Kodachrome replacement

Those who haven't put me on ignor may know that I have come to like KC64 and was experimenting with it for general use. Now that it will no longer be processed iun Europe I need to try something else. Velvia is obviously a different animal and I ahav tried provia in 120 format and it's not too bad but still a bit gaudy in the blues anfd greens, The choices seem to be Ektachrome 100 or Astia. I have no experience of either, anyone like to promote their favourite slide film for me to try ?

Cheers CJB

I've never used Astia, but I'm thinking of trying it. I hadn't shot any Kodachrome for years, but I started shooting K64 off and on for the past year or so, kind of a final fling before it goes bibi.

If I were the god at Kodak, I think I would come up with some kind of an Ektachrome like film that used the E6 process but had a color response more like the Kodachrome films -- then market that to the Kodachrome fans as a replacement for the real Kodachrome. With the improvements in grain and stability of the E6 films over the past so many years, it should be possible to make an E6 Kodachrome clone.

(Yes, yes, yes, I know it wouldn't be the same ...)

If you like the K25 look, try Astia in a larger format, maybe with a very slight warming filter (KR 1.5 or 81A).

EPN (Ektachrome 100) is the most neutral slide film, if that appeals to you. It's less punchy than Provia, but not as muted as Astia, and it doesn't favor the blue/greens in the way that the Fuji films seem to do, or the red/browns in the way that K64 does.

Fuji Astia 100F or maybe Kodak Ektachrome 64. However, there is less grain in the Astia, if that makes any difference, though both have so little grain it is only on comparison to see the difference.

I tend to chose E-6 films based upon desired pallettes for particular results with specific scenes or subjects. Basically, punchy red or yellow mean E100VS, brilliant blues or greens mean Velvia 100, saturated deep greens mean E100GX, and more even lower contrast means E200. Photographing people or very subtle tones would to me dictate when to use Astia 100F or Ektachrome 64.

Last time I used Kodachrome was for shots of a big band hanging around a B-29 a few years ago. One nice aspect was that the skin tones were very even, though I found the red response is more saturated than what Fuji Astia 100F gives me.

Ciao!

Gordon

I sold my last brick of PKM last year in the expectation that processing would soon not be available. I don't believe there is a reversal film to replace it. Images from my Olympus E20 look very much like Kodachrome II shot with Leica lenses from the '60s, such as the early Summicron and late Elmar.