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Kodachrome II 8mm Developing

Bob H

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Jul 29, 2024
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Location
Nebraska
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Hi folks,

Was unsure, but this felt like the best place to post this...

While rummaging through some old boxes I recently found a roll of 8mm Kodachrome II film and I'm hoping someone here has the setup to develop it for me.

I'm aware that this can only be done now in B&W and I have no idea what's on it or if it has even been exposed, so if anyone can assist I'd be grateful.

Thank you,
Bob
 

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The roll can be developed without a processor in a special tank. LOMO (the real thing, not Lomography) used to make one decades ago, and other models exist. Most labs that process cine film would be able to do it for you. I know a few places in Sydney so you should have no problem finding one locally.
I would explore local labs before using FilmRescue as processing Kodachrome in B&W would be no different than processing a normal cine film.
If I were you I would process it as a negative since reversal could be tricky. This is how I developed several photographic rolls of Kodachrome. The results were pretty good.
 
Bob H said:
I have no idea what's on it or if it has even been exposed
Click to expand...

Being unfamiliar with old 8mm, but I wonder; isn’t the spool inside the can light-proof?
A bit like 220 film, with paper in each end - and wouldn’t there be some sort of indication on the end paper strip that it would have been exposed?

I am only familiar w current Super8 processing, and where I live development of a roll of vintage S8 film and scanning approaches €100 prepaid without guarantees - I don’t know if they refund scanning costs if the film is blank.
 
Nitroplait said:
Wonder how that is practically accomplished?
Click to expand...

Take a few buckets and a few liters of developer. Turn off lights. Dump film into bucket. Slosh around. After x minutes, transfer film to second bucket with water and some cleaning vinegar. Then into third bucket with fixer. Not rocket science; it's just a crude approach and yes, there's a risk of damaging the emulsion in places, but hey, it's moving images so a defect on a frame here and there doesn't matter that much as it's only visible for 42 milliseconds.
 
Nitroplait said:
Being unfamiliar with old 8mm, but I wonder; isn’t the spool inside the can light-proof?
A bit like 220 film, with paper in each end - and wouldn’t there be some sort of indication on the end paper strip that it would have been exposed?
Click to expand...

A double-8 spool is fully opaque with no holes, but the outside winding of film will be seen when you remove it from the can. You load the film, which sacrifices the first several feet by being exposed to light, but the remjet (pretty sure there's remjet on Kodachrome) does a good job of blocking light from the rest of the film. After the spool runs to the end (exposed), you remove it and turn it over and feed it back through again to expose the other side. Develop then slit the film.
 
What you need is a cine enthusiast with a Lomo tank or a Morse rewind tank to process this. I do have a Lomo tank but I've never had success with old Kodachrome so I am very reluctant to try processing someone else's film.
 

Ditto. No need for a cinema developing tank for a one time use. With bucket large enough, 25 ft of film will squiggle freely. Wear gloves. there should be little danger of scratching film.
 
Why not just cut off a few feet from the roll and process that. If there's something useful on the roll, you can decide if you want to change the process for "improved" results. If there's nothing there, then you can throw out the rest.
 

So, to be clear you are asking if any member here can process this? Do you want it as a B&W positive that can be watched with a projector?

You're not going to try and process it yourself under any circumstances?

Obviously it can be done, the likelihood of getting anything without an expert developing this first as a black and white negative, then using high resolution scans and some enhancement software is low.

No quick solution for 60 year old Kodachrome.

Best Regards Mike
 
Hi, here is the B&W (negative) processing guide for Kodachrome that has been tested in real life:

Finding Kodachrome and Bringing Back Color (the Digital Way)- By Zheng Li

Some of us know Kodachrome from the iconic Afghan Girl photo by National Geographic's Steve McCurry. Some of us might even have watched the 2017 movie of the same name, about an estranged son trying to develop the last few rolls of exposed Kodachrome from his late father. Some of us, lucky...
www.35mmc.com

If you want to process it into B&W positive, you might have to experiment with light exposure between developers and bleach/fix.
 
I would be very hesitant attempting to process film that old as a positive. Fog is the enemy of reversal.
 
Wow! I didn't expect so much awesome feedback. Thank you, guys!

koraks said:
Take a few buckets and a few liters of developer. Turn off lights. Dump film into bucket. Slosh around. After x minutes, transfer film to second bucket with water and some cleaning vinegar. Then into third bucket with fixer. Not rocket science
Click to expand...

guangong said:
With bucket large enough, 25 ft of film will squiggle freely. Wear gloves. there should be little danger of scratching film.
Click to expand...

guangong said:
Ditto. No need for a cinema developing tank for a one time use. With bucket large enough, 25 ft of film will squiggle freely. Wear gloves. there should be little danger of scratching film.
Click to expand...

I like this bucket idea. and even though I know nothing about developing, I am sure someone near me does... and also has the required stuff.

And, [B]mshchem[/B], the answer to your question is, or was yes. However, that was when I figured it may take some kind of serious gadgetry to do this. Now, with the ideas provided, AND provided I can locate some developing enthusiast(s) locally, I feel this may be simpler that expected. Thanks for having my 6. and I will be taking all feedback given to heart.

Also, [B]blee1996[/B]... thank you for that link! I will check it out as well.

Not sure how long til this gets done, but I'll make a note to follow up with my results. After all is said and done... I hope the dang this isn't blank!

Thank you all again for all your responses!
 
I have a finished super 8 cassette kodachrome given to me, and i would like to develop it out. It is made in May 1988.
Anyone know how long should I develop in order to make it into a reversal bw?
 
I asked Gemini AI:

WHERE CAN I DEVELOP KODACHROME FILM?

 
If you use the rough "bucket method", you’ll need two buckets - one for the developer and one for the stop bath. In the dark, first unwind the film into a "ball", trying not to scratch it too much and not to crease it. The goal is to immerse it all at once so that development is as even as possible. Use long rubber gloves. Gently "massage" the ball of film in the bucket - on the one hand, there's the risk of damaging the emulsion too much (some damage is inevitable), but on the other hand you need to avoid layers sticking together and preventing the chemistry from penetrating. Once the development time is up, quickly transfer the film to the stop bath, and after about 30 seconds you can continue in the light.
The film will look very dark. After fixing, take a large container of water and carefully remove the remjet backing with your fingers. If your developer had a sufficiently high pH, it should come off easily.
After removing the remjet, the film will again look opaque and very dark. But if there is an image, it will be visible. This film, similar to Ektachrome, has a special AHU yellowish opaque layer, which in the normal process would be removed during the bleach step, but you can't use that step here. However, you can use a special bleaching bath after fixing - sodium thiosulfate and citric acid…
 

I've 3d printed a reel for them, but unfortunately my printer isn't large enough to print the tank so have to use a 10L bucket. what i am looking is if i can dev them into a bw reversal which might be projectable from a projector. I've tried with kodachrome+D76 before and removed the remjet with prebath for ECN-2 and worked quite well.

what i am looking right now is ILFORD's bw reversal technique, https://www.ilfordphoto.com/reversal-processing/?___store=ilford_brochure&___from_store=ilford_uk , i don't have PQ Universal but expired Dektol and Ilford Multigrade. Not sure will the method work on Kodachrome
 
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