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Photo Forum / Film Photography / Darkroom / June 2007Kodachrome ArKives
Searching Amazon's books section for 'Kodachrome' brings up many books of archival color photographs, among them: o Kodachrome: The American Invention of Our World*, 1939-1959 o Americans in Kodachrome 1945-1965 o Southern Californialand: Mid-Century Culture in Kodachrome o Americana the Beautiful: Mid-century Culture in Kodachrome The following copied from Amazon, who copied it from The New Yorker: Although commercial color film was first produced in 1907, it was not widely used until the mid-nineteen-fifties, so when we think of people and events from the first half of the twentieth century we tend to imagine them in black- and-white. In fact, from the mid-thirties Kodak's Kodachrome process offered a remarkably colorfast and permanent image. The stunning pictures in this book* show subjects familiar from black-and-white photography-Georgia sharecroppers, New York City traffic beneath the Third Avenue El, Hugo Jaeger's Nazi Berlin-but invigorated by a vivid palette that makes them feel startlingly contemporary. Unfortunately, Kodak, worried about losing business for its other, less stable color stocks, never made Kodachrome's superior durability a public selling point, and so the corpus of surviving color images is smaller than it might have been. Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker Buy a couple rolls of Kodachrome and take pictures of what's around you while you still can.  SignatureNicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Meters http://www.darkroomautomation.com/index.htm n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com > Buy a couple rolls of Kodachrome and take pictures of what's > around you while you still can. Absolutely. And I am. A day off with nice weather and a roll of Kodachrome in my pristine Nikon F2. Lord, it don't get any better than that. I've been able to wean myself off everything else Kodak -- except Kodachrome. I can't bring myself to walk away from it. Kodak will have to take it away. And when they do, I'll cry like a baby. Ken >> Buy a couple rolls of Kodachrome and take pictures of what's >> around you while you still can. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > to > take it away. And when they do, I'll cry like a baby. Sadly for us here in Australia, and probably most of the non-USA world, Kodachrome is effectively no longer available. I'm sure I probably could find some if I looked hard enough, but sending it to the USA for processing makes it more pain than it is worth. Still think it probably ranks as the best colour film ever made, but various Fuji chromes are almost as good, and can be _reasonably_ easily processed (for me it requires mail order to a city about 200km away, but that's better than sending it to the other side of the planet). > Ken >>> Buy a couple rolls of Kodachrome and take pictures of what's >>> around you while you still can. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > requires mail order to a city about 200km away, but that's better than > sending it to the other side of the planet). Which Kodachrome films are left. I know 25 is gone, but I'm not sure if 64 or 200 have been discontinued. >>>> Buy a couple rolls of Kodachrome and take pictures of what's >>>> around you while you still can. [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > Which Kodachrome films are left. I know 25 is gone, but I'm not sure if 64 > or 200 have been discontinued. Kodachrome 64 is still available....Here is a link: http://www.amazon.com/Kodak-Kodachrome-64-Film-Daylight/dp/B0000520IT > Searching Amazon's books section for 'Kodachrome' > brings up many books of archival color photographs, [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Metershttp://www.darkroomautomation.com/index.htm > n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com Not meaning to undercut Kodachrome, but while Velvia has a slightly different appearance, it has a similarly long life. Peter wrote: > "Nicholas O. Lindan" <s...@sig.com> wrote: > > The New Yorker wrote: [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Buy a couple rolls of Kodachrome and take pictures of what's around you > > while you still can. > Velvia has ... a similarly long life. It may indeed, but maybe we should revisit the issue in 70 years. 99.99% of all predictions have turned out to be wrong. And nobody believed the 0.01% that were right. From a 1937 perspective, life in 2007 would be ... Time to strap on the jet-pack and commute to work in our great domed city of Cleveland, where the weather is a perfect 68.5F and sunny year round. The family is going to the moon for vacation, so I have to remember to stop by the PanAm office and pick up the tickets. Oh, and I have to make some calculations at work -- better remember my slide-rule. SignatureNicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Meters http://www.darkroomautomation.com/index.htm n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com > Peter wrote: > > "Nicholas O. Lindan" <s...