kodachrome 25??

Jestpg · Nov 6, 2006

i recently purchased a used canon a2e. it came with a camera bag with a bunch of rolls of plus x and a few rolls of kodachrome 64. one of these was kodachrome 25, does anyone know anything about it? ive never really heard of it and cant seem to find it anywhere but im excited to try it out.

markc · Nov 7, 2006

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/products/techInfo/e88/

The 25 must be pretty old by this point.

Torus34 · Nov 7, 2006

Kodachrome 25 was, for years, the standard slide film. Some used Ansco or Ektachrome, but you better bet the National Geographic folks used the Kodachrome 25!

fmw · Nov 7, 2006

I still enjoy looking at Kodachrome 25 slides that I shot in the 1950's and early 1960's. They still look great after all these years. The problem with it was that processing had to be done at Kodak or authorized labs that had the special equipment to do it. Unlike modern color transparency films, the Kodachrome had no dyes in it. The dyes had to be added during the process. In the old days Ektachrome was a little bluish in tint and Kodachrome always provided truer colors. I don't think the three dye films really ever caught up until E-4.

Kodachrome 25 is one of the finest grain films every made. I'm not sure when it was finally discontinued but I think I remember seeing it on the shelves as late as the late 1990's.

W.Smith · Nov 7, 2006

Jestpg said:
i recently purchased a used canon a2e. it came with a camera bag with a bunch of rolls of plus x and a few rolls of kodachrome 64. one of these was kodachrome 25, does anyone know anything about it? ive never really heard of it and cant seem to find it anywhere but im excited to try it out.

Kodachrome (64 and 25) are/were F A N T A B U L O U S slide films in their day. In fact probably no other 35mm film ever got close in quality.
I even seem to remember all photos in National Geographic in the sixties (when NG was really BIG) were shot on them. It was an NG requirement.

However, Kodachrome films need to be developed by Kodak itself. Because that's not done with the well-known 'E-6' process. So it canNOT be done elsewhere! Meaning they need to be snail mailed to Kodak. Development typically took 6 weeks.
But that was 30 years ago!
I doubt Kodak still develops Kodachrome.

Besides, silver-bromide films that are not stored carefully in a dry space at about freezing point will deteriorate within a few years. Or even months.
How old are these Kodachrome films? How were they stored all that time?

BTW, what is a 'canon a2e'? Can you post a pic please?

selmerdave · Nov 7, 2006

Kodachrome is still processed in three places on earth. You can buy a mailer and it will go to the one in the States (if you are in the states). Turnaround is typically 2 weeks. I love PK64, never had the chance to use KM25. I've seen rolls on eBay with expirations as late as 2002.

Dave

markc · Nov 7, 2006

I think 25 was discontinued around 2001/2002, but the others are still made.

The A2e is the USA version of the EOS-5, if that helps.
http://photo.net/equipment/canon/eos5