The End of Kodachrome

[Dwig]

These are great Dwig. They have a kind of glow that I've seen on a lot of scanned Kodachromes ...

Thanks.

I don't know the source of the "glow". It seems to be in the image, at least to a degree. I don't get this glow with most of what I've scanned. The wedding slides are glass mounted, which may have contributed to the glow by adding some flare in the highlights, but I think that in this case most of the glow was produced in the duping process. These have also been very very heavily retouched to remove evidence of some serious fungus.

 

[Actor]

how close the industry is to finding an acceptable alternative to 35mm prints for distribution to cinemas isn't clear to me.

Kevin

The technology is here now. It's all been worked out by George Lucas and Industrial Light and Magic. Digital signals are sent to theaters world wide via satellite, eliminating the need for transportation of any physical medium. In effect these theaters simply have a big hi-def TV set at the front of the auditorium. Lucas is presently operating some theaters as a demonstration of the technology. His strategy is to sell his system to theaters as their present 35mm film projectors wear out and need replacing.

A year or so ago my wife and I went to a movie and during the presentation the theater lost the sound. They finally stopped the movie and gave us all rain checks. Since it was the last showing of the evening I suggested that they just re-wind the film and start it over. The manager said they could not do that because the movie originated from another location.

 

[manaheim]

Everytime I see this damned thread I get the song stuck in my head.

Oooo... that rhymes!

 

[KevinDks]

The technology is here now. It's all been worked out by George Lucas and Industrial Light and Magic. Digital signals are sent to theaters world wide via satellite, eliminating the need for transportation of any physical medium...

That's fascinating, thanks for explaining it.

Kevin

 

[dinodan]

The Kodachrome that I ordered from Adorama is on backorder. In the meantime, I've been scanning some old (and I mean old) images from our family slide archives. This shot of my sister is from 1951, and is probably as good a testimonial as any to the archival properties of Kodachrome. By the way, that's an insulated box for the milkman to leave the milk bottles in. Who here remembers the milkman?

I remember that my father had an old Kodak 35mm. A bit of research tells me that it was probably a Pony 135 (and was no doubt quite new when this photo was taken). I wish I still had it. He replaced it in the early 60s with the Bessamatic that I still have.

 

[KevinDks]

That's beautiful Dinodan. The turn-ups! That fringe! Obviously this was in the US, but the location reminds me of a lot of post-war building (and re-building) over here. It looks very new and modern. We still have a milkman by the way, but I've not seen insulated boxes like that on this side of the pond.

You are quite right about Kodachrome's archival qualities, which is one of the main reasons I still use it. I've got 35 rolls and I won't buy any more, even if/when new supplies from the final batch get to retailers. I'll move on to E6 films, which I understand can be as stable as Kodachrome in dark storage, Ektachrome after 1988 when they changed the colour couplers being an example that was tested by the Wilhelm Institute as slightly more fade resistant (220 years for a 20% loss of the least stable colour, compared with 180 years for Kodachrome). Of course it won't look the same, and only Kodachrome has proved that it can last for decades in real-world conditions.

Kevin

 

[dinodan]

Thanks Kevin. I'm having fun going through these old slides. Fortunately, my dad was an avid photographer, and shot 90+% in Kodachrome, at least up until the late 60s. He also kept the slides organized and in the dark.

The photo was taken behind a duplex that my parents rented in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, which is a suburb of Pittsburgh. I'm pretty sure that it was post-war construction. The family was living there when I was born, but I have no memory of it.

I'm glad to hear that the milkman is not extinct in the UK. We lived there briefly in 1961, and later in the 70s. I have some Kodachromes that my dad took in London in '61 that are quite interesting. Maybe I'll post some here once they're scanned. I think there's even one of a milkman with his electric cart!

Where do you have your KR processed over there, and for how much longer will they be doing it? There's only one lab left on this side of the pond.

Cheers,
Dan

 

[KevinDks]

I'm glad to hear that the milkman is not extinct in the UK. We lived there briefly in 1961, and later in the 70s. I have some Kodachromes that my dad took in London in '61 that are quite interesting. Maybe I'll post some here once they're scanned. I think there's even one of a milkman with his electric cart!

Yes, they still use those in the cities, but out here in the country it's a diesel powered truck. It would be great to see more 'chromes on here, and you should think about posting some to the Flickr group called Vintage Kodachrome:

Flickr: Vintage Kodachrome

Where do you have your KR processed over there, and for how much longer will they be doing it? There's only one lab left on this side of the pond.

There's only that one lab on the whole planet, Dwayne's. The film is process paid here, then we send it to Kodak in Switzerland and they send it on to Kansas. It's about a 2 week turnaround. Kodak will be accepting films until 30th November 2010, giving them a clear month before Dwayne's stops processing. I don't think it's wise to assume they will continue beyond the end of 2010, or perhaps even as long as that, so I'll probably get my Kodachrome projects finished with the next 12 months.

Kevin (another F100 and Coolscan V user...)

 

[dinodan]

Thanks for the Flickr link, Kevin. I'll check it out.

That Kodak lab is in Lausanne. Coincidentally, we also lived there when I was a kid. Here's a Kodachrome from '62. On the original, that little rectangular street sign on the wall to the right can be clearly seen to read "Rue du Pont". (Leading me to think that this was taken with the then-new Voigtlander.)