Obit: Kodachrome

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: TheSilentOne
Date: 05 Jul 09 - 05:21 AM

eee.. when I wuz a lad.. I remember using glass plate!
(Only for astronomical telescope photos :o) )

I much preferred the colours of Kodachrome to Fufi (but must admit I never tried Provia).

I stuck with an analog SLR for quite a while, but now use only a digital compact. Of course it doesn't compare in quality, but I've got lazy enough to trade some loss of quality for the convenience of not lugging an SLR around, and the possibility of actually having my camera with me when I might want it! (And not having any more drawers full of negs and prints which I haven't looked at in 20+ years is another bonus.)

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 06:15 PM

When K-II disappeared I tried various others, ending up mostly with Fujichrome 100. Agfachrome 64 was slightly faster than K-II but always seemed to lack definition. Fujichrome I liked for landscapes - greens, browns and yellows always seemed true.
The nearest thing I found to K-II was gaf Anscochrome which for a while was available in one of the tourist shops where I was living at the time (1970ish, Aberfoyle). Sadly, when his stock ran out he never replaced it (too slow a seller) and I never came across it again. I seem to remember it was available in 100, 200 and 400 asa speeds which suited tthe available-light stuff I was trying to do.

Went digital a couple of years ago. I wonder how long it will take Photoshop et al to come up with plugins to replicate your favourite film? Or are they out there already

Ross

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: Will Fly
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 03:53 PM

The graininess could be reduced quite a bit through careful developer choices and darkroom technique. Ilford HP-5 was a pretty good competitor to Tri-X. I used it many times.

Yes - I sometimes think the graininess of Tri-X was what some photographers actually wanted. I had a crack at HP-5 on a couple of occasions, but somehow always seemed to wander back to Tri-X!

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: Skivee
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 03:01 PM

Bill, perhaps I should have emphasized that they were MY favorite shots on Kodachrome. "My as in "I shot them".
Also, when film was processed by Kodak, the mounts were pre-imprinted with "Kodachrome" and "Ektachrome", depending whether you shot K-14 of E-6 process films.
I was a commercial custom color lab tech and photo quality control expert for over 20 years. Where the high speed Ektachrome films had the advantage in low light, K-25 and K-64 were better in color fidelity, satuation, resolution, neutrality, and technical considerations of film structure and longevity. I wasn't a big fan of K-200.
Will. Tri-X was my film of choice when shooting B&W. The graininess could be reduced quite a bit through careful developer choices and darkroom technique.
Ilford HP-5 was a pretty good competitor to Tri-X. I used it many times.

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: Art Thieme
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 02:47 PM

Yes, I remember. As a real amateur, I used a Luna Pro meter with a Spot Meter attachment. Sitting in the dark at the University Of Chicago Folk Festival trying to get photos of Bukka White with available light. Taking a reading with the meter, relating that reading with/to the spot meter, and dialing the results into the lens settings--than remembering to focus. Finally, trying to take the actual photo--only to find that Bukka's set was over and there was a bluegrass band on stage now.

To see those photos of Bukka White go to:
http://rudegnu.com/art_thieme.html

Ah, nostalgia.   ;-)

Art

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: Les from Hull
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 01:19 PM

Nah Ilford - and you can still get it.

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: Will Fly
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 11:33 AM

Did anyone use that b&w film of choice in the '60s, Kodak Tri-X Pan? Very fast, very grainy, very trendy - beloved of David Bailey and Anthony Armstrong-Jones (later Lord Snowden) at the time. I used it extensively with my first Asahi Pentax S1a - great 35mm camera (still have it) but I also had to use a separate light meter.

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: Les from Hull
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 11:01 AM

All very true - we have much better control over our photography now, and we aren't wasting silver! But I did enjoy taking photos with Kodachrome II (or 25 as it became). 25 ASA was quite a challenge! All those old shots are now scanned in to the computer and so I have been able to do the final processing work.

I can afford to take many more photos these days, and I don't miss my very wide lenses as software will stitch together shots for a panoramic view. And I certainly don't miss carrying more than one camera body so that I had a choice of film. You couldn't do everything with 25 ASA!

Thank you Kodachrome for many happy years of photography.

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: number 6
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 09:27 AM

All in all it's the resulting photograph that counts .... I have seen some magnificent photos shot on those disposable cameras, and some have been shot on a no-name supermarket brand of film on a cheap no-name point and shoot.

One of my current favourite local photographers uses nothing but an old HP 2 mgp point and shoot camera ... she captures some of the best shots I have seen lately.

What brand of film, camera, medium (film or digi) is all a matter of personal preference .... IMHO gear is somewhat irrevelant in many ways when compared to the finished product.

But it's always fun to argue one's preferance when it comes to gear. Especcially when I myself am a photo gear junkie.

