Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/06/01

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Kodachrome
From: Ted Grant <tedgrant@home.com>
Date: Thu, 01 Jun 2000 08:15:06 -0700
References: <D188C0B350C0D211ACB10008C75D7CA302E030DD@nssczeusex9.navsea.navy.mil>

Peterson Arthur G NSSC wrote:
> 
>I can say that Kodachrome processing is not always (or everywhere) so
slow.  I've been shooting Kodachrome occasionally for years in Northern
Virginia, and I always get my slides back
> the very next day after I bring them in for processing.  :-)<<<<<<<<

Hi Art,
Yes and that did happen in Vancouver and Toronto at one time when KODAK
operated their labs in those cities.  Actually you could take your KR to
the lab in the morning and have it back later in the day, that was
before KODAK closed the plants due to environmental concerns,,,, and
lack of demand for  KR films and processing!

So KR in and out within 24 hours or shorter isn't unheard of in cities
where there are labs. And if we could've maintained this simplicity many
KR users would probably still be using it.  In reality, KODAK actually
started the demise of KR simply by improving the E6 films to such an
extent it began slowing the sales of kodachrome.

For me and many others it's never been a quality thing, today it's an
"Out of hand time concern!" And the extra potential of disaster the
farther afield the film travels before it's returned. 

If you bank roll a shoot where many thousands of dollars hang on the
survival and sale of those images or a client pays you to go to another
country, hire models, rent whatever from limo's, boats  to helicopters. 
And then you have to "ship the film" by who knows what service on the
hope that neither the courier truck nor plane crashes and burns.  The
lab techs who have no idea of the value of your film any more than Aunt
Maud's flower slides, "both valuable mind you to the respective
photographer." 

But one of considerable economic value compared to a simple re-shoot of flowers.

I don't think anyone in their right mind is going to think more than a
few seconds as to which film they're going to use.  Unless there is a
KODAK lab in your home town where you walk in, hand them  film, pick up
later! 

KR films are beautiful, no question. But as I've said, they are not the
be all to end all of shooting colour slides!  Not any more, as the E6
types out there are quite phenomenal and improving all the time.  I
think one should keep that in mind when addressing the value of them or
KR. 

ted

Replies: Reply from Rich Lahrson <tripspud@wenet.net> (Re: [Leica] Kodachrome)
In reply to: Message from Peterson Arthur G NSSC <PetersonAG@NAVSEA.NAVY.MIL> (RE: [Leica] Kodachrome)