End of an era

[bogeyman]

Some nice pictures but you just cannot appreciate them on a screen. It's a browsing medium, not conducive to real appreciation. You will see more in a printed photograph because you will look more; and there will be more in there for you to see (and that's not even to mention a projected slide).

I don't know why, but there is stuff in a picture at a finer level than the nominal resolution. That's why a well-made Medium Format photo looks so stunning: it is not simply the resolution, it is the amount of colour information held in there. And that is just what Kodachrome excelled at.

Agree. Almost everything looks good, or at least passable, on a computer screen.

Imagine that first shot in the Slideshow gallery, printed up on Cibachrome Super Glossy about 5' wide, in a black gallery mount. Now that's a colour photograph!

Agree it's about the amount of 'visual information' (not the same as pixels or sharpness). Hard to explain scientifically, but you know it when you see it.

I have an old Rolleiflex TLR and I am now shopping for some KR for it while stocks last. The D200 can gather dust for a while.

[bogeyman]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


Bollocks. Half of my portfolio shots - and all my favourite - were shot on Kodachrome. Gutted.

Knew it would happen one day, but still.

If you have a film body, then stock up. It's still on sale and will still be processed.

Get the 'Professional' version (PKR25/PKR64) from a pro outlet, as it will keep longer (pro PKR and non-pro KR are the same film except Kodak don't let PKR sit around in bulk for too long).

Pro Kodachrome that has been sitting around for a while just gets bumped down to consumer-grade KR. It's exactly the same stuff.

Bung it in the fridge (not freezer!) in an airtight tupperware box and it's good for 2-3 years for most practical applications.

[realityhack]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


Bollocks. Half of my portfolio shots - and all my favourite - were shot on Kodachrome. Gutted.

Knew it would happen one day, but still.

[expat]

Kodak have a slide show of some of what they regard as the best Kodachrome shots here

Some nice pictures but you just cannot appreciate them on a screen. It's a browsing medium, not conducive to real appreciation. You will see more in a printed photograph because you will look more; and there will be more in there for you to see (and that's not even to mention a projected slide).

I don't know why, but there is stuff in a picture at a finer level than the nominal resolution. That's why a well-made Medium Format photo looks so stunning: it is not simply the resolution, it is the amount of colour information held in there. And that is just what Kodachrome excelled at.

[DaveB]

Kodak have a slide show of some of what they regard as the best Kodachrome shots here

[expat]

Kodachromes printed using Ilford's Cibachrome process are to my eye, the best colour photographs ever. Nothing comes close for clarity, sparkle and sheer gorgeousness of colour.

Digital prints from even the best 'giclee' printers and papers just pale in comparison.

Welcome to the era of digital mediocrity.

Agree on first point.

Agree on second point. A little French will disabuse you of the hype surrounding the idea of calling inkjet printers "giclée" when you want to sell the prints. Gicler is to spurt. Your car's washer jet is a gicleur. Gicler also means to ejaculate. Inkjet printers with a high idea of themselves.

Agree on third point. Digital is theoretically "as good as you like", or at least "as good as the spec". It has become "just good enough". Hence MP3s, not as good as vinyl but you get used to it. Digital cameras: 2Mp on your phone is good enough if you only ever look at pictures on your phone. Etc, etc. Those who still use film (esp. MF) and vinyl haven't forgotten: you can tell the difference.

[bogeyman]

Kodachromes printed using Ilford's Cibachrome process are to my eye, the best colour photographs ever. Nothing comes close for clarity, sparkle and sheer gorgeousness of colour.

Digital prints from even the best 'giclee' printers and papers just pale in comparison.

Welcome to the era of digital mediocrity.

[d000hg]

My dad used to work in printing presses, and one time brought home a little stack of solid silver ingots, recovered from printing the newspapers. Slightly off-topic, but it is a fond childhood memory you've reminded me of.

[expat]

Is Kodachrome the film you had to send back to Kodak for processing?

Yes. The reason for that was that it was developed with a different process, which needed a very expensive setup.

What was different about the process is that, unlike other processes that developed silver grains to produce dark and light, and attached colour dyes to those, the Kodachrome process ended with the dissolving out of the silver, leaving only colour dyes in the end product.

[Troll]

Is Kodachrome the film you had to send back to Kodak for processing?

[expat]

Truly.

It's been losing market to Fujichrome for years however.

Kodachrome is probably the best colour film there has ever been or will be, but it is rather unforgiving and less than speedy.

Carlsberg don't make film, but if they did, it would be something like Kodachrome 25 rated at ISO 400.

I think I might buy a 24-pack of PKR and stick in the fridge for when I want to do some nostalgic shooting.

I used to shoot nothing else, just Kodachrome 25. It sure was difficult to handle, but when you got the exposure spot-on, the colour rendition was amazing. Not in-your-face like Velvia, but comprehensive reproduction of real colours.

[dang65]

Yet another pop song which has become meaningless. Er, like they all are anyway of course.

It's like that bit in the middle of A Day In The Life:

Grabbed my coat and grabbed my hat,
Made the bus in seconds flat,
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke,
Then somebody spoke and I went into a dream...

You wear a hat, grandad? You travel on a bus?? It has an upstairs??? You had a smoke??!?! Somebody actually spoke on a bus? What kind of psychedelic mumbo-jumbo is this?

[bogeyman]

Truly.

It's been losing market to Fujichrome for years however.

Kodachrome is probably the best colour film there has ever been or will be, but it is rather unforgiving and less than speedy.

Carlsberg don't make film, but if they did, it would be something like Kodachrome 25 rated at ISO 400.

I think I might buy a 24-pack of PKR and stick in the fridge for when I want to do some nostalgic shooting.

[expat]

No more Kodachrome.