# end of kodachrome processing



## boukman2 (Apr 6, 2009)

> PARSONS, Kan. — An unlikely pilgrimage is under way to Dwayne’s Photo, a small family business that has through luck and persistence become the last processor in the world of Kodachrome, the first successful and still the most beloved color film.
> 
> That celebrated 75-year run from mainstream to niche photography is scheduled to come to an end on Thursday when the last processing machine is shut down here to be sold for scrap.
> 
> In the last weeks, dozens of visitors and thousands of overnight packages have raced here, transforming this small prairie-bound city not far from the Oklahoma border for a brief time into a center of nostalgia for the days when photographs appeared not in the sterile frame of a computer screen or in a pack of flimsy prints from the local drugstore but in the warm glow of a projector pulling an image from a carousel of vivid slides.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/30/us/30film.html?hp


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## boukman2 (Apr 6, 2009)

*last pics*

A Color-Saturated Sun Sets on Kodachrome - NYTimes.com


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## Chimpur (May 1, 2009)

In high school I used to love developing my own film and enlarging onto prints! The smell of the chemicals, not to mention the satisfaction that I did everything, effects and all w/o some software program lol!


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## Paddy (Jul 13, 2004)

Sad, in some ways. I've got boxes and boxes of old family photos and slides to go through (recently cleaned out my parents' house after they moved to a retirement apt.) and the slides that are in the best shape are invariably Kodachrome. I'll be scanning them though - haven't got the space to keep them all forever!


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

BBC News - Kodachrome last remaining film roll developed in Kansas


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

Chimpur said:


> In high school I used to love developing my own film and enlarging onto prints! *The smell of the chemicals*, not to mention the satisfaction that I did everything, effects and all w/o some software program lol!


You know they are poison don't you, not just for you but for the environment... The end of chemical processing is a great advancement... no regrets here... having spent countless hours in chemically polluted darkrooms over the years... kids today who practice photography don't really understand/appreciate just how lucky and ultimately healthier they really are...

The way things are now is just so much better in so many ways... I just hope that kids learn the basics first and start using their camera in Manual (as opposed to some Programmed mode) so they can learn the basics of photography... after that, with the software that is out there who needs a darkroom and chemicals?


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

Back in the early 60s when I started in the newspaper game, I found myself on darkroom detail in a close, unvented darkroom both loading and developing 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 inch slide packs for Lindhoff and Graphic press cameras. My fingers and nails used to be dyed dark brown from so many hours in "the soup", never mind what I was breathing inside that dark, dank hole. I don't miss it one bit and am glad no one has to endure what I did.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

That article is just nonsense. I send all of my oddball work to Rocky Mountain Film Laboratory in Colorado. They still process Kodachrome:

Old Film Developed


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

Macfury said:


> That article is just nonsense. I send all of my oddball work to Rocky Mountain Film Laboratory in Colorado. They still process Kodachrome:
> 
> Old Film Developed


It is quite possible that K 14 was subcontracted. Will be interesting to see if they continue to offer the service.


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## boukman2 (Apr 6, 2009)

Macfury said:


> That article is just nonsense. I send all of my oddball work to Rocky Mountain Film Laboratory in Colorado. They still process Kodachrome:
> 
> Old Film Developed





> Color developing of K-14 is no longer available after December 31, 2010. Please visit A trusted name in photo processing for over 50 years - Dwayne's Photo for details.


perhaps you should read web sites before suggesting them?


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

Ha! They must have sub-conracted it for the past few months, I guess. They'll still process it, but only in B&W.


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## mrjimmy (Nov 8, 2003)

From Rocky Mountain Film Lab:



> Hi,​
> We are only developing Kodachrome as black and white negative. Although I have not heard of any plans for developing more Kodachrome in color, I would suggest waiting a week or so to see if Dwanye's Photo has any chemistry left after processing the films they have in house.​
> Feel free to email with any questions.​
> Thanks,
> ...


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## Lawrence (Mar 11, 2003)

I have a small suitcase full of negatives,
Mostly of images that I shot of the 70's and 80's with my old Canon AE-1 camera.

Shot a lot of the West Berlin Wall Art in Germany in 1984,
Also tons of shots taken in the 70's of New York City.

I'll scan them all someday.


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## kps (May 4, 2003)

Shot both Kodachrome and Ektachrome, but preferred Ektachrome due to the 2 stop difference in ASA speed. I was never a great fan of transparency film and mostly used reversal.

End of an era for sure.


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## mrjimmy (Nov 8, 2003)

kps said:


> Shot both Kodachrome and Ektachrome, but preferred Ektachrome due to the 2 stop difference in ASA speed. I was never a great fan of transparency film and mostly used reversal.
> 
> End of an era for sure.


