Travel Photography - R.I.P. Ektachrome - The Last Of Kodak's Slide Films Are No More

As of March 1, 2012 Kodak will no longer manufacture Ektachrome, the last of their color reversal [slide] films.

To say that Kodak discontinuing all of their slide films marks "end of an era" seems like a pathetic understatement. :(

"Due to a steady decrease in sales and customer usage, Kodak is ceasing production of KODAK PROFESSIONAL ELITE Chrome Extra Color 100 Film. We estimate that, based on current sales pace, supplies of this film are expected to be available in the market for the next six to nine months; however, inventories may run out before then, depending on demand." Kodak (http://store.kodak.com/store/ekconsus/en_US/ContentTheme/pbPage.35mm_slide_film)

Conventional wisdom is that Kodak Movie Film - which is itself essentially just long rolls of Ektachrome, will also soon be gone.

I put in an order locally for 2 pro packs of 120 and 4 individual 35mm.

I prefer E100G over Velvia it's v natural. Cannot use it too often or it would look plain but thai/caribean beaches, sunset/twilight over HKG/NYC CBD, beautiful.

I don't have medium format yet but intend to .... Didn't get it from the USA this time as didn't have much to get and the postal was quite hefty at $50USD.

Unfortunate. Very unfortunate.

While I'm not totally surprised, I still love using film. I shot a lot of Ektachrome over the years, and processed much of it myself.

It's only a matter of time before Kodak's out of film entirely.

Hope Fuji stays in the game.

When I was into photography in a big way (70's and 80's) I shot Kodachrome and Ektachrome exclusively for color photography. Developed the Ekta (E-6) myself. Then used CibaColor processing to print slide to paper.

For Black and White I shot exclusively Ilford. Actually think I have a roll or two of unexposed 120 laying about somewhere from the medium format cameras I used to own. Developed and printed everything myself. Still have my darkroom setup. Packed away collecting dust in the basement. Not even worth selling on eBay I don't think, is it?

Sold all of my 35mm and medium format cameras and lenses years ago.

Used to love photography back then.

As you say, truly, the end of an era. Sad in a way.

Sad to see this but it was inevitable. I shot a lot of Extachrome and Kodachrome. Some fond memories but really all I use is digital now except for the occasional medium format shot. And I havent done one of those in years, and more like 10 years since I shot large format.

Sad to see this but it was inevitable. I shot a lot of Extachrome and Kodachrome. Some fond memories but really all I use is digital now except for the occasional medium format shot. And I havent done one of those in years, and more like 10 years since I shot large format.

A lot of professional commercial, industrial, and fine art photographers still use Ektachrome, particularly in 120, 4x5, and 8x10.

Given that it takes nearly a year to produce a run of Ektachrome - thus Kodak likely made their last run 6-8 months ago - I wonder if, in light of the bankruptcy, they now wish they had made a different decision as film/paper/chemistry is one of the highest profit of their remaining businesses and accounts for a great deal of their cash flow.

I am really surprised that they didn't at least consolidate the remaining three of their Ektachrome emulsions into a single "super" Ektachrome, the way they did with Portra/Ektar.

A lot of professional commercial, industrial, and fine art photographers still use Ektachrome, particularly in 120, 4x5, and 8x10.

I'm a commercial photographer and I haven't shot film in close to ten years. My local store, Calumet, wouldn't take my 4 x 5 or Mamiya RZ as a trade in toward other equipment so I donated the 4 X 5 to a school, and the Mamiya is sitting in my closet. Someone must still be shooting film, but outside of a friend who is a fine art guy I really can't think of anyone. Looking back, shooting film was a real pain in the *ss.

I'm a commercial photographer and I haven't shot film in close to ten years. My local store, Calumet, wouldn't take my 4 x 5 or Mamiya RZ as a trade in toward other equipment so I donated the 4 X 5 to a school, and the Mamiya is sitting in my closet. Someone must still be shooting film, but outside of a friend who is a fine art guy I really can't think of anyone. Looking back, shooting film was a real pain in the *ss.I was on a photo walk at a local state park yesterday and two of the 15 or so photographers were shooting with medium format cameras with black & white film. So they are still out there.

I'm a commercial photographer and I haven't shot film in close to ten years. My local store, Calumet, wouldn't take my 4 x 5 or Mamiya RZ as a trade in toward other equipment so I donated the 4 X 5 to a school, and the Mamiya is sitting in my closet. Someone must still be shooting film, but outside of a friend who is a fine art guy I really can't think of anyone. Looking back, shooting film was a real pain in the *ss.

I suppose that "a lot" is a relative term these days, but I know of at least two architectural photographers, one product photographer and a handful of fine art photographers who still shoot film professionally and every time I am in Samy's in L.A. or B&H in NYC I see "a lot" of film, paper, and chemistry moving across the counter.

Obviously film will never again be used as widely as it once was and photographers in specialties like photojournalism might not ever use it again, but I still believe - or would like to believe - that there is still a viable market for at least one Ektachrome emulsion.

Sad times indeed !! There was always something special (mildly sexy) about holding a 4x5 tranny or a roll of 120 to a light box. that doesn't exist with a memory card, at least for me .....:(

I'm a commercial photographer and I haven't shot film in close to ten years. My local store, Calumet, wouldn't take my 4 x 5 or Mamiya RZ as a trade in toward other equipment so I donated the 4 X 5 to a school, and the Mamiya is sitting in my closet. Someone must still be shooting film, but outside of a friend who is a fine art guy I really can't think of anyone. Looking back, shooting film was a real pain in the *ss.

