How to nudge Kodachrome back into the consumer's eye

[Photo Engineer]

Michael;

Good point. Mine too actually. We have to overcome this price thing if we want Kodachrome to live on!

PE

 

[Phillip P. Dimor]

When I worked at a photolab, one of my main duties was scanning slides and placing the images onto a disc for people without projectors.
The vast majority were Kodachrome slides, many from the 60s and 70s. The memories, people, places.. all beautifully preserved on a colorful little slide. That was the best part of my job, looking at everyone's slides (and pictures).

 

[Sirius Glass]

Heh, heh. I grew up in Southern California. It wasn't the Kodachrome that made the skies look dusty brown-gray...

Ken

I was talking about Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia.

Steve

 

[kevs]

Well I haven't bought a roll of Kodachrome at the full price for years. I usually find it in rummage bins, slightly out-of-date or nearly out-of-date. At £12+ for 36 exposures it's out of my price range.

I exposed a couple of rolls (one 64, one 200) this year, and I was impressed by the subtlety of the colours, and of course those stand-out reds, it reminded me why I always preferred it for chromes. Like many, I want the 120 version back - I only ever exposed one roll but was stunned by the quality. Although I'm impressed with the Ektachrome 100VS, I'd definitely pay a premium to load that into my Bronica!

Something I was toying with - and actually tried this summer with HIE - was adapting my old TLR for 35mm film using the full height of the image area. Just think - 56mm wide panoramic Kodachromes. That, and a few impressive landscapes, might tempt me to use more of it.

But how to increase its popularity? Advertise? Kodak would probably be seen by the uninformed as old-fashioned and backward-looking. Maybe the aforementioned Lomo / Diana etc. crowd would buy it. And any association with them might turn the uninformed consumer further away from it. All IMO, of course.

So I doubt there are any easy answers but I'll certainly miss the stuff if it vanishes. And I see that an Amazon.co.uk seller is selling two-for-one...

 

[Steve Roberts]

My thoughts are Bye Bye Kodachrome, the King is Dead, Long live the King, long live Fuji 50. None of the problems of Kodachrome and worldwide processing.

Ian

Quite so, Ian. For me Kodachrome effectively died on the day that European processing ceased.

Although the phrase "flogging a dead horse" springs to mind, if I had to suggest ways to get the usage of Kodachrome on the up, I'd have to say that consistently better and faster processing would be the first steps.

Steve

 

[dmr]

Talk Paul Simon into making a re-release. That may put the idea into the minds of the public.

It's perpetually in heavy rotation on about every oldies station I've ever listened to, has been for years.

 

[Steve Smith]

It's perpetually in heavy rotation on about every oldies station I've ever listened to, has been for years.

Yes. But can you go out and buy it..... preferably on vinyl.... as a single?!!!


Steve.

 

[2F/2F]

How to nudge it back into the consumer's eye?

1. Become a successful businessperson and become the CEO of Kodak. Then try to convince the rest of the board to reintroduce it. Not likely considering that it will probably lose money in insane amounts. You will be fired before you can even really try it.
2. Take effing amazing pictures with it the likes of which no one has ever seen, become a star, go on every TV show and swear that it was the film that got you there and nothing else. Run for prez. Get elected. Convince Congref to Bail out Kodak and make it part of the military. Then it is yours.
3. Buy an old ice cream truck and refurbish it as the Kodachrome Mobile. Drive every street in the nation with Paul Simon's song blaring out the loudspeaker, selling Kodachrome and 35mm cameras to kids on the street.

Consumers *do* believe whatever companies tell them to believe, but why would Kodak, after deciding to axe Kodachrome bit by bit, now decide that they want to "nudge" it?

Honestly, I am MUCH more upset that their ENORMOUS variety of awesome Ektachrome Professional transparency films are reduced to a number I can count on one hand!

 

[budrichard]

I applaud the Kodachrome Project and am a Forum member but here are the facts: On Ebay there is a lot(meaning many) of K64 with 5/07 exp date for sale. Why? I assume because it was left over from sales. I frimly expect that later exp film will suffer this fate also. Kodak can't make money dumping film on the marketplace.
I order my K in bricks as I have done for 40 years and freeze. I'm about out of K200 and only a couple of K25 with about 90 rolls of K64 left.
I firmly expect that Kodak will stop making K in a year or two. Certainly if its not economical for Dwaynes, they will stop processing.
Companies that are Public no longer have any latitude to support any part of the business that is not profitable. I suspect that K is not generating a profit and its demise will be sonner rather than later.
I certainly wish that sales could be increased but I just don't see how.-Dick

 

[Nigel]

For those that are passionate about Kodachrome, I applaud you buying and using it as well as setting up a project to preserve it. But, in terms of writing on the wall, look at the poll numbers. A community of film users and a thread that will specifically appeal to Kodachrome users, and in this you end up with only 63% support for the film. And then looking at the raw data, only 33 people feel a need for the film.

I suspect the intent of the thread was, amoungst other things, to demonstrate a broad support for Kodachrome. But in a biased sample, you have managed to garner less than 2/3 support and only a handful of people pledging to use the film. Indeed, the writing is on the wall for this film. I fear that there will not be another master roll produced.

I would suggest for those that love this film to make the most of it while available, but be ready with an E-6 replacement.

 

[PKM-25]

I would suggest for those that love this film to make the most of it while available, but be ready with an E-6 replacement.

Except for the occasional roll of Velvia in my 500 C/M, once Kodachrome is gone, I am pretty much all black and white with film.

Some people will make the most Kodachrome while it is still around. I can't speak for anyone else, but if I did not have one last chapter with it, I would regret it immensely after it is gone.

But that is just me, other people won't understand.

