The End Of An Era... Kodachrome

[Water Bug]

Don't know how many of you out there are still avid film shooters, but if you enjoy racking a roll of slide or print film through a fine 35 mm single-lens reflex camera like me, today is a very sad day... the end of an era... they're taking away our Kodachrome... :(

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=2709&gpcid=0900688a80b4e692&ignoreLocale=true&pq-locale=en_US&_requestid=5096

And, it would seem the last place on earth to get your Kodachrome processed these days is Dwayne's Photo, and they will continue processing Kodachrome until December 2010...

http://www.dwaynesphoto.com/

Some of my best pictures have been with Kodachrome 64. Shot some Kodachrome 25, and maybe dabbled with the higher speed Kodachrome 200, but I always went with Kodachrome 64 when it counted. Yeah, the slower film speed was hell when the available light was low, I had no flash, and f/1.8 on a 50 mm lens was the largest aperature I could get, but that simply forced me to be more inventive and creative, pushing the film, the lens, and my steadiness to the limit to capture that Kodak moment.

Over the last few years, I've included Fuji slide film into my inventory. The colors of some of Fuji's products are amazing, but they don't hold a candle to the natural colors that Kodachrome gave me.

Yes, digital photography is nice and offers so many opportunities. I even own a couple of nice Nikon digital SLRs. But, the true challenge lies in taking a roll of film (especially slide film, since it can be less forgiving), loading it into a fully manual 35 mm SLR, and taking your pictures, knowing full well that success or failure lies in your abilities, not modern world, gee-whiz technology.

Time for me to dust off my old Nikon FE and shoot some Kodachrome 64.

[Lord vader]

Sometimes it`s sad to see some things go,I can remember the days of 620 film using my old brownie hawkeye, yeah i think i`m giving away my age but yeah i know what you mean.It seems that everything is going digital, including telivision,and digital music "MP3".

[jimbo@stn24]

Was wondering when this day would arrive, kinda sad myself as I used to spend some time at photography. I must say I'm impressed with the new technology, but it was kinda fun learning and trying to make your best shot. And then the week wait for the film to be processed after dropping it off at the drug store to see how you did and review your notes.

I still prefer the colours and talent that went into a well captured photo from film in comparison to digital. But for a poor photographer like myself, digital lets me take photos easier and do a better job.

Perhaps a guy can still goof around with medium format, or is it going the way of the dodo as well?

[Water Bug]

In talking with the crew at my favorite camera store, they noted there seems to be an increased interest in 120 film photography, so its popularity is still there. Some people still dabble with large format photography as well. The crew at the camera store also noted that although we may see less and less varieties of film as the years go by, there will be some formats and brands of slide and print films still available... might be expensive to purchase and process, but at least it'll have a place in the digital world.

[vampyrewolf]

I'm still waiting till a decent DSLR is cheaper.

I've got a functional brownie as well, and my father's SLR from 30 or so years ago (case 1 with camera, flash and battery pack, and a few rolls of film... case 2 with lenses).

I just prefer digital for the ability to crop and check your work before getting anything finalized. I've been using fuji film for a while, as it's easy to get a hold of up here.

[christopher]

It was a sad day in Mudville. The Kodachrome got taken away by Momma.

Well, the amount of Kodachrome amounted to less than 1% of Kodak's business. I guess that's reason for the suits to cancel an icon..

Chris:):):)

[Toad310]

There were times I used over 1000 rolls of that a year. It was great.

I really Don't miss film at all.

I have $50,000 in Hasselbald equipment, I will never use...got to sell it

[Toad310]

Don't know how many of you out there are still avid film shooters, but if you enjoy racking a roll of slide or print film through a fine 35 mm single-lens reflex camera like me, today is a very sad day... the end of an era... they're taking away our Kodachrome... :(

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=2709&gpcid=0900688a80b4e692&ignoreLocale=true&pq-locale=en_US&_requestid=5096

And, it would seem the last place on earth to get your Kodachrome processed these days is Dwayne's Photo, and they will continue processing Kodachrome until December 2010...

http://www.dwaynesphoto.com/

Some of my best pictures have been with Kodachrome 64. Shot some Kodachrome 25, and maybe dabbled with the higher speed Kodachrome 200, but I always went with Kodachrome 64 when it counted. Yeah, the slower film speed was hell when the available light was low, I had no flash, and f/1.8 on a 50 mm lens was the largest aperature I could get, but that simply forced me to be more inventive and creative, pushing the film, the lens, and my steadiness to the limit to capture that Kodak moment.

Over the last few years, I've included Fuji slide film into my inventory. The colors of some of Fuji's products are amazing, but they don't hold a candle to the natural colors that Kodachrome gave me.

Yes, digital photography is nice and offers so many opportunities. I even own a couple of nice Nikon digital SLRs. But, the true challenge lies in taking a roll of film (especially slide film, since it can be less forgiving), loading it into a fully manual 35 mm SLR, and taking your pictures, knowing full well that success or failure lies in your abilities, not modern world, gee-whiz technology.

Time for me to dust off my old Nikon FE and shoot some Kodachrome 64.

You are right...if you can shoot chromes, you can shoot. Also, great for testing your camera. My first camera was an FE, still have it!

I used to shoot Sinatra once in a while, and I louped some medium format chromes of his the otherday, and I forgot how good the really are. I miss Sinatra too.

However, I'm not ready to give up my D3's and go back.

On another note...you would be shocked at how many professionals just set the cameras to programed. I shoot almost everything on manual.

[Echo63]

the first roll of film i shot through my brand new Eos 300 was a roll of kodachrome that had been rolling around the bottom of my dad's camera bag for nearly 10 years - it still worked, the colour is perfect, that was 10 years ago.

i havent shot film in maybe 5 years, i love my digital SLRs (got 3 of them) but i am seriously thinking about getting a medium format camera, as a "toy" to learn with, play with and for my personal work, Bronicas are cheap as, but mamiyas and hasselblads are easier to convert to digital, if and when it becomes more affordable, so im leaning toward a nice hasselblad at the moment.


my parents have 25 year old kodakchrome slides, that look like they just came back from the processor, the longevity of the film is awesome, and the colour and sharpness of a slide is just incredible too

[JspyEDC]

The detail of todays DSLR's is incredible, but difficult to capture the warmth a talented photographer could with Kodachrome.

[Agent Starling]

Yes, it's sad...memories of old photos in sepia and black and white, faded by time as only analogue photos can be...having said that, I welcome digital with open arms...dang! change in the world is growing exponentially and I guess I might as well get used to it...so no use dwelling in nostalgia...easier said than done, though, IMHO...:rolleyes::D

snap away! :)

Agent Starling