Kps, reversal is transparency film, no?

I shot loads of reversal in my day which I often printed. The results were spectacular, especially from Kodachrome.

I also like to process E6 in C41 chemistry. The results were interesting and inconsistent in a good way. The trouble is the grain was often quite ugly and printing them large wasn't an option.

I'm very sad to see it go. First it was Recording Film, then Tech Pan, Infrared and now Kodachrome. Thank God Fuji still makes an excellent B&W with Neopan. Shooting the 1600 is quite a treat and become my fall back film of choice.


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

I remember how quickly Super 8mm and 8mm movie films were phased out after video cams were introduced.

OTH digital cameras with adequate images and reasonable pricing, have been available to the P&S crowd since late 2003. So it has taken Kodak nearly seven years to phase out Kodachrome. Sadly it is quite likely that C41 and E6 will follow in relatively short order.


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## mrjimmy (Nov 8, 2003)

eMacMan said:


> Sadly it is quite likely that C41 and E6 will follow in relatively short order.


At least the chemistry isn't proprietary such as Kodachrome. Small labs could continue as long as the film holds out. Also, there is enough competition there to keep it going for awhile.

It certainly has become a niche market though.


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## kps (May 4, 2003)

mrjimmy said:


> Kps, reversal is transparency film, no?
> 
> I shot loads of reversal in my day which I often printed. The results were spectacular, especially from Kodachrome.
> 
> ...


LOL, yes...I meant to type negative.

I remember Cibachromes, the richness was amazing from transparencies and easy to do yourself as it could handle temperature variations in the chemistry unlike c41.


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## mrjimmy (Nov 8, 2003)

kps said:


> LOL, yes...I meant to type negative.
> 
> I remember Cibachromes, the richness was amazing from transparencies and easy to do yourself as it could handle temperature variations in the chemistry unlike c41.


I printed a series of large prints from B&W transparencies. They were exquisite if I do say so myself and rivaled even the best neg prints.

*sigh*


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## kps (May 4, 2003)

mrjimmy said:


> I printed a series of large prints from B&W transparencies. They were exquisite if I do say so myself and rivaled even the best neg prints.
> 
> *sigh*


I did B&W slides for a project in high school. I remember using a certain negative b&w film and then using a special kit Kodak sold to process them as transparencies. Strangely enough, it was only about three years ago that I threw out one of those kits after finding it in a bin in my garage. Must have been like 35 years old by that point.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

Just send me your Kodachrome films and $25.


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## mrjimmy (Nov 8, 2003)

Macfury said:


> Just send me your Kodachrome films and $25.


Thanks for contributing and Happy New Year!


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## Amiga2000HD (Jan 23, 2007)

I started using Kodachrome in 2000 and shot several hundred rolls of it including all three speeds until this fall. I guess that means I move over to Provia F100 since Kodak doesn't make films that I like now.


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## mrjimmy (Nov 8, 2003)

Amiga2000HD said:


> I started using Kodachrome in 2000 and shot several hundred rolls of it including all three speeds until this fall. I guess that means I move over to Provia F100 since Kodak doesn't make films that I like now.


I always found Fuji products to be cool in tone. That was the beauty of Kodachrome. Warm as a campfire.

But that being said, what is the alternative...


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

mrjimmy said:


> I always found Fuji products to be cool in tone. That was the beauty of Kodachrome. Warm as a campfire.
> 
> But that being said, what is the alternative...


Cool when compared to Kodachrome. Warm when compared to Ektachrome.


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## Amiga2000HD (Jan 23, 2007)

eMacMan said:


> Cool when compared to Kodachrome. Warm when compared to Ektachrome.


That's what I've been finding. I started out with four rolls of Fuji Sensia II 100 when I switched over to shooting slides in 2000 and I was happy with the results and then I shot two rolls of Ektachrome (the consumer stuff marketed under the Elite Chrome name) but I didn't like the colour balance or how the grain was all chunky compared to the Fuji.

I started using Kodachroem 64 as my primary film after I finished off the second roll of Elite Chrome and that's what I've used for the most part since then, with some Kodachrome 25 and 200, some Agfa Scala, and some high speed Fuji film that gets pushed a few stops in processing. Now with Kodachrome film being discontinued along with the processing, which rules out using old stock film, I'm kind of back to where I started with the Fuji Provia since none of the Kodak E6 films I shot test rolls of were satisfactory.

As an aside: Has anybody else noticed how Kodak's customer service has skidded downhill badly over the last 10 years? Kodak's built up quite a strong don't give a flying leap about the customers attitude in addition to discontinuing products with no notice along with a noticeable drop in product quality control, at least in my experience. I was wondering what other people's observations were.


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