Kodak ‘Investigating What it Would Take’ to Bring Back Kodachrome

[Nzoomed]

That's what I thought, but PE has stated K14 films are even harder to make.

Yes, the thinness of the layers is crucial, as PE has mentioned, I also believe this was the reason why K25 was dropped, as they no longer had the coater capable of making the extremely thin layers that K25 needed.
But from a chemistry perspective, its far less complex, it has no dye couplers, so is basically a B&W film with 3 separate light sensitive layers.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Kodachrome was coated on the same coating machine as other films.

Kodachrome 25 was the only film not coated there as it was cancelled at about the time the new machine came on-line.

PE

 

[trondsi]

If Kodachrome comes back I will be buying some of that for sure. I always liked it when the light was good. It had a nice "down to earth" palette that I liked. Meanwhile I am glad that Ektachrome is coming on the shelves.

 

[Nzoomed]

Kodachrome was coated on the same coating machine as other films.

Kodachrome 25 was the only film not coated there as it was cancelled at about the time the new machine came on-line.

PE

OK, i thought that the coater in B38 was not able to coat K25.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Ummm, K25 was not coated in B38. The product was cancelled at about the same time the machine came on-line. But, the trials done with the film did not work due to the difficulty with the film and thus the formula would have to have been revised. Sales were not there to justify that work. It is not uncommon for a problem to arise when changing coating machines. You just have to have the money through sales to justify the R&D needed to make those changes.

PE

 

[Diapositivo]

If Kodachrome comes back I will be buying some of that for sure. I always liked it when the light was good. It had a nice "down to earth" palette that I liked. Meanwhile I am glad that Ektachrome is coming on the shelves.

If Kodachrome comes back I will buy some to contribute to reduce the risk of another iteration of Kodachrome dismissal and related threads on APUG

 

[Nzoomed]

Ummm, K25 was not coated in B38. The product was cancelled at about the same time the machine came on-line. But, the trials done with the film did not work due to the difficulty with the film and thus the formula would have to have been revised. Sales were not there to justify that work. It is not uncommon for a problem to arise when changing coating machines. You just have to have the money through sales to justify the R&D needed to make those changes.

PE

Yes sorry, thats more or less what I was thinking.

 

[flavio81]

If Kodachrome comes back I will buy some to contribute to reduce the risk of another iteration of Kodachrome dismissal and related threads on APUG

Brilliant post.

However, Kodachrome revival threads are an acquired taste. I used to hate them, until I found their usefulness for comic relief.

Back in 2005, Photo Engineer, then posting using a strange alias in photo.net ("R... M..."), explained perfectly the reason for Kodachrome being axed --even before it was actually discontinued--, and I think these posts should be required reading:

http://photo.net/film-and-processing-forum/00ArYc?start=20

They explain perfectly why Kodachrome was gone and why it will probably never come back. And it includes the Kodachrome clones by Fuji and Sakura/Konica/Ilford that were discontinued looooooooong before the Kodak product. Not to mention 3M/Dynachrome of course (another Kodachrome clone that died)

At the end Ron explains perfectly why Kodachrome wouldn't resurrect even if Kodak ran full-page ads on it again.

So yes, i have fun in these threads, but in reality the probability of having such a film back is almost nil. Ektachrome coming back is as good as it gets. It is clear that from mid 1990s onwards, Kodak focused on pushing forward C41 films while Fuji, E6 films. So the coming back of Ektachrome is already a lucky anomaly for us.

 

[Sirius Glass]

If Kodachrome comes back I will buy some to contribute to reduce the risk of another iteration of Kodachrome dismissal and related threads on APUG

That would be a great idea if and only if it were that easy.

 

[1L6E6VHF]

Ummm, K25 was not coated in B38. The product was cancelled at about the same time the machine came on-line. But, the trials done with the film did not work due to the difficulty with the film and thus the formula would have to have been revised. Sales were not there to justify that work. It is not uncommon for a problem to arise when changing coating machines. You just have to have the money through sales to justify the R&D needed to make those changes.

PE

Quite the revelation. I had always thought that the combination of the downturn of slides, the downturn of slow films (in part, related to the downturn of prime lenses), and the loss of shelf space in stores (to make room for APS films) did it in.

Was KR64 ever coated on B38?

Do I infer that EK built a new coating factory circa 2001 (by which time demand for photographic film was clearly headed downward)?

 

[1L6E6VHF]

Brilliant post.

However, Kodachrome revival threads are an acquired taste. I used to hate them, until I found their usefulness for comic relief.

Back in 2005, Photo Engineer, then posting using a strange alias in photo.net ("R... M..."), explained perfectly the reason for Kodachrome being axed --even before it was actually discontinued--, and I think these posts should be required reading:

http://photo.net/film-and-processing-forum/00ArYc?start=20

They explain perfectly why Kodachrome was gone and why it will probably never come back. And it includes the Kodachrome clones by Fuji and Sakura/Konica/Ilford that were discontinued looooooooong before the Kodak product. Not to mention 3M/Dynachrome of course (another Kodachrome clone that died)

At the end Ron explains perfectly why Kodachrome wouldn't resurrect even if Kodak ran full-page ads on it again.

So yes, i have fun in these threads, but in reality the probability of having such a film back is almost nil. Ektachrome coming back is as good as it gets. It is clear that from mid 1990s onwards, Kodak focused on pushing forward C41 films while Fuji, E6 films. So the coming back of Ektachrome is already a lucky anomaly for us.

I'm dying of curiosity to read that thread, but when I clicked on the link, I got a thread about slow monochrome films. :-(

 

[Photo Engineer]

Quite the revelation. I had always thought that the combination of the downturn of slides, the downturn of slow films (in part, related to the downturn of prime lenses), and the loss of shelf space in stores (to make room for APS films) did it in.