The end of Kodachrome just signifies a new era in the world of photography ... one that is not necessarily better, or worse. The art of photography will continue on.

biLL

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: number 6
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 09:11 AM

Skivee .... how do you know those shots where on Kodachrome ??

biLL

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: Skivee
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 11:49 PM

Some of my favorite photos were shot on Kodachrome:
„h A row of trees silently stand sentry over the dead of the Punchbowl National Cemetery. They are backlit by a golden setting sun.
„h Two T-38 USAF Thunderbirds, frozen for a moment. One, upside down, hovers over the other. Their red, white, and blue forms split the air like knives.
„h A broad Hawaiian rainbow washes fully across a telephoto scene of beautiful homes on distant lush volcanic slopes. It clearly looks like I faked the shot with filters.
„h A group of glistening chocolate-skinned boys row brightly colored skiffs near our ship; they will dive for coins that we throw. Their oars leave behind expanding white billows in the impossibly cobalt water
„h At summer Karate camp, Ken¡¦s left eye looks like a plum
„h Tiny lemon yellow slime mold fruiting bodies peek out between gray weathered planks of a nature trail
„h Elaine reclines in a broad field of yellow grass. She turns away from the camera, towards the tree line. Her pose is an obvious imitation of ¡§Christina¡¦s World¡¨ by Wyeth. Her red-checked flannel shirt is warm in the sun. If you try hard enough, you can smell her hair.
„h We look down from a balcony of the East Wing Gallery There are fours levels. A statue by Matisse here, a Miller sculpture there; Picasso peeks from a dark subterranean recess. The flooring is rose granite, subtly crosshatched in long triangles. Overhead, a massive orange Caulder mobile gracefully floats by.
Kodachrome was a superior film. Tis a shame.

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: Amergin
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 11:46 PM

You know....i know several professional, artistic photographers...and each one much prefers the digital camera...one the pictures are easier to alter...and two you can delete the fucking things without having to waste film...

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: number 6
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 08:14 PM

I should clarify ... you now have the power to do you own post processing much easier .... without chemicals, bulky enlargers, etc.

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: number 6
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 08:10 PM

That's one thing I love about digi .... you now have the power to do you own processing.

Hell ... you can make your digi photos look like they were taken on film.

biLL

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: Art Thieme
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 08:02 PM

I used Ektochrome for the higher speed--even though I did prefer Kodachrome. Still, to take available light shots in concerts, I had to have the processors push the exposure from around 160 to 400. At today's available speeds, it leaves me feeling like a turtle trying to cross the road. (Anyone remember that scene in the book of Grapes Of Wrath?)

At least 80% of the folk scene photos I took were with slide film back then.

Art

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: number 6
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 08:00 PM

"Fuji was sort of muted...pastels.. nice, but not for extreme accuracy "

not with Fuji Provia.

biLL

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: Bill D
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 07:04 PM

Fuji was sort of muted...pastels... nice, but not for extreme accuracy

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: number 6
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 06:40 PM

"My recollection of the Fuji equivalent is of over-rich greens."

not with Fuji Provia.

biLL

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: MartinRyan
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 05:48 PM

My recollection of the Fuji equivalent is of over-rich greens. Funny how these things stick with you after so many years.

Regards

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: Art Thieme
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 05:00 PM

Is Ektochrome gone too?

Art

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: number 6
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 09:00 AM

Though I still like some of the aspects (mainly challenges) in shooting in film ... I have to say I prefer digi much, much more.

biLL

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: number 6
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 08:52 AM

It was bound to happen.

Prefer Fuji film anyway ... which is, BTW still available.


biLL

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 08:30 AM

Shot K-II and K-64 (slight cast to the blue) for many, many years. K-II had the best color saturation EVER! Amazing stuff (and it didn't really cramp my style to shoot 25 ASA, believe it or not).

Sigh.

Have a digital, but I still shoot a lot of film. Want to find another Pentax H3V body and get back into some of the stuff I used to do.

Linn

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: Ron Davies
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 08:19 AM

Definitely way up there--one of his all-time best.   

Thanks for posting that.

"When I think back...."    Really captures it.

And I really liked high school (mostly).

Subject: ADDPOP: Kodachrome
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 04:20 AM

Kodachrome
(Paul Simon)

When I think back
On all the crap I learned in high school
It's a wonder
I can think at all
And though my lack of education
Hasn't hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall

Chorus
Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away

If you took all the girls I knew
When I was single
And brought them all together for one night
I know they'd never match
my sweet imagination
everything looks worse in black and white

Chorus

Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away

Mama don't take my Kodachrome
Mama don't take my Kodachrome
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away

Mama don't take my Kodachrome
Leave your boy so far from home
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome

Mama don't take my Kodachrome away

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 04:12 AM

Never was as good after they abandoned Kodachrome II. Ektachrome was even better.

Ross

Subject: RE: Obit: Kodachrome
From: open mike
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 04:07 AM

ARE THERE STILL OTHER TYPES OF COLOR FILM AVAILABLE?

FROM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_photography

Modern color film

The first modern ("integrated tri-pack") color film, Kodachrome, was introduced by the Eastman Kodak Company in 1935, using three colored emulsions. Most modern color films, except Kodachrome, are based on technology developed for Agfacolor (as "Agfacolor Neue") in 1936. (In this newer technology, chromogenic dye couplers are already within the emulsion layers, rather than having to be carefully diffused in during development.) Instant color film was introduced by Polaroid in 1963.

Subject: Obit: Kodachrome
From: Cluin
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 02:46 AM

Mama, they took my Kodachrome away.

As of June 22nd of this year, Eastman Kodak will no longer be producing Kodachrome film. I mourn its passing.

Digital photography killed it.

http://kodachromeproject.com/