New Kodak Film in 2021?

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K64 had a slight but in my opinion pleasing magenta cast, or that is at least what i see from my K64 slides from about 1983 to 1994.
 
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Compared to my Ektachrome slides from the era the Ektachromes look decidedly "cleaner" with no cast at all.

I also have some Fujichrome 100D ( the current Provia 100F's Grandpa ) slides from i think around 1989 or 1990 that are decidedly very warm and much more saturated.
 

MattKing

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A processed Kodachrome slide had the advantage of really thin emulsion layers, which led to very high sharpness. Andrew would probably appreciate the fact that a Kodachrome slide exhibits the same sort of raised relief as a carbon transfer print.
The Kodachrome approach had other downsides though, so after a certain point of time Ektachrome surpassed it in terms of colour fidelity.
The Kodachrome process needed very high volumes to make sense.
 

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Looks pretty good for being nearly 60 years old. Do you know who took the photo?
Probably my Dad - his Bantam RF had a self timer.
But it may have been a bystander who was asked to help.
 

Andrew O'Neill

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Probably my Dad - his Bantam RF had a self timer.
But it may have been a bystander who was asked to help.

I didn't know you had a little brother, too.
 

BradS

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Everything from badly faded 1940s vintage Kodachrome to a few rolls that were developed in the last month of 2010, after which Dwayne's shut down the last remaining Kodachrome line.
Plus a whole bunch of double 8 and Super 8 movie film.
Strictly speaking, the majority of what I have was actually shot by my Dad.
Including this one, on 828, shot in 1961 on Kodachrome II - I'm the one in the brown jacket:
View attachment 263076
That colour is a decent facsimile of nearly 60 year old Kodachrome.


Love that sweater your father is wearing!
 

MattKing

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I didn't know you had a little brother, too.
Yep - although he didn't get the photography bug.
I have hundreds/thousands more Kodachrome slides of him - this one is twelve years later, also on Kodachrome, but this time 126.
I'm operating the camera, which might have been the Instamatic Reflex that my Dad would borrow from time to time from the Kodak lab. It is a decent example of Kodachrome 64.
upload_2021-1-5_12-39-39.png
 

Sirius Glass

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K64 had a slight but in my opinion pleasing magenta cast, or that is at least what i see from my K64 slides from about 1983 to 1994.

That is the colors breaking down and fading. So you are saying you love color images devolving?
 

Sirius Glass

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Everything from badly faded 1940s vintage Kodachrome to a few rolls that were developed in the last month of 2010, after which Dwayne's shut down the last remaining Kodachrome line.
Plus a whole bunch of double 8 and Super 8 movie film.
Strictly speaking, the majority of what I have was actually shot by my Dad.
Including this one, on 828, shot in 1961 on Kodachrome II - I'm the one in the brown jacket:
View attachment 263076
That colour is a decent facsimile of nearly 60 year old Kodachrome.

Compared to my Ektachrome slides from the era the Ektachromes look decidedly "cleaner" with no cast at all.

I also have some Fujichrome 100D ( the current Provia 100F's Grandpa ) slides from i think around 1989 or 1990 that are decidedly very warm and much more saturated.

A processed Kodachrome slide had the advantage of really thin emulsion layers, which led to very high sharpness. Andrew would probably appreciate the fact that a Kodachrome slide exhibits the same sort of raised relief as a carbon transfer print.
The Kodachrome approach had other downsides though, so after a certain point of time Ektachrome surpassed it in terms of colour fidelity.
The Kodachrome process needed very high volumes to make sense.

Be very careful! You are upsetting the Kodachromistas! They believe that there are no downsides to Kodachrome and that using Kodachrome makes their teeth whiter, replaces hair lost in pattern baldness, and removes crow's feet from old photographer's eyes.
 
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Be very careful! You are upsetting the Kodachromistas! They believe that there are no downsides to Kodachrome and that using Kodachrome makes their teeth whiter, replaces hair lost in pattern baldness, and removes crow's feet from old photographer's eyes.
Well, Kodachrome has been history for 10 years, nobody is "using it" anymore.
There were some real Kodachrome diehards back in the day and i understand that they liked "Good old faithul Kodachrome"
It had a unique look despite other E6 films being objectively better.
I'm plenty happy personally with today's E6 films, and if Kodak fills the gap in the market for a higher speed slide film i would be very happy as i almost only shoot transparency film.
 

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By 2025 all Fuji slide stuff is history.
 

