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

[Theo Sulphate]

Preach on, my brother!! Let's keep posting, to the infinite and beyond!!
3500 or bust!!
Eventually, OVER 9000!

Doesn't this ultimately harm APUG by requiring more storage space and associated expense?

Be considerate and cap the thread at 1.44MB so it can be archived on a single disk.

 

[keenmaster486]

Be considerate and cap the thread at 1.44MB so it can be archived on a single disk.

How about 360K so it can fit on a single-sided 5 1/4 disk? Or a double-sided disk with one side PC-formatted and the other side Mac-formatted for maximum compatibility.

 

[Nzoomed]

Well, I haven't been too active these last 3 years. The death of my main films and developer combinations that were working great have taken far too long to re-produce. And somewhere I lost momentum. Currently, I am trying with some Rollei films. My main stays were 125PX, Neopan 1600 and Kodachrome. Fall back was Pan-F from Ilford and I'm still using that one at least.

The news about Ektachrome and statements about Kodachrome really got my attention. Kodachrome was the main color film. The decision by Kodak Alaris dumbfounds me for two reasons:
1.) Why bring back a product that is available basically from Fuji?
2.) What is the background behind bringing any films back at all? What are the criteria and how will they proceed?

Kodachrome is one of those few products that has a very strong "authenticity value" and strong iconic, emotional links. I returned to it in 2005 realizing the value. The story went like this: my parents house burned down, I found the one family picture I could remember from the 80's. Don't ask how I managed to find a slide in that mess... Happend to have been taken on Kodachrome (didn't remember that). In spite of the fire and cracking it scanned very well in beautiful color.

Basically, I don't trust Kodak, and quit "auditioning" any of their films considering them an unpredictable risk. This announcement has me at least interested again. They should explain and try transparency and honesty with the customers about which film, why and what are the conditions. I depend on the film maker and need some level of predictability. It takes far too long for me to dial in a new film and process that is the result of some whimisical CEO decision to "invest in a new direction."

One thing is for sure, if they bring back an E6 film as a new "Kodachrome." They will eat through any goodwill they started to regain by bringing back Ektachrome... That will feel like a lie. Just tell me the facts why after evaluation it's not possible.

Just my 2 cents.

Oh, attached a scan of one of my last KR64 shots. It's a scan that also has some element of pastels, even though it is the last batch of Kodachrome. No problems to scan, no dust, what are the guys around here complaining about? The scanning idea with developing at Kodak is brilliant by the way. If it were high quality, I would do it as convenience, even though I can scan.

Nothing wrong with your scan there.
And ive scanned some dirty old scratched kodachrome slides of my mother back when she was a child, and it scanned beautifully, and to my surprise it actually did not show much of the dust or scrathes at all, and colour balance was perfect.

IDK the truth on how difficult this stuff is to scan at all.
I know Dwaynes mentioned in an interview that it was "hard" to scan, but i think its over exaggerated TBH.

Hey, Kodak at the end of the day own some of the most iconic films in history.

Why dont Kodak just do a kickstarter for fundraising Kodachrome production?

 

[richyd]

Lunch with my brother today, he mentioned that on a national breakfast television programme yesterday (UK) there was a piece about Kodak bringing back Ektachrome. He's not into photography at all but knows I am. Pleasing to see such broad coverage, at least Kodak seem to be getting their publicity in gear.

 

[Nzoomed]

Lunch with my brother today, he mentioned that on a national breakfast television programme yesterday (UK) there was a piece about Kodak bringing back Ektachrome. He's not into photography at all but knows I am. Pleasing to see such broad coverage, at least Kodak seem to be getting their publicity in gear.

I agree, which I think is great news!

I think there would be a new market if Kodachrome was reintroduced.
A new generation of photographers like myself would start shooting it.

All the silly excuses about having to wait for so long to get it processed does not really apply today.
No professional photographers who want quick turnaround would ever use it for that reason, rather it has its own niche market which I dont really think has been tapped into fully yet.

 

[railwayman3]

Lunch with my brother today, he mentioned that on a national breakfast television programme yesterday (UK) there was a piece about Kodak bringing back Ektachrome. He's not into photography at all but knows I am. Pleasing to see such broad coverage, at least Kodak seem to be getting their publicity in gear.

And a news article in the Daily Mail yesterday...with a mention in the Editorial about nostalgic products, etc.

 

[Wallendo]

How about 360K so it can fit on a single-sided 5 1/4 disk? Or a double-sided disk with one side PC-formatted and the other side Mac-formatted for maximum compatibility.

That's way too digital for me. It should all fit on an 4x6 index card.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

...
Why dont Kodak just do a kickstarter for fundraising Kodachrome production?

I've worked on large scale projects before where the product required specially formulated chemicals (*), machinery, and about 300 engineers over seven years to develop a viable product. I know what $500 million dollars looks like and what you can and can't do with that amount. I suspect any reintroduction of Kodachrome would be an endeavor of that magnitude.

(*) yes chemicals, not "chemistry", dammit, which is a science. Just a linguistic peeve of mine
(similar to saying "we're getting a lot of 'weather' in the northeast").

 

[Photo Engineer]

Theo you are right, but a small comment. The "chemicals" used for a given photographic product is called the "chemistry" and thus EK has to recreate the Kodachrome "chemistry" using a collective noun for all of it including the emulsion addenda and process chemicals which in toto add up to the chemistry.

PE

 

[Nzoomed]

Theo you are right, but a small comment. The "chemicals" used for a given photographic product is called the "chemistry" and thus EK has to recreate the Kodachrome "chemistry" using a collective noun for all of it including the emulsion addenda and process chemicals which in toto add up to the chemistry.