Was KR64 ever coated on B38?

Do I infer that EK built a new coating factory circa 2001 (by which time demand for photographic film was clearly headed downward)?

You are way out of touch. Kodak built that facility in the '90s. And, you are right and have misread my post. That very downturn was what hurt all films including Kodachrome. And, it is well known here and elsewhere that KR64 was coated in B38.

PE

 

[flavio81]

I'm dying of curiosity to read that thread, but when I clicked on the link, I got a thread about slow monochrome films. :-(

Start from page 4, from "Reuben C" (=troll) last post. It triggers the discussion:
http://photo.net/film-and-processing-forum/00ArYc?start=40

 

[Nzoomed]

Was KR64 ever coated on B38?

Yes I believe so.

 

[Nzoomed]

So the coming back of Ektachrome is already a lucky anomaly for us.

Stupid thing is that the lomo community love cross processing E6 in C41 in their crappy holga cameras.
E100g was a popular choice amongst them too. Sad thing is they probably will be looking forward to cross process Ferrania when it becomes available also!

But hey, as long as it means people shooting film, who cares right? lol

Sales = volume, which is good, even if only a minority are actually processing in E6, although I would like to see more E6 labs in operation.

 

[LAG]

So yes, i have fun in these threads, but in reality the probability of having such a film back is almost nil...

Although there were a very remote and only single one possibility of a return for this film in the future (...), during the past years in the market what has been amply demonstrated is the following: (I'm talking about real life and not about heated debates all over the internet)

1 the consumer has always talked about the huge and intrinsic quality of the product but curiously never shown a serious interest in having the particular control over it (and now everything seems to follow this very same way again and does not appear to be part of any statistics or request to the manufacturer for that past-future film to come back)

2 the manufacturer has never considered it appropriate to share the product in the market more openly (not to compromise the uniformity in that final quality control) nor considered to treat it with the appeal of greater comfort for the users.

So, both details brought uncomfortable consequences that are not reflected in any chart, but had moved the balance on the same side. Therefore, let us forget the technical aspect that may prevent the return, money and time, there're some other important things - for people who have the decision in their hands and pockets - they should think about. Without changing some past aspects, I am sure that after a certain future time - if that remote future possibility of that past-film return happens "in any way shape or form" - the end would be the same. Unless they want to "replay" the game, of course. Unless we want to keep on chattering.

Best

p.s.

Start from page 4, from "Reuben C" (=troll) last post.

It is quite interesting the thread you shared, thank you! I agree with the funny part in this kind of debates. After reading that thread, however it is certain that it can be deduced that Reuben C pointed out worse behavior and respect and a very unfair point of view, both knew what they were talking about then.

 

[Nzoomed]

If Kodachrome did return, it would attract a whole new wave of young photographers (such as myself) who never shot it but heard about the news about it stopping.

It does annoy me that i never shot the stuff, but TBH, i did not even know much about the film at the time or how unique its processing was.

I only ever used it for super8, and pretty much thought it was only available as a cine film!

 

[NJH]

What is really odd is that after 17 pages and links to previous discussions as well, is the inescapable but seemingly ignored fact that *IF* a product called Kodachrome was to be coated in the future, it wouldn't be the same as previous Kodachrome products but something new with the Kodachrome name attached. Therefore the more interesting discussion is what would that new film be, but of course that is a discussion way beyond the SQEP of all but one or two people on this or any other such thread, so instead we have 17 pages of utterly irrelevant pseudo-technical debate.

At some point in the future scientists will study threads such as these to try and understand how such insanity manages to flourish amongst a group of people.

 

[MattKing]

At some point in the future scientists will study threads such as these to try and understand how such insanity manages to flourish amongst a group of people.

Nah.
Those scientists won't study this thread to understand how such insanity manages to flourish amongst a group of people. They will be too busy studying the US electoral process for that purpose.

 

[railwayman3]

Nah.
Those scientists won't study this thread to understand how such insanity manages to flourish amongst a group of people. They will be too busy studying the US electoral process for that purpose.

And, of course, the Brexit vote.

 

[Sirius Glass]

At some point in the future scientists will study threads such as these to try and understand how such insanity manages to flourish amongst a group of people.

Only if they can get research grant money for the study.

 

[keenmaster486]

Only if they can get research grant money for the study.

And with Trump in office, good luck with that sort of thing any more.

 

[Diapositivo]

Only if they can get research grant money for the study.

Have the Mexicans pay for that

 

[Diapositivo]

What is really odd is that after 17 pages and links to previous discussions as well, is the inescapable but seemingly ignored fact that *IF* a product called Kodachrome was to be coated in the future, it wouldn't be the same as previous Kodachrome products but something new with the Kodachrome name attached.

In my way of seeing things, any slide film product with the dye couplers added during the development process would be a "legitimate" Kodachrome-type film, regardless of the colour rendition. As said in a previous post, I suspect there might be some slight chance that this kind of film is one day developed again, provided slide film sales rise by - say - 5000% and provided there is some intrinsic technological advantage, not reproducible by E-6 material, in - say - archivability or some other desirable quality.

As Nzoomed points out, the great fuss about Kodachrome after its demised created some kind of a Kodachrome myth (maybe not only within APUG fora). If slide film sales increases very dramatically one cannot completely rule out a new version of Kodachrome-type films in the future. It might be that people falls in love with the unicity of the technology, or even with the waiting, or the archivability which might be re-recognised as one of the main reasons to use film instead of non-analogic technologies. That presupposes a level of slide film sales which, in the present state of things, is probably a little less than a dream. But it's sweet to dream, in any case

 

[Cholentpot]

And with Trump in office, good luck with that sort of thing any more.

Make Kodak Great Again?