Cholentpot

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Part of a popular duo wrote a hit song about some sort of film. Kokomo? The Beachtles? Simon Yager?

Anyhoo, as a youngn' or close enough, the youngsters are all about connecting to the traditions and past of photography and film in general. We can do it all on our phones but we CHOSE to haul around a camera and load it with chemical impregnated stuff. It's a choice. Digital natives are making this choice. Most of us never shot film the first time around and now we can chose what to shoot.

Try to buy some consumer color film and get back to me. It's sold out everywhere generally. Kodak and Fuji are recognized coolness. Tri-x is cooler but Kodachrome sits heads an shoulders over the rest. If the Old Yeller puts out a slide film that calls itself Kodachrome they won't be able to make enough. Never mind the science and history and all that rock 'n roll. Kodak can call whatever they want Kodachrome and they're printing gold.
 

K25

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Kodachrome can't be anything but slide film.
 

markjwyatt

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Part of a popular duo wrote a hit song about some sort of film. Kokomo? The Beachtles? Simon Yager?

Anyhoo, as a youngn' or close enough, the youngsters are all about connecting to the traditions and past of photography and film in general. We can do it all on our phones but we CHOSE to haul around a camera and load it with chemical impregnated stuff. It's a choice. Digital natives are making this choice. Most of us never shot film the first time around and now we can chose what to shoot.

Try to buy some consumer color film and get back to me. It's sold out everywhere generally. Kodak and Fuji are recognized coolness. Tri-x is cooler but Kodachrome sits heads an shoulders over the rest. If the Old Yeller puts out a slide film that calls itself Kodachrome they won't be able to make enough. Never mind the science and history and all that rock 'n roll. Kodak can call whatever they want Kodachrome and they're printing gold.

Rebrand Ektachrome as KodachromeC41
 

BobD

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What exactly would it take to bring back Kodachrome? I've heard a lot of generalities about how it wouldn't be practical but what, specifically, would be required?
 
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What exactly would it take to bring back Kodachrome? I've heard a lot of generalities about how it wouldn't be practical but what, specifically, would be required?

Something like the Impossible Project, except it would be called the 'Actually Impossible Project'.

But seriously; niche, bespoke fine chemical manufacturing and lots of capital investment in resurrecting/redesigning & operating coating machinery, support for commercial/home processing, and a way to make profit. The last bit is the hard part, but IP proved it's possible by capitalizing on novelty and nostalgia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polaroid_B.V.

Edit: Filmstocks I'd Like to See
Consumer 120 color C-41 i.e. Gold
High ISO color C-41 i.e. Ektar 1000/3200 in all formats
Faster, pushable E-6 i.e. Ektachrome 400 in all formats
Real IR film i.e. HIE, Aerochrome in all formats

I want the world and I want it... now!
 
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Sirius Glass

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What exactly would it take to bring back Kodachrome? I've heard a lot of generalities about how it wouldn't be practical but what, specifically, would be required?

Something like the Impossible Project, except it would be called the 'Actually Impossible Project'.

But seriously; niche, bespoke fine chemical manufacturing and lots of capital investment in resurrecting/redesigning & operating coating machinery, support for commercial/home processing, and a way to make profit. The last bit is the hard part, but IP proved it's possible by capitalizing on novelty and nostalgia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polaroid_B.V.

Spend some time looking at Kodachrome threads that PE contributed to. PE did R&D on Kodachrome at Kodak and held many patents in R&D film. Coating problems [including more layers], coupling issues, dye problems, critical chemicals are no longer available and there is no companies to bring them back, the machines do not exist, the people who had the expertise have retired and some have died, the necessary expertise was in trade secrets and not documented ===> does not exist ... with just making the film. The Kodachrome development has more steps than E6 and requires equipment that photo finishers do not have and would have to buy and build new processing equipment. That alone would mean that this is and will NEVER be commercial Kodachrome development. Take you Kodachrome dreams and retire them. It was time to move on a decade ago. Kodachrome will NEVER come back. The probability that you will become twenty years younger instantaneously is much more likely than Kodachrome coming to market again.
 

K25

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What exactly would it take to bring back Kodachrome? I've heard a lot of generalities about how it wouldn't be practical but what, specifically, would be required?

Using the same sequence, K system or with help of new chemistry trying to mimic the old image of Kodachrome through the E-6 developing process.
 
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K25

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Here in Europe Kodak's B&W stock hasn't a prayer. Ilford is cheaper.

A pack of five Tri-X 120 = eight 120 HP5's
 
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