro emulsions quickly and process them immediately after use. You need to keep them refrigerated until just before use. Otherwise you will get a cooler than normal color rendition.

For most applications the amateur emulsions are just as good, if not a better choice. Color consistency may not be quite as consistent but it is close enough form most applications. When I was a pro I only used pro emusions when that was the only way a film was made. If I could get it either way, I inevitably chose the consumer grade since it was simply less hassle to work with.

selmerdave · May 11, 2007

FWIW I was at B&H today and the Kodak PK-36 mailers are back in stock (after being out for a few months), so for $9/roll you can have them delivered to your door. Sending them directly to Dwayne's (with their order form rather than the Kodak mailer) is about a week faster, but if you were only sending a roll or two it might be better to go with the Kodak mailer because of shipping costs.

Dave

nealjpage · May 15, 2007

Ok, so let's try this: I've really gotten into cross-processing. Can Kodachrome be processed as E-6 or C41?

AbelR74 · May 15, 2007

I just got my Kodachrome slides back yesterday and they are fantastic! I love the color, sharpness and detail. It was my first time using Kodachrome 64 as I picked up some on clearance at a store near where I live. I used Richmond Camera to get my film developed. This was just a most pleasant experience...

terri · May 15, 2007

AbelR74 said:
I just got my Kodachrome slides back yesterday and they are fantastic! I love the color, sharpness and detail. It was my first time using Kodachrome 64 as I picked up some on clearance at a store near where I live. I used Richmond Camera to get my film developed. This was just a most pleasant experience...

Pick a Gallery here and let's see the results!