 

[michaelbsc]

in a biased sample, you have managed to garner less than 2/3 support and only a handful of people pledging to use the film. Indeed, the writing is on the wall for this film. I fear that there will not be another master roll produced.

While none of us dispute this, let me quote T. Roosevelt,

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; ... but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; ... and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

 

[Photo Engineer]

To get better, faster processing, you need more processing plants. To get more plants you need to sell more film. I have yet to hear interest in getting a "Kodachrome Day" going in which APUG members shoot 1 roll of Kodachrome. There just is not enough interest to even try to get the ball rolling and this is truly beating a dead horse I guess.

To paraphrase another famous quote "all it takes for bad things to happen is for good people to do nothing about it". Remember, we know something bad will eventually result, but if we talk but do nothing..........................

PE

 

[PKM-25]

To get better, faster processing, you need more processing plants. To get more plants you need to sell more film. I have yet to hear interest in getting a "Kodachrome Day" going in which APUG members shoot 1 roll of Kodachrome. There just is not enough interest to even try to get the ball rolling and this is truly beating a dead horse I guess.

To paraphrase another famous quote "all it takes for bad things to happen is for good people to do nothing about it". Remember, we know something bad will eventually result, but if we talk but do nothing..........................

PE

You are better off getting less people to shoot more than one roll in a day. Just because APUG seems to represent a more "refined" photographic enthusiast does not mean it is immune to arm chair activism.

I will be shooting close to 1,000 rolls a year now until it is gone, so I guess I am doing the work of several APUG hopefuls.

I am not worried about it anymore, I know I am doing the best I can

 

[lns]

I'm not an armchair activist. I'm not any kind of activist. I'm starting with me, with my measly order for 6 rolls. Since you've said B&H has sold at least 394 other rolls of Kodachrome in the past few days, there appear to be some other folks who are doing the same thing. Actions speak louder than words. I think people are getting the ball rolling.

Daniel Bayer: I love your passion for this film. It's inspiring.

-Laura

 

[MattKing]

It would probably help if we could nudge slide film in general back into the consumer's consciousness.

Host a slide show tonight!

Matt

 

[randerson07]

I have never shot Kodachrome, but I certainly plan too. A local(its not really local its like 40 miles from home and 15miles from work) store has a bunch and next time im in ill grab a few.

But I have been scanning(Ive been slacking and need to scan another cube tonight) my great uncle(that may or may not be his relation to me its a weird situation), Ltc Gene Hambleton's(AKA Bat 21) Slides into flickr. I really dont know if they are Kodachrome, some of them look fantastic some of them not so much. Would any of you know from looking? all of the mounts say Kodachrome on them but is that a tell? or did all the mounts say that regardless of what film was actually used?

Here is a link
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bat_21/

I do project them onto my wall every once in a while, and really enjoy it. With it taking 2 weeks to get my E6 back from walmart, I lose nothing by dropping K14 off and waiting for it as well.

 

[fschifano]

Nice as it is, I don't use that much transparency film and I haven't used Kodachrome in 30 years. I would not miss it if it were gone, though I might wax sentimental about its passing. E6 films serve me well without the need for K-14 processing.

 

[MattKing]

If the mounts are Kodak mounts, and they say Kodachrome, then they are almost certainly Kodachrome.

Is the film quite thin, and can you see a faint relief image on the surface. Kodachrome appears that way.

Matt

 

[michaelbsc]

It would probably help if we could nudge slide film in general back into the consumer's consciousness.

Host a slide show tonight!

Matt

I'm not sure a slide show will do it. The only reason there's any hope of getting Kodachrome even slightly better mainstreamed is to use the new paradigm about "with CD in hand it doesn't matter if the film is slides or negatives."

 

[Michael W]

But, in terms of writing on the wall, look at the poll numbers. A community of film users and a thread that will specifically appeal to Kodachrome users, and in this you end up with only 63% support for the film. And then looking at the raw data, only 33 people feel a need for the film.

I suspect the intent of the thread was, amoungst other things, to demonstrate a broad support for Kodachrome. But in a biased sample, you have managed to garner less than 2/3 support and only a handful of people pledging to use the film.

Don't place too much weight on that poll. I shoot Kodachrome all the time & I didn't bother to vote because I think online polls are pointless.

 

[Photo Engineer]

The point of on-line polls is to be accurate!

You are showing the basic deficiency of all polls and pretty much make my point in terms of market projections.

Good luck guys! If Kodak people are reading this, they just gave up!

PE

 

[PKM-25]

Good luck guys! If Kodak people are reading this, they just gave up!

I *highly* doubt they would give up on Kodachrome based on an APUG poll. I do know they read this forum though.

B&H closed out at 467 rolls sold from the 25th till today. They are now closed for three days for Rosh Hashana.

I shot three more rolls tonight, 8 total for today, up at 5AM again tomorrow.

Thank god I can make a living shooting this film, this project is costing me tens of thousands in film, processing, gear, modifications to my vehicle for expeditions, etc...

 

[MattKing]

FWIW, I have been following this thread from inception, but only really noticed it was a poll and voted yesterday.

Although I did vote in a more substantial way - I sent two rolls of KR64 in for processing yesterday, via the London Drugs photo department in the building where I work.

Hmmmm, I've got some postcards to send out in this coming round. Maybe I should retrieve some Kodachrome slides from 30 years ago, and send prints of them...

I probably would have to take advantage of the special rules for the Postcard exchange (hint - digital scans and prints therefrom are acceptable for the Postcard exchange).

Matt

 

[Photo Engineer]

I meant that Kodak would give up on this thread! And, it was meant to be a bit sarcastic because if the poll is not reliable or even useful, why have it or why look at it. If the people involved in the thread are not interested, then why should anyone at Kodak be interested?

PE