New Thoughts On The Return Of Kodachrome

[George Mann]

If there was a replacement it would need to be E6 compatible perhaps a Kodak equivalent of Fuji 50.

Ian

I have entertained this idea in the past. But Ron Mowry didn't think it would be successful.

 

[George Mann]

What about the new E100? How close is it to Kodachrome?

The current Ektachrome is great, but Kodachrome was it's own unique process as was the images it produced.

 

[Cholentpot]

Just tweak some E100, slow it down, pop the colors, slap on a new label and call it Nuvo Kodachrome by Kodak.

 

[George Mann]

Just tweak some E100, slow it down, pop the colors, slap on a new label and call it Nuvo Kodachrome by Kodak.

And it will be just as genuine as a digital simulation!

 

[Sirius Glass]

Get over it. Kodachrome is dead and buried. Never to come back. It was never even good enough to make an infrared version.

 

[George Mann]

Get over it. Kodachrome is dead and buried. Never to come back. It was never even good enough to make an infrared version.

Perhaps. But it won't keep people from discussing it.

 

[laingsoft]

You want Kodachrome? Here are your steps.

Base -> Buy it from Kodak or 3m. Comes in massive webs, you'll need to slit this to fit on your coating machine.

Emulsions -> You'll need ~7 of them iirc, coated in order on your coating machine. 3 of the layers need masks to block the colors, it'll be up to you to identify chemicals that will work for this, as kodak no longer makes them, neither does Tetenal, so you're on your own for synthesis. You'll need to make sure that these masks don't wash out through the first 3 processing steps and get washed out in the fix/bleach step. You'll also have to make sure that they block colors from migrating up and down the emulsion.

Coating -> You'll need a coating machine capable of coating and drying the requisite layers for kodachrome. Good luck making that or buying one.

Slitting and Perforating -> You'll need to make or buy a 35mm or 120 slitter and perforator. Good luck. Ferrania found theirs in their abandonded factory and it was almost 100 years old.

Spooling -> You can do this buy hand I suppose, but you will probably want some help.

Shooting -> easy

Developing -> You'll need to make your own processing machine, It needs to devlop the mask, then each of the subsequent exposures and developing steps, then fix, bleach and wash. You'll need to formulate your own color couplers that match kodachrome, and you'll probably need to find or synthesis some CD6 as that is the last safe developer kodak used for Kodachrome. Couplers will need to be synthesized by you, as they either aren't available any more, or aren't sold commercially.

Other than that, it's pretty easy, why don't you get started?

 

[BrianShaw]

... and while you’re at it... can we please have some in 120 and 4x5 also?

 

[George Mann]

If enough people showed an interest and desire for its return, then Kodak would probably take it seriously.

And the old adage of "if you make it, they will come" may be valid here.

But don't hold your breath...

 

[Cholentpot]

And it will be just as genuine as a digital simulation!

But will it sell?

I'd put my money on it.

 

[railwayman3]

Someone at the camera club said to me that Kodachrome is a bit like the Apollo moon shots. An amazing and successful achievement at the time which it would be incredable to see again, But it would never now be repeated in the same way.......too complicated and costly (and risky) and the detailed knowledge and learned experiencehas been lost as the engineers and planners are long retired. But there are now more reliable, simpler, safer, efficient and cheaper ways of getting the same results of going into space, (think Elon Musk?). To stretch an anology, maybe the equivalent of E6 ?

 

[laingsoft]

But will it sell?

I'd put my money on it.

Not enough to make up the immense cost of manufacture and re-engineering.

 

[warden]

If enough people showed an interest and desire for its return, then Kodak would probably take it seriously.

No.

 

[BrianShaw]

Does anyone know how Kodak is doing with their “resurgence of E-6”?

 

[Cholentpot]

Not enough to make up the immense cost of manufacture and re-engineering.

I'm talking about a re-branded slightly tweaked E100. It would sell like hotcakes if it had the kodachrome name.

 

[laingsoft]

I'm talking about a re-branded slightly tweaked E100. It would sell like hotcakes if it had the kodachrome name.

Ah, my bad. Yeah for sure if they dialed up the saturation of e100 they could call it kodachrome and it'd sell pretty well.

 

[warden]

Does anyone know how Kodak is doing with their “resurgence of E-6”?

I sure hope they're doing well with it. It was gutsy to put that much investment in E6 and P3200 too, and I hope it pays off for them. They're great films.

 

[Helge]

What is actually the draw of Kodachrome?
The colour fast dyes?

AFAIK the film wasn’t that high resolution. It was punchy when projected because of the raised edges of contrast areas.

It had a unique colour profile. But as for natural colours it was bettered many times over by Ektachrome and various Negative films.

A “pirate” copy was made by a small company (the name escapes me), so it can’t be that complicated to manufacture.

Another way to achieve the archivability of KC is to either do colour separations via contact printing, or do direct dichromatic prism separations.

You’d probably even be able to replicate K12 dye impregnating to make something projectable with thin base reversal.

Found this thread from a couple of years ago with some interesting points: https://www.photo.net/discuss/threa...-its-difficult-to-produce-kodachrome.5508492/

 

[miha]

I have never exposed a single roll of Kodachrome, however, I shot a lot of slide film in the past. A couple of days ago I dug out several rolls of slide film, that, for whatever reason, were never sent for processing. I decided to get some E-6 chemicals and process them myself (a soon as I finish the few remaining rolls of a similar C41 batch of films):

Today I would choose any of the discontinued films above over Kodachrome.

 

[Arthurwg]

I never thought much about Kodachrome until I recently discovered that one of my favorite photographers used it almost exclusively. Now I'd like to know what other film comes close.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Perhaps. But it won't keep people from discussing it.

What a travesty! What a waste! A crime against humanity!

If enough people showed an interest and desire for its return, then Kodak would probably take it seriously.

And the old adage of "if you make it, they will come" may be valid here.

But don't hold your breath...

Difficult to make. Difficult to process. No market. The colors of E6 are much better.

But will it sell?

I'd put my money on it.

No, but since you are throwing your money away, just sent it to me and I will put it to go uses.

 

[George Mann]

What is actually the draw of Kodachrome?
The colour fast dyes?

The surreal way it rendered things made it special.

AFAIK the film wasn’t that high resolution.

It readily outresolved most color negative film, which is good enough for me.

 

[George Mann]

What a travesty! What a waste! A crime against humanity!

A national historic icon that people loved!

 

[PFGS]

A national historic icon that people loved!

"Loved," emphasis on the tense, may be the operative word. At 46 years old, I seem to be a little on the young side here at Photrio, and rather on the old side on the analog photography groups on Reddit. And I'm comfortable with asserting that for most film shooters my age and younger, Kodachrome ranks slightly below the Lincoln Town Car as a beloved historic icon - in other words, we don't think of it at all, don't have any emotional connection to its history, and it differs from the myriad of other vanished slide emulsions solely in being the subject of a catchy song. Hell, I still listen to vacuum tube audio components and make my own pie crust from scratch; I can draft jeans to measure and darn a sock, I read the Iliad and Paradise Lost to my kids: I'm not exactly a cutting edge, "out with the old and in with the new" kind of guy, and I utterly don't get the obsession with exhuming Zombie Kodachrome. It's a pipe dream of a niche of a niche of a niche.

 

[Sirius Glass]

A national historic icon that people loved!

When it was the only color film that was one thing but there are other better products. Some people loved slavery but that does not make it a good thing.