[Leica] last Kodachrome

[jshul at comcast.net (Jim Shulman)]

>From what I understand, there was a toxicity (and complexity) issue with
creating the chemicals--otherwise a company such as Fuji might have jumped
at the opportunity. With tiny (and ever-dwindling) I don't see this
changing.  Some things just require large infrastructure, film production
being one of them.  When I think of off-brand film producers, such as Efke
(which has gotten a lot better) and some Chinese b/w, I think of products
that are OK, but not really up to the standards of Kodak or Fuji.  With a
process as demanding as Kodachrome, the chances of a small company
replicating the process are diminished further.

Several years ago I saw a German video of the last Kodachrome movie film
processing done in Europe (Swiss plant).  I was really surprised of how much
operator judgment this required--it was a LOT more involved than
dump-in-chemicals-and-press-button (which is a good reason why E-6 took the
vast majority of the color transparency market.)  

I fear that the operator knowledge will be lost forever, which will make
replication of the process in the future difficult if not impossible.  For
instance, I love vintage recordings (made before WWI).  The acoustic
recording techniques are known today, but modern attempts to replicate them
have not matched the quality of the originals.  The original operators
obviously knew certain tricks or tweaks, which have been lost to history.  

Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+jshul=comcast.net at leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+jshul=comcast.net at leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Javier
Perez
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 3:01 PM
To: LUG
Subject: Re: [Leica] last Kodachrome


I probably do! 
But proprietary doesn't necessarily mean secret. Chemicals are chemicasl and
anyone who knows how the developers were made might be able to whip up a
batch. Not sure how it works but I don't think proprietary process can be
held in perpetuity. Of course since there are fewer and fewer rolls to
develop the whole thing might well be a pointless adventure. That's unless
some third party started making its own version of kodachrome. Maybe the
Chinese or the Indians will step up to the plate.
Javier
 
> From: jshul at comcast.net
> To: lug at leica-users.org
> Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2011 14:30:12 -0500
> Subject: Re: [Leica] last Kodachrome
> 
> Since the chemistry was proprietary (and required a lot of skill and
manual
> manipulation), probably not. You now have a new paperweight.
> 
> Jim Shulman
> Wynnewood, PA
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lug-bounces+jshul=comcast.net at leica-users.org
> [mailto:lug-bounces+jshul=comcast.net at leica-users.org] On Behalf Of 
> Javier
> Perez
> Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 2:13 PM
> To: LUG
> Subject: Re: [Leica] last Kodachrome
> 
> 
> I had a roll I was meaning to get processed but forgot about. It wasn't
even
> mine. It came with an old camera I bought about 10 years ago. The roll has
> the older orangish end caps. After doing some research I figured it might
> not take to modern development because Kodak had made some sort of change
to
> the film and this can was pretty old. Does anybody know if there are any
> bootleg developing efforts being planned other than black and white?
> Javier
> 
> > From: steve.barbour at gmail.com
> > Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2011 10:32:20 -0800
> > To: lug at leica-users.org
> > Subject: Re: [Leica] last Kodachrome
> > 
> > 
> > On Jan 14, 2011, at 8:15 AM, EPL wrote:
> > 
> > > Just got my last Kodachromes back from Dwayne's today and I am again
> > > reminded/floored by the quality of the rendition possible with the
film
> (I
> > > shot mostly K25): the lovely, subtle transitions from light to shadow.
> > > 
> > > I'll put some up on te LUG Gallery soon.
> > 
> > yes ...please share them,
> > 
> > 
> > Steve
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > > 
> > > But I wonder: is there any way to get this kind of result with some
> digital
> > > magic? If someone has a trick, or some "Kodachrome-like" method they
can
> > > share, do tell!
> > > 
> > > Most high-end digital work still looks like plastic to me!
> > > 
> > > Emanuel
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Leica Users Group.
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> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
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> 
> 
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> 
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