@sig.com> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Metershttp://www.darkroomautomation.com/index.htm > n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com I understand the point, but do not necessarily agree. I've read some of Wilhelm's work and think his methods have some value. Even so, I'm not aware that Kodachrome is available is sizes larger than 35 mm. Peter a écrit : >>Peter wrote: >> [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > Even so, I'm not aware that Kodachrome is available is sizes larger > than 35 mm. Wilhelm tests have two serious flaws: - they test the materials mostly against light aging. Very few tests are done with other factors that may affect longevity. - these tests are done with very strong light supposed to simulate a faster aging of the material. This is only a supposition. Put a BW fiber paper under these test conditions and you may believe it will last forever. We all know this is unfortunately not the case ... Claudio Bonavolta http://www.bonavolta.ch > Wilhelm tests have ... serious flaws: > ... test mostly light aging ... [with] very strong light supposed to > simulate a faster aging of the material. This is only a supposition. If there is something that will cause Velvia to fade we can only be sure Wilhelm _isn't_ testing for it. You never see the one that gets you until it is too late, if you did you would have gotten out of the way. SignatureNicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Meters http://www.darkroomautomation.com/index.htm n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com > On Jun 14, 3:31 pm, "Nicholas O. Lindan" <s...@sig.com> > wrote: [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] > sizes larger > than 35 mm. It hasn't been for some time. 120 was the other size of still film and that was discontinued perhaps ten years ago. I think certain sizes of motion picture film, particularly 8mm, were made until fairly recently. Kodak made sure no other still film size but 35mm could be used when they "upgraded" the processing machines to a form which took 35mm film only. From shortly after its introduction as 16mm motion picture film in 1935 Kodachrome became available in 35mm, several roll film sizes and sheet film up to 16x20. All the sheet film was processed in Rochester. Kodachrome sheets were discontinued shortly after Ektachrome was introduced c.1949. It was inferior to Kodachrome but could be processed by independant labs by a process which was rather complex but still simpler than Kodachrome. For about the first year after its introduction Kodachrome was processed by a method which relied on controlled penetration of bleach into the multiple layer emulsion. This process was very difficult to control and had many steps since the film had to be dryed before each bleach step to insure consistency of the bleach penetration. This method of processing was discontinued in favor of one using differential re-exposure of the layers to separate the colors about 1938. This method continues in use today. Kodachrome reportedly has very good dark storage permanence by fades relatively quickly when exposed to intense light such as when being projected. Ektachrome, OTOH, fades faster in dark storage but withstands projection better. Its difficult to justify Kodachrome in light of the improvements made in other types of multi-layer color films but it continues to have a unique look. In its early days it had a reputation for having gaudy colors, a reputation it shared with Technicolor. In fact, people did want lots of color so both Kodak and Technicolor chose to make sure there was plenty of it. Signature--- Richard Knoppow Los Angeles, CA, USA dickburk@ix.netcom.com > Its difficult to justify Kodachrome in light of the > improvements made in other types of multi-layer color films [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > color so both Kodak and Technicolor chose to make sure there > was plenty of it. The "look" of Kodachrome long since fell out of favor. Technicolor was popular with people who first saw color photgraphy in the movies, and in magazines, but a whole generation has grown up with color being what they see on the "tube". When web sites first started, they tried to duplicate the look of print media and over the years developed their own style, now print media has taken on the look of web sites. USA Today was the first print media to do so, long before the web, they copied the look of teletext (which was never popular in the U.S.) and delivered their papers in a box that looked like a TV. Kodak did try to produce a color print film which duplicated the "look" of Kodachrome (Ektar 25). While it was my favorite color print film, it was never a commerical success. :-( Now that digital photgraphy has taken over the snapshot, sports and commerical photography markets, it is likely that the color films which remain will slowy migrate to look like it as tastes change. Geoff. SignatureGeoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm@mendelson.com N3OWJ/4X1GM IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838 Visit my 'blog at http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/ > Now that digital photgraphy has taken over the snapshot, sports and > commerical photography markets, it is likely that the color films > which remain will slowy migrate to look like it as tastes change. In seesnce digital has little "look", compared to color film. It really has only one essential characteristic that gives a "look", and that is the relative response of the three color filters. That is essential. The only other thing is the nature of the noise in dark areas, and that will eventually go to "pure photon statistics" as the electronics improve. Other than than, if one saves as raw, you get a fine linear representation of the original subject, and all else is your decision in Photoshop. (Of course, there is also how you manage to get the image to a visible form, yes, the methods of