Kodak Reintroduces Ektachrome.

[Chan Tran]

You can't get RA-4 paper in Illinois? Or did you mean you can't get Ilfochrome, because its gone?

I live in TX now. I can't get either RA-4 paper or chemicals. I don't care for Ilorchrome or the old Cibachrome.

 

[ME Super]

Projected slides for me.
But I am not adverse to hybrid processes resulting in "C" prints when a print is appropriate.

+1

Put them in a projector, invite the kids and grand kids over, pop some popcorn and bore the crap out of them for a couple of hours like I used to do. It was fun 25 years ago, it will be even more fun now.

+1

I too am not adverse to hybrid processes to get prints. IMHO today's hybrid process results in a better looking print than the interneg or pos-pos processes that most commercial labs did back in the day. And of course there's nothing like a projected slide. Dragging the slide projector out and showing slides of a trip to Yellowstone back in the mid '90's to my son and nephews was my gateway back into film, after all!

 

[unityofsaints]

And 50 rolls for you? What would you do with them (NB: stashing them in the freezer for 24 months is not a valid answer).

Shoot them and hand them out to friends of course! What a nonsensical question.

 

[Wayne]

I live in TX now. I can't get either RA-4 paper or chemicals. I don't care for Ilorchrome or the old Cibachrome.

But you can order RA-4 and have it shipped to you just as easily in TX as IL. If you wanted to.

 

[Nzoomed]

This is the best news ever!
There is some speculation whether the formula will be the same or not.

Would be a shame if they mess around with the emulsion, unless they make it better!

 

[Chris Livsey]

There is some speculation whether the formula will be the same or not.

It is not speculation, for once.

bringing back a film is not as simple as you might think. There's a very significant R&D (Research & Development) that is necessary to re-formulate the product based on component availability and any equipment changes that have been made or any changes to environmental health and safety regulations.
T. J. Mooney Kodak's World Wide Product and Business manager for film at Kodak

 

[Nzoomed]

It is not speculation, for once.

bringing back a film is not as simple as you might think. There's a very significant R&D (Research & Development) that is necessary to re-formulate the product based on component availability and any equipment changes that have been made or any changes to environmental health and safety regulations.
T. J. Mooney Kodak's World Wide Product and Business manager for film at Kodak

I cant really see any issues with this being only 4 years ago when production stopped.
If they kept production going would they have had to re-formulate it?
Kodak have the resources to make the chemistry again, and as environmental regulations go, well I doubt much has changed over that time.

 

[NJH]

I hope that it provides something a bit different, perhaps a warmer more Kodak colour to it and slightly less contrast/saturation than Provia 100f but with equally fine grain. If they did that I would switch to it from Provia.

 

[Prest_400]

I cant really see any issues with this being only 4 years ago when production stopped.
If they kept production going would they have had to re-formulate it?
Kodak have the resources to make the chemistry again, and as environmental regulations go, well I doubt much has changed over that time.

Probably there were, just think about the change and sudden issues with the backing paper for one. Some know how may have diluted rather quickly after the discontinuation. This was discussed back at the time. Eg. PE mentioned that part of the process in 2 electron sensitization was lost by way of neglected documents and the passing of an engineer.
If they had not discontinued it, any supposed chemical change would be "incremental" or continuous as needed. The first discontinuation of Velvia 50 was due to the source of a chemical IIRC.

Let's hope for a nice rounded product with some improvement!

 

[Chris Livsey]

I cant really see any issues with this being only 4 years ago when production stopped.

We don't know how long it is since the last coating was made it will be considerably longer, by years, than the discontinuation date. Master rolls can be stored for very many years under controlled conditions.
Here we are talking about new production of a coated master roll not production of product from the rolls and no doubt that was stopped to run down residual stock some time before the announcement as well.
It is an opportunity to introduce improvements particularly in dye stability which has seen a lot of work over recent years.

 

[Agulliver]

What will people do with their new Ektachome slides? I think my projector is somewhere in the attic, but I doubt I'll be shooting any for new slide shows? And I really wasn't all that happy with Cibachrome prints.

I still have two slide projectors fairly easily to hand, and will reserve projecting Ektachrome for something special. Previous subjects have been the Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, and pre-reunification trip to Germany including a tour of the East/West border.

What I really love doing is initially scanning slides for easy sharing of the images....then years later putting on a proper slide show. Nothing else quite compares to darkening the room, loading up a tray of slides and showing them to a mixture of people who were there when shot, and some who were not.....preferably with wine.

