Kodachrome

nealjpage · May 15, 2007

dinodan said:
No.

As in it won't work or it'll ruin the chemicals or what?

Alpha · May 15, 2007

OH MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I went to one of the camera shops in town today, because I know they sell expired film at half-price. I was just about to leave when I saw a sealed brick of Kodachrome (10 Rolls). At first I figured it was just ordinary kchrome, but I looked closer and it was all 36-exp KC25! And they sold me the brick for $20!!!!!!!!

nealjpage · May 15, 2007

MaxBloom said:
OH MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I went to one of the camera shops in town today, because I know they sell expired film at half-price. I was just about to leave when I saw a sealed brick of Kodachrome (10 Rolls). At first I figured it was just ordinary kchrome, but I looked closer and it was all 36-exp KC25! And they sold me the brick for $20!!!!!!!!

Why do the good deals always happen to someone else?!?

Seriously, great find!:thumbup:

dinodan · May 17, 2007

nealjpage said:
As in it won't work or it'll ruin the chemicals or what?

As in just plain flat out won't work. It's a fundamentally different process that involves introducing the dye couplers during processing rather than incorporating them into the emulsion. "Wiki" gives the following summary:

Emulsion

The structure of the Kodachrome emulsion is fundamentally different from that of other slide films in that it is non-substantive. The film is also known as an Integral Tripack. Nearly all other color films have dye couplers incorporated into the three emulsion layers to ensure that the correct dye forms in the correct layer when all three are developed at the same time. In Kodachrome, however, the dye couplers are introduced during the development process.[6] This makes its rendering of color and response to light unique. Furthermore, the dye couplers in other color films require thicker emulsion layers that allow light to scatter, whereas thinner layers are generally sharper. A Kodachrome slide is quickly detectable when reviewing a series of slides of indeterminate origin: Kodachromes tend to exhibit a visible "relief" image on the emulsion side.

Developing process

The Kodachrome K-14 developing process is very complicated, exacting, and requires technicians with extensive chemistry training, as well as large machinery which is extremely difficult to operate. This complexity precludes its use by home amateurs or small laboratories, in contrast with the E-6 process, used for Ektachrome and other similar films, which can be performed by amateurs. In the early 1990s Kodak offered the "K-Lab" process to small labs in an attempt to increase the availability of the K-14 process, but ultimately this was not successful.
Similar to other reversal films, Kodachrome is first developed into black and white negative layers and stopped but not fixed. Then, unlike other reversal films, the correct color dye couplers are added by performing a light exposure or a chemical "fogging" step, followed by development of the subtractive layers, one at a time, adding the dye couplers during each of the three individual color developments

dinodan · May 17, 2007

MaxBloom said:
OH MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I went to one of the camera shops in town today, because I know they sell expired film at half-price. I was just about to leave when I saw a sealed brick of Kodachrome (10 Rolls). At first I figured it was just ordinary kchrome, but I looked closer and it was all 36-exp KC25! And they sold me the brick for $20!!!!!!!!

Man, you must be living right! What's the expiration date? :hail:

fmw · May 17, 2007

nealjpage said:
As in it won't work or it'll ruin the chemicals or what?

The reasoon is that Kodachrome has no color dyes. They are added in the development process. That's why Kodachrome processing is a specialized thing with specialized equipment. While I've never tried it, home processed Kodachrome may yield a black and white negative or positive but it certainly won't have any color.