doing that do change the image, but except for resolution RGB computer graphics is so far superior to print media that nothing else matters.) Doug McDonald >> Now that digital photgraphy has taken over the snapshot, sports and >> commerical photography markets, it is likely that the color films which [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Doug McDonald And the saturation of the color TV's is adjustable too.....My wife likes it very saturated (to the point where the reds, "bloom") But I back off on the color control until it is almost a black & white image..... >>> Now that digital photgraphy has taken over the snapshot, >>> sports and [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > where the reds, "bloom") But I back off on the color > control until it is almost a black & white image..... If you are looking at NTSC color (standard definition, non digital TV in the USA) there is actually a proper setting for the saturation. The problem is that you need a color bar signal and a way to turning off all but the blue gun of the picture tube. In addition, many sets have a color matrix which tends to make the reds too hot. This is a left over from a time when the original phosphors were changed. The newer phosphors did not reproduce red as well as the earlier ones (but lasted longer and were brighter) so a correction circiut was introduced. These are _never_ used in the television broadcasting plant (I do TV for a living), so its common for the color to either burn through on red or be undersaturated for everything else. Digital TV doesn't have this particular problem but has a whole set of vices all its own, some of which are worse. Many years ago I had a chance to see a lot of original Techicolor prints dating to the beginning of the three color version. There was a lot of variation at first color ranging from just pouring off the screen to being quite subtle. Producers and audiences seem to have liked the high saturation version. Actually, color saturation is very easy to control in the Technicolor dye transfer printing process. If it was gaudy its because the people paying for it wanted it that way. Signature--- Richard Knoppow Los Angeles, CA, USA dickburk@ix.netcom.com >>>> Now that digital photgraphy has taken over the snapshot, sports and >>>> commerical photography markets, it is likely that the color films which [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > the Technicolor dye transfer printing process. If it was gaudy its because > the people paying for it wanted it that way. Yeah....I am always bitching about lack of control....The manufacturers of equipment don't trust the consumers enough to give them control over their stuff, because they will get too many returns from people who can't do their own adjustments....So they hide certain important adjustments in the electronics so we consumers can't screw with them.....My monitor is this way. there are a bunch of things that I know I could adjust if I had the controls to do so, but I don't, so I have to either live with the problems or send it back to the factory, where they would charge me more than a new monitor to adjust it......But isn't that the story of life in general? - The society is built around the stupid, so the intelligent have to suffer under restrictive rules and regulations that are designed to keep the stupid from screwing up. Furthermore, as I grow older, I am rapidly becoming more and more, "stupid" about the newer equipment myself, so pretty soon I will have "joined" the other side, and will need simplified equipment myself in order to keep from screwing it up....:^) snip > If you are looking at NTSC color (standard definition, non digital TV > in the USA) there is actually a proper setting for the saturation. The [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > everything else. Digital TV doesn't have this particular problem but has a > whole set of vices all its own, some of which are worse. Isn't it true that "NTSC" actually stands for "Never Twice the Same Color"?! (Sorry, my broadcast background is in radio, where the picture is always correct!) SignatureKen Hart kwhart@fullnet.com >snip > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >(Sorry, my broadcast background is in radio, where the picture is always >correct!) *And* the image is always user-adjustable! "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@ix.netcom.com> wrote > many sets have a color matrix which tends to make the reds too hot. This > is a left over from a time when the original phosphors were changed. Thanks, always wondered why that was. I just got used to pastel colors, the only way to keep the red from blooming. Is it possible to easily defeat this 'feature'? > Isn't it true that "NTSC" actually stands for "Never Twice the Same > Color"?! It certainly does. Another great invention of RCA, the folks who invented: o The 8-track tape, o 45 rpm records - RCA recorded symphonies on them but the music cut out abruptly for 10 seconds every three minutes while the record changed. o The capacitive video disk: a video disk that had a tone arm, a needle and a grooved record, guess how well it worked o NTSC o ... other flops too numerous to mention ... o and don't ask about FM radio http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Armstrong SignatureNicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Meters http://www.darkroomautomation.com/index.htm n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com |
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