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  • 2 weeks later...

Keith,

 

Thanks for that link. Having seen the results.......and I thought my old Ektachrome slides had funny colour after 50 years.  :) If the Kodachrome developed in this process will also fade badly as they imply, that removes a lot of the USP for Kodachrome. Sticking to Fudgy Provia or Velvia is rather easier. 

 

Wilson

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There has been an article in Time magazine of an interview with Dennis Olbrich, the president of Kodak Alaris UK, who would be the company involved in any resurrection of Kodachrome. He has poured cold water over any ideas anyone might have had about the future of Kodachrome. Too difficult and not any time soon would be a fair summary. Oh well, the dream was nice while it lasted  :(

 

http://time.com/4649349/kodak-film-photography/ 

 

Wilson

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 If the Kodachrome developed in this process will also fade badly as they imply, that removes a lot of the USP for Kodachrome.

Contrary to what often appears to be believed, Kodachrome can and does fade badly if stored poorly which it all too often is. In my experience (I have undertaken contracts looking at 'archival' images shot on transparency film), Kodachrome does suffer from fading quite substantially if not stored in cool, dark and dry conditions. I have seen many Kodachrome slides which have, after around 40~50 years, become utterly useless with only a vestigial and faint image left. It can also suffer badly from fungal problems which result in equally unusable slides.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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You can develop Kodachrome as black and white but you have to remove the black tarry rem-jet layer on the back of the film by softening it with a solution of borax and sodium carbonate with a very small amount of sodium hydroxide, then rub the rem-jet layer off with a sponge. This is a very messy business. When we tried this many years ago, I seem to remember we then used Kodak HC110 developer but the times and temperatures have faded from memory. The major problem is that the contrast is super high with very black and blocky shadows. People may have come up with something better over the 20 years since I last tried this, especially in the absence of the proper K14 processing. 

 

Now anyone got any ideas how I can develop or get processed, a roll of 70mm/50 exposure Kodak Ektachrome 64? 

 

Wilson

Edited by wlaidlaw
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You can develop Kodachrome as black and white but you have to remove the black tarry rem-jet layer on the back of the film by softening it with a solution of borax and sodium carbonate with a very small amount of sodium hydroxide, then rub the rem-jet layer off with a sponge. This is a very messy business. When we tried this many years ago, I seem to remember we then used Kodak HC110 developer but the times and temperatures have faded from memory. The major problem is that the contrast is super high with very black and blocky shadows. People may have come up with something better over the 20 years since I last tried this, especially in the absence of the proper K14 processing. 

 

Now anyone got any ideas how I can develop or get processed, a roll of 70mm/50 exposure Kodak Ektachrome 64? 

 

Wilson

 

These people? http://www.johnsalimphotographic.co.uk/

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You can develop Kodachrome as black and white but you have to remove the black tarry rem-jet layer on the back of the film by softening it with a solution of borax and sodium carbonate with a very small amount of sodium hydroxide, then rub the rem-jet layer off with a sponge. This is a very messy business. When we tried this many years ago, I seem to remember we then used Kodak HC110 developer but the times and temperatures have faded from memory. The major problem is that the contrast is super high with very black and blocky shadows. People may have come up with something better over the 20 years since I last tried this, especially in the absence of the proper K14 processing. 

 

Now anyone got any ideas how I can develop or get processed, a roll of 70mm/50 exposure Kodak Ektachrome 64? 

 

Wilson

Thanks, Wilson. I'd been looking at developing as B&W some time ago, but the results I'd seen elsewhere didn't have me rushing towards it. It still remains an option, but I'm in no rush.

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Thanks, Wilson. I'd been looking at developing as B&W some time ago, but the results I'd seen elsewhere didn't have me rushing towards it. It still remains an option, but I'm in no rush.

 

Eoin,

 

I agree. Getting the rem-jet layer off manually is a horrible, difficult and very messy job. I believe that Kodak used rotating mops with chamois fingers to wipe it away under a stream of water, a bit like car wash rotors, after softening the coating in alkaline solution. 

 

Wilson

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Eoin,

 

I agree. Getting the rem-jet layer off manually is a horrible, difficult and very messy job. I believe that Kodak used rotating mops with chamois fingers to wipe it away under a stream of water, a bit like car wash rotors, after softening the coating in alkaline solution. 

 

Wilson

I may try taping it to the bonnet next time I go to a carwash...

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I may try taping it to the bonnet next time I go to a carwash...

 

But you will have to do it at night with the headlights off as the Rem-Jet layer has to come off before development. 

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In another weird and I suspect ultimately unsuccessful decision, Kodak has announced yesterday that it is going into business with the French electronics maker Archos, to make Android tablets. These low end tablets are expected to go on sale in summer this year. Six years ago, this might have looked like a clever decision but the world seems now to be saturated with tablets and sales of all makes and price bands are falling. Even the supermarkets have been selling their own cheap branded versions for years. 

 

Who is in charge at Kodak and making these poor decisions, that can ultimately only damage the brand? Kodak seem to dip into and out of markets, with no long term strategy or commitment and are thereby damaging their sole remaining  valuable asset, which is the brand. Just think of their disastrous forays into the cheap end point and shoot market with poorly resolved and uncompetitive cameras, made by various third parties and branded as Kodak. At the top end market, they made the similarly unresolved DCS Pro 14n/c, which could have been sorted but Kodak as usual, released it before it was properly developed and then just gave up. Their domestic colour printer business was another disaster. I had the misfortune to buy one and it was a nightmare with leaking ink carts, blocking print heads and once out of warranty (I had two warranty replacement printers) no service back up. Bankruptcy seems to have taught them nothing - how sad. George Eastman must be turning in his grave. There is an interesting book by Catherine Neutenegger, about the industrial graveyard that is Rochester, NY, where Kodak was the sole major employer for the last 100+ years. 

 

Wilson

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  • 2 weeks later...

    ...still wrapped up and frozen - I am in no hurry. Thanks for all the input, folks - very informative.

 

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