PE

Thats the way I look at it too.

 

[Nzoomed]

I know what $500 million dollars looks like and what you can and can't do with that amount. I suspect any reintroduction of Kodachrome would be an endeavor of that magnitude.

(*) yes chemicals, not "chemistry", dammit, which is a science. Just a linguistic peeve of mine
(similar to saying "we're getting a lot of 'weather' in the northeast").

I doubt $500 million would be needed to bring back Kodachrome, considering it was invented in someone's basement.
Sure it would not be cheap, but doable if there is enough funds.

 

[MattKing]

I doubt $500 million would be needed to bring back Kodachrome, considering it was invented in someone's basement.

Kodachrome may have had some really important work on it done in a basement, but the work that made it a marketable product required a lot more.
All of the product availability issues we who love film are challenged by are issues related to market realities, not whether it is possible to do something in a lab.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

... The "chemicals" used for a given photographic product is called the "chemistry" and thus EK has to recreate the Kodachrome "chemistry" using a collective noun for all of it including the emulsion addenda and process chemicals which in toto add up to the chemistry.

PE

I stand corrected then. Thank you for the explanation.

 

[keenmaster486]

Why couldn't some company like Foma create a film that has the same layers as Kodachrome, to be developed with the open-source piratelogy process?

I thought the actual film was not too difficult to make, it was just the developing.

 

[Sirius Glass]

(*) yes chemicals, not "chemistry", dammit, which is a science. Just a linguistic peeve of mine
(similar to saying "we're getting a lot of 'weather' in the northeast").

For years there was a holistic [half-asstic] pharmacy at the Santa Monica mall that had a sign in the window, "Our products do not contain any chemicals." I would go in and ask the owner how he packaged a vacuum without something made of chemicals. He would get angry and throw me out while I was laughing at him. A few weeks later I would come in and ask him the question again. That went on for years.

 

[MattKing]

Why couldn't some company like Foma create a film that has the same layers as Kodachrome, to be developed with the open-source piratelogy process?

I thought the actual film was not too difficult to make, it was just the developing.

Why not use the Kodak process? They abandoned the patent to permit free use.
In essence though the piratelogy process is the Kodak process, just without the exactly right chemicals, and any real possibility to scale it up to commercial quantities.
As per Robert Shanebrook's "Making Kodak Film" 1st edition, there are 17 different layers to a typical colour negative film, and each layer may have several different components.
Kodachrome is as complex or more complex than that.
And Foma doesn't do colour.

 

[Photo Engineer]

I doubt $500 million would be needed to bring back Kodachrome, considering it was invented in someone's basement.
Sure it would not be cheap, but doable if there is enough funds.

This is totally incorrect. I've tried to explain that Kodak had a 2 color process, but M&G persuaded EK to make some coatings to try for a 3 color version. They were asked to come to Rochester to achieve better results. They did. It was not invented in someone's basement, it was invented in the Kodak Research Labs in Rochester.

It is the thinnest color film coated and has at least 12 layers. I really have forgotten how many but Ektachrome has 18. It is difficult to coat and process.

It will not come back.

PE

 

[Wayne]

It will not come back.

PE

Mods, can we sticky this?

 

[Wayne]

There. I've stickied it.

 

[Nzoomed]

This is totally incorrect. I've tried to explain that Kodak had a 2 color process, but M&G persuaded EK to make some coatings to try for a 3 color version. They were asked to come to Rochester to achieve better results. They did. It was not invented in someone's basement, it was invented in the Kodak Research Labs in Rochester.

It is the thinnest color film coated and has at least 12 layers. I really have forgotten how many but Ektachrome has 18. It is difficult to coat and process.

It will not come back.

PE

People said Ektachrome would not come back, and now read the news.
It might not return tomorrow, but one day, who knows?
Im staying positive.

Never say never.
People are eating their own hats over Ektachrome right now.

 

[MattKing]

It might not return tomorrow, but one day, who knows?
Im staying positive.

The last Ektachromes were very fine films. PE has said (and I would agree) that they were superior to the last Kodachromes.
My positive thoughts are directed toward the new Ektachrome - and I've shot a fair bit of Kodachrome in the last 40 years.

 

[Photo Engineer]

People said Ektachrome would not come back, and now read the news.
It might not return tomorrow, but one day, who knows?
Im staying positive.

Never say never.
People are eating their own hats over Ektachrome right now.

Non sequitur to my post, sorry.

PE

 

[Nzoomed]

The last Ektachromes were very fine films. PE has said (and I would agree) that they were superior to the last Kodachromes.
My positive thoughts are directed toward the new Ektachrome - and I've shot a fair bit of Kodachrome in the last 40 years.

Well TBH, I was very happy with E100g, but im still annoyed I missed out on shooting Kodachrome.
The famous Kodachrome "red" has not been seen in any other film, nor its skin tones.
The other advantage is its unmatched archival properties, which alone I feel is the #1 reason to bring it back.

https://fstoppers.com/film/kodachrome-might-make-comeback-and-you-could-help-161128

 

[RPC]

The famous Kodachrome "red" has not been seen in any other film, nor its skin tones.
The other advantage is its unmatched archival properties, which alone I feel is the #1 reason to bring it back.

Those reasons didn't stop it from going away to begin with, what makes you think they will bring it back now?

 

[flavio81]

The last Ektachromes were very fine films. PE has said (and I would agree) that they were superior to the last Kodachromes.

Mods, we should sticky this.