 

[RattyMouse]

I would say surprised the world, rather than shocked.

Ken has been missing for quite some time. He's a great guy and I hope he is doing well.

 

[Arctic amateur]

Does super-8 and 135 use the same film base?

 

[mshchem]

I love this. I really hope EK can make money on Super 8. I will take E100 in 35mm. I have a nice Nikon Coolscan for 35mm. I shoot negative in medium and large format. I would love to see the E100 come in at Portra prices. I still process everything I shoot so that won't be a problem.

If EK gets back into processing like they did in the really good old days, 1970's on back, this would be great. Pre-Paid mailers, mounted or un-mounted, returned with prints on Professional paper, digital scans on a stick. They could even process Fujichrome and Ferrania. NO ONE was ever as good as EK for consumer level prints and processing. IMHO

NOW IN THIS GESTURE OF GOODWILL BY EK AND ALARIS, LETS GET CUT SHEETS OF COLOR PAPER! PLEASE.

GREAT!
Best Mike

 

[Nodda Duma]

Ektachrome used to be really good for astrophotography due to spectral response in the deep red. I hope they don't reformulate the emulsion to remove that.

 

[bvy]

I'm curious about the manufacturing aspects of this. They must be coating this on the same machinery as their other films. Right? I can't imaging them investing in all new manufacturing equipment, but maybe slide film doesn't require it. I guess what I'm getting at is when they discontinued it in 2012, did they relieve themselves of a plant or some specialized machinery? Or did it manifest itself more as stopping a manufacturing run of one particular product (assuming all their films are similarly produced)?

 

[Photo Engineer]

Master rolls cannot last forever, even in cold storage. And, Kodak cannot revive the old product due to some components not being available and being hard to remake.

Nothing of the original 2e sensitization was lost. The engineer died and the papers were disposed of due to regular records retention, but the data was kept due to legal issues related to patents.

PE

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Ken has been missing for quite some time. He's a great guy and I hope he is doing well.

I noticed his lack of posts back in May of 2016. His last posts were on May 1st with no hint of a reason for dropping out.

Likewise, I hope he is doing well.

 

[MattKing]

Kodak have the resources to make the chemistry again, and as environmental regulations go, well I doubt much has changed over that time.

Kodak (neither Eastman, nor Alaris) no longer have chemistry manufacturing resources. It is all outsourced to companies like Tetenal, who do have those resources.

 

[AgX]

You aren't the only one who is not happy with how this is being handled.It should be in every forum effected by it,not just where a couple of backseat moderators think it should be.

I am most happy with our moderators sitting in their backseats and being busy in keeping our forums running smoothly.
Do not forget that recently only David and Suzanne were around regularly.

"Product Availabity" was just chosen to yield information on such subjects.
Our moderators could be less busy if we would not post several threads on the same issue and think about what to put in a thread title.

 

[Bill Burk]

I'm getting ready. Just got this...

For the un-initiated, it's a Digi-Cue, a gizmo that helps you synchronize slide shows to music/narration. You use this to advance the slide projectors in real time recording the tones this gadget sends out as you push the buttons (assuming you have at least a stereo tape deck, but 4-track would probably be better)... and then at showtime, you reset all the trays, and playback the music/narration over loudspeakers, and send the tones channel back into this box and it triggers the projectors.

 

[Truzi]

With all the discussion of reformulation, substituting some components due to regulations and availability, etc., I wonder if there might even be some changes that never made it to the emulsion because of the state of the film industry when Ektachrome was discontinued.

Maybe someone with more knowledge can help me here... I imagine there was some R&D that never made it into the last batches because of the falling market and because of Kodak's financial issues. Is it possible the reformulation might also reflect this? In other words, might there be some long-planned "improvements" finally seeing the light of day, so to speak?

 

[faberryman]

Has the price for Fuji E6 film been steady at $10-$11 per 36 exposure roll? That seems kind of high, but it has been so long since I bought any I don't even remember what it used to cost.

 

[Ricardo Miranda]

Xmas, Ken Nadvornick...where are they now that Kodak has shocked the world with the re-introduction of E100?

If you are referring to the person with the forum nick of Xmas, he is doing very well.

 

[chazum0]

Second, there are no experience Photo Engineers to develop the dispersions and test the pilot coatings for a reversal film. There may not be anyone to do R&D on the couplers or dispersions needed.

PE

Sounds like duty calls my friend!

Perhaps volunteer as a consultant?