R.I.P. Kodachrome

If you like Kodachrome, you better stock up. Kodak has announced that it is going to stop making it, and expects supplies to last till early fall. I still have a few rolls in the freezer I better use up while I can still get them developed.

http://www.pdngearguide.com/gearguid...915ad940a9443a

You beat me to it Mike...hehe...I just put it in VF!!! For those interested, here is the Kodak press release link: http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQueri...00688a80b4e692

Ditto Mikes sentiment... R.I.P. Kodachrome

This is the first news I saw this morning. I was a little surprised, but then not so. Kodachrome's day has come and gone. But it's still sad to see something so historically significant disappear.

My Kodachrome Article >>

Sadly, I never shot Kodachrome. I've only been seriously shooting film for about 4 years and all that time, I kept thinking I should avoid it because it was on it's way out. I hear the developing process has some pretty harsh chemicals. Anyone know if this is something people will be able to develop at home? I suspect there are a lot of people sitting on a stash, so Dwayne's will probably have a lot of film to process this year.

Paul

I guess we all knew this was coming. :(

I still shoot KR all at least half the time I shoot film... 15+ years now. Sad to see it go - smooth, consistent colors; razor sharp, great for portraiture. I still have many rolls in my freezer that I am going through.

True though, there only one lab left that processes it, and it is becoming a pain to get processed. And over the years, I've heard many photographers say that Velvia and the new Ektachromes are more to their liking. IMHO, some of this is based on trying to wow the viewer with rich colors instead of using things like composition, subject and geometry, but the color palette has its place too.

The news comes as a surprise to me because I didn't even know they still made Kodachrome (it's been a while since I've been at the film counter), but I see it now in the ad to the right.

Still I have fond memories as I grew up using K64 in the 80's. But I had switched to Velvia long ago and haven't followed Kodak's product lines ever since.

It was inevitable.

Here is a nice interview of Steve McCurry, the fellow who photographed the Afgan woman many years ago with Kodachrome. A nice send off for Kodachrome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2sIVXU8q1o

I remember rumors back in the '80s that it would be discontinued. I never shot it 35mm, but did use K-40 for motion pictures. It was gorgeous- when every other motion picture film was going for muted tones and washed out contrast, Kodachrome would give you the shocking colors you can really see on a bright spring day.

I'm glad they kept producing it until now. Interestingly, it's discontinuation was announced the same day I bought a second digital camera to act as a backup for my first. When I was shooting film, I always had two camera bodies just in case one failed. With digital, it only just became important enough when I realized I hadn't had my film cameras out in a year. I guess the world is changing.

I will have to go see if Henry's Oakville has some Kodachrome left (I've never used it before) and if they can actually do the processing here in Canada.

Sadly no Kodachrome in Oakville. I'll have to try Toronto Next Month. (I'm not holding my breath)

I'll still have to send it to the one place in Kansas for developing.

My wife and I are heading out for a long weekend. I packed a few rolls of Kodachrome for the trip.

I wonder if it's popularity and demand for it will INCREASE now that they made that announcement?

Of course it will.
People who might use a few rolls will buy up stock for the next 5-10 years.
It will help Kodak sell the last of the films while they're still in date :)

For those with Nikon's (one with custom picture controls) someone had done a in camera Kodachrome preset.

Download here: http://www.neebu.net/~khuon/photogra...C/PICCON08.NCP

Installation Instruction...
1) Get a CF card, load it into a reader, create a new folder titled "NIKON" in the root (/) directory of the card. Then a sub-directory called "CUSTOMPC" copy the NCP files into that sub-directory.

2) Load the CF card into the camera, and power it on.

3) Go into the Shoot Menu and select "Shooting Menu"

4) Select "Manage Picture Control" and then select "Load/save" procced to import it into one of your 9 slots (9 on the D300).

Yet another KR article:

http://arstechnica.com/media/news/20...epresented.ars