A True End Of An Era: Kodak Discontinues Kodachrome

It has been ages since I have used film, but I did listen sadly to the fact that Kodachrome is being discontinued. It does make one wonder if film is on its way out completely. That would be hard for some of you master craftspeople who still use it. I am sorry, but I suppose that it just does not sell enough to justify continuing to produce it.

I fear that film will eventually go the way of records, Beta tapes, and so on. If you look back at inventions at the beginning of the industrial age and how many things are just not used anymore, it is a given that film will be a memory, too. Look at analog tv. It is not here anymore!! It is all digital. One thing that scares me is if we ever lost electricity, how could we all live? LOL I remember dialing a phone, then push button came, and now I can just say a name and it dials. Soon it will be in my head and I will just think it!! LOL Progress is good, but I think that when things go from our youth, we miss it as it is like losing a part of us, in a way like losing a pet or a loved one. It is part of the "fabric of our lives".

An interesting bit of news is that KODAK was one of the first to enter into the digital camera field. At first it was just for professionals with a 1 or 2 mp camera costing in the neighborhood of $20,000. In today's market they are a leader in consumer digital cameras and in in the extreme high end cameras.

that's what Kodak says, and it is a shame, I hear that there are a few other print films going to be out there, but its a shame about the loss of the "King" of film, Kodachrome (mom don't take my Kodachrome...)

[i]Kodachrome They give us those nice bright colors They give us the greens of summers Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah I got a nikon camera I love to take a photograph So mama don't take my kodachrome away[/i]

I love photography and that was the only kind of film I used for years. I had several cases of it. I will go out and buy what I can now that they will mark it all down. It is a good film. I have a Pentax K1000. It is a oldie but a goodie. Most colleges make students find this camera if they are in beginner photography.

Well it does loook like it now every thing seems to go digital.

I saw online that they were discontinuing Kodachrome, it's very sad. I don't even own a film camera anymore but I think about that song by Paul Simon and it's just so very sad. I guess it's nostalgia. Technology advances, right? I guess one day film will be completely phased out, it's a very odd thought but I suppose it's very possible. Here's one weird thought for you...we're wistful for the way things used to be, is it because we particularly enjoyed the things or are they only reminders of a time when life was a lot simpler?

I too learned to develop and print my own b & w photos. I have had a dark room set up for years and years. (I don't have one now, but in the near future I plan to build myself another one as I do miss the nights spent processing photos). I used a LOT of Kodachrome film through the years, I loved the texture and grain I was able to get from the film. I won quite a few awards with pictures that I entered into various contests. One was a combination, it was a brush fire and I added a copter that had been hovering near the fire but not close enough to get into the picture. It took several first place prizes. I understand the love of digital pictures, but digital never will compare with the thrill of printing that one perfect picture from a roll of black and white. It doesn't compare with the fun you have with manipulating the picture on your own rather than using the computer... Or the fun of developing that roll of film and waiting for the moment you can pull it out of the wash and see how the various shots turned out. It brings to mind one of the photo classes I attended in Montana. I knew the instructor very well so I could come in on his beginning photo class and use the dark room and chemicals. I had two rolls of film to develop and rolled them on the spools, placed them in the tank, and started the developing process. This was the first time for the other students to develop their rolls of film so they didn't know what to expect. I got all the way through the process and pulled the rolls out of the tank...the first roll came out great but the second one didn't have one picture on it! I pulled it off the spool and cried out "OH MY GOD!!! ALL THE PICTURES FELL OFF THE FILM AND WENT DOWN THE DRAIN!!!" Immediately there were ten students leaning over the sink looking for my pictures that washed down the drain. After the instructor and I had a good laugh, he explained that the pictures didn't really fall off the film and go down the sink, that I probably didn't really shoot the roll. I hope that we will always have film for our cameras so that we can continue with the art of capturing images and tantilizing people's imaginations with black and white pictures. With the high costs of the silver and other alloys and chemicals it probably has become too expensive to keep the Kodachrome on the market. I have had to, at times, use AGFA, Ilford and Fuji black and white film. Ilford is pretty good, but it doesn't compare to Kodak. Have you tried infra red photography? It's really fun to use, and it is a challange as you have to deal with it in total darkness.

The advance of technology bites us all. I did not get into photography until my wife brought a digitual camera to take pictures of her pottery; then I ended up using the camera more than she does. So for me, film is a non-issue. On the other hand, as a regular artist, I find working with photoshop and other graphic programs to be a pain. I do not see any artist does it. I prefer holding a pencil in hand; it gives me better control. I am not fond of scanning items either. I recently scanned a set of color scales, and just shoock my head; the colors were so off after the scanning. The biggest discontination that affected me was when they quit making ribbons for the typewriter that I used to use. I miss my typewriter. Writing without a computer made you think more; you were less likely to use the exact same words that you did on your previous draft.

I remember the same thing when Polaroid phased out their film cameras. I have gone over to digital myself, but my husband still has a film camera. That he never uses.... My big concern with digital is that I really, really, really need to find the time to get come copies of the good photos printed out as I want to have something to hand down to the kids.

Time passes and Digital Era are here, but millions still use Film Photography i think film will still be alive for more years to come, but time can only tell. To kodakchrome will be discontinued but never forgotten....