Kodachrome
Alas, Kodachrome is no more. Once considered the gold standard by which all other colour films were judged, its expense and specialized processing reduced its position in the market to the point that it was no longer viable. On Dec. 30 2010, Dwayne's, the last photo lab with equipment to process Kodachrome, cut this service. It is rumoured that E-6 transparency processing is on the way out as well. Corner labs are disappearing. The world for colour film photographers is changing, and the future will be much different from what we knew in the past. Fortunately, Kodak stil lhas a number of good films, Ektar 100 and the new Portra Pro film. Hopefully these can fill some of the gap left by the disappearance of the late, great Kodachrome.
A Little History
Kodachrome was introduced by the Eastman Kodak Company in 1935. Arguably the first viable colour transparency film, Kodachrome transformed the way consumers used cameras. Kodachrome in a word, was brilliant. As the Paul Simon song gushes, this film "gives us those nice bright colours, gives us the greens of summer, makes us feel all the world's a sunny day..."
Despite the relative age of the process, it was one of the most exacting and sophisticated films ever manufactured. Kodachrome had three emulsions, sensitized for each of the primary colours, which were linked to dyes added in the development process, which took as many as a dozen exacting steps to complete. Whereas black and white can be processed with a minimal of fuss by the average Joe, and most colour films could be later handled by the teenager running a machine down at the local drugstore, Kodachrome could only be processed by authorized Kodak labs. This monopoly ended in 1954, but even then, processing was done at only a few highly specialized labs throughout the world.
Kodachrome faced stiff competition from C-41 and E-6 process films, and gradually began to lose its stranglehold on the colour film market. The death knell for Kodachrome was the explosion of Digital photography in the 1990s and 2000s. As sales fell, the number of processing facilites dwindled. By the time Kodak ceased production in 2010, Dwayne's Photo in Parsons, Kansas was the only lab on the planet running Kodachrome.
Kodachrome had a long and storied career, made famous in song and in the many unforgettable images reproduced in the likes of Time, Life, and National Geographic magazines. Its vivid and luminous colours rivaled the richness of nature itself, and while digital images may have millions of colours, Kodachrome, the monarch of the film era had them all.
Despite the relative age of the process, it was one of the most exacting and sophisticated films ever manufactured. Kodachrome had three emulsions, sensitized for each of the primary colours, which were linked to dyes added in the development process, which took as many as a dozen exacting steps to complete. Whereas black and white can be processed with a minimal of fuss by the average Joe, and most colour films could be later handled by the teenager running a machine down at the local drugstore, Kodachrome could only be processed by authorized Kodak labs. This monopoly ended in 1954, but even then, processing was done at only a few highly specialized labs throughout the world.
Kodachrome faced stiff competition from C-41 and E-6 process films, and gradually began to lose its stranglehold on the colour film market. The death knell for Kodachrome was the explosion of Digital photography in the 1990s and 2000s. As sales fell, the number of processing facilites dwindled. By the time Kodak ceased production in 2010, Dwayne's Photo in Parsons, Kansas was the only lab on the planet running Kodachrome.
Kodachrome had a long and storied career, made famous in song and in the many unforgettable images reproduced in the likes of Time, Life, and National Geographic magazines. Its vivid and luminous colours rivaled the richness of nature itself, and while digital images may have millions of colours, Kodachrome, the monarch of the film era had them all.