Bridges of Madison County revisited

There was a rerun of Bridges of Madison County on TV some time ago. For those of you who have not seen the film Clint Eastwood plays a photographer for National Geographic out to make pictures of the covered bridges in Madison County.
For a film buff it was a treat to see him loading bricks of Kodachrome in to the fridge to keep cool.
Clint was using a 35mm SLR for the shots.
I have a question for anyone who knows these type of things. Would a NG-photographer have used a 35mm SLR and not a MF?
Or is this just a question of artistic freedom and an SLR on a tripod is easier to handle and looks "good enough" for most folks.

Just curious

Mats

The answer is "Yes".
National Geographic used Kodachrome extensively.

lxdude said:

The answer is "Yes".
National Geographic used Kodachrome extensively.

Click to expand...

The Kodachrome I found believable. It was the 35mm I was asking about. But maybe you answered Yes to both

r

mats

Yes, I was answering Yes to both.
Kodachrome was only sold in 35mm for most of its existence: from the early or mid-50's on, and 120 in the mid-80's to mid-90's.

Mats_A said:

I have a question for anyone who knows these type of things. Would a NG-photographer have used a 35mm SLR and not a MF?

Click to expand...

Yes, absolutely. NG used 35mm exclusively.

For a long time they used only Nikons.

I was privileged to know the wonderful Chilean gentleman who did their camera repair.

When NG switched to Olympus, he resigned and opened his own repair shop, Mora Camera Service, working exclusively on Nikons. I worked for him there as a repairman.

He was a true master of his craft, totally dedicated to quality. I was amazed by the unending stream of famous clients who would let nobody else work on their gear.

The business is now closed. I believe he retired and moved back to Chile. I hope he's enjoying his well-earned leisure.


- Leigh

At one time, National Geographic had its own, dedicated 35mm Kodachrome lab. It was one of the highest volume 35mm still Kodachrome labs in the world.