I shot my last roll of film the day before the cutoff at dwaynes for kodachrome that I overnighted to them for processing. That was the last film I shot.

Shooting film was a pain in the ..., and expensive as well but in calculatig the costs for (Film vs Digital) its coming out at about the same once. I was able to get a good price for my 35mm bodies, but was offered chump change for my 645AFD so i just hold onto it and use it to shoot B&W.

Now if a decent offer came in I would take it as 98% of my work I can shoot digitally (capture or output) with good results.

The film images are typically fine art images. I just wish digital fiber B&W would come down in price as I prefer the look/feel of fiber prints

I was on a photo walk at a local state park yesterday and two of the 15 or so photographers were shooting with medium format cameras with black & white film. So they are still out there.

Thats about the same % i see locally.

The only film I still shoot is MF Black & White (Processed in/by DR5 (http://dr5.com/)) as the slides scan very well on a tango drum scanner or my nikon 9000.

I still shoot film as well as digital. Primarily "art" type work for the film - I think it has wider "depth" (dynamic range) if the film is properly exposed. I took some digital photos of the US Capitol yesterday - bright sun - and found that there was some "washout" in the areas of the white facade that were the brightest with the rest of the photo looking well exposed. (I also did an HDR shot of the same thing using Photomatix as a post, and it looked much better). I've not had that issue with good film that's properly exposed. Once you hit clipping in digital realm, you're done. With film, there's generally a bit of latitude unless you've grossly mis-exposed the frame.

For paid commercial work, digital is preferred as you don't have to process the film - essentially no delay. You can tell if the shot is right or needs adjustment instantly. Saves time and money, reduces risk. For most commercial work (not all), tradeoffs in dynamic range, fine detail, and noise-vs-grain are not as important as art work.

For general consumers, digital wins, hands down.

For paid commercial work, digital is preferred as you don't have to process the film - essentially no delay. You can tell if the shot is right or needs adjustment instantly. Saves time and money, reduces risk. For most commercial work (not all), tradeoffs in dynamic range, fine detail, and noise-vs-grain are not as important as art work.

The thing which used to keep me up at night was exposure. If Ektachrome was a half stop too light you were in trouble. Sure you could ask the lab to pull (underdevelop) the film but you risked having a blue, muddy mess. With raw files in digital I can be off and no one will know.

The thing which used to keep me up at night was exposure. If Ektachrome was a half stop too light you were in trouble. Sure you could ask the lab to pull (underdevelop) the film but you risked having a blue, muddy mess. With raw files in digital I can be off and no one will know.

Agree.

And I much prefer digital to color negative film. Any day of the week. (I've got a large plastic tub full of Kodacolor and Fuji negatives).

Sad but inevitable. How are you going to compete with iPhone and Instagram which are so simple, sophisticated, artsy, and instantaneous that even a 3 year old can do?

Sad but inevitable. How are you going to compete with iPhone and Instagram which are so simple, sophisticated, artsy, and instantaneous that even a 3 year old can do?

:confused:

That might be a good argument for discontinuing Kodak Gold 100 print film but the iPhone [regardless of the app used] isn't in any way, shape, or form capable of delivering a 16x20 contrast masked Ilfochrome print or a 4-color CMYK print on high quality book or magazine stock that jumps out and pulls the viewer in.

Again, I am not curious as to why the casual snap shooter no longer shoots film, but given the number of photographers who do still shoot film I am surprised that Kodak could not still make a profit with a single pro-grade Ektachrome emulsion.

In fact I am almost sure that they could, but with their recent financial troubles they no longer want to.

iPhone [regardless of the app used] isn't in any way, shape, or form capable of delivering a 16x20 contrast masked Ilfochrome print

LOL, you're taking me back in time. My first job out of photo school in 1981 was in a lab in LA making Cibachrome prints. Ahh, the smell of hot sulfuric acid vapor going up your nose. You've never lived if you haven't experienced it... :p

My alma mater (local state university) has a photography program which still includes film-based courses. Last month I donated my old Canon AE1 body and several Canon lenses to the school since I have switched over to digital Nikon. The department chair was very appreciative of my donation especially since my old camera and lenses were in near new condition. They'll be put into their school's loaner program for the photography students to use.

So if you have some old film equipment you don't feel like selling on eBay or Craigslist, consider checking with your local schools to see if they can use a donation.

LOL, you're taking me back in time. My first job out of photo school in 1981 was in a lab in LA making Cibachrome prints. Ahh, the smell of hot sulfuric acid vapor going up your nose. You've never lived if you haven't experienced it... :p

Which lab did you work at? I use A&I and have used Image Experts, until they went out of business [or were they bought by RPL?], though I don't know if either of those labs were around in the early 80's.

Doing home Ciba/Ilfochrome prints using a Jobo was actually pretty easy - especially compared to doing home R prints but I found that unless you were doing a relatively high number of prints at one time then it was no less expensive then taking it to a good lab.

I must admit that my after switching from Canon film EOS cameras to a 40D my processing work flow became quicker and simplified (no cutting and storing negatives, etc.). I also don't have to subject my friends and family to any more of my travel slide shows. However, I still take my rangefinder along on my trips as its a great travel sized camera. Not too big with good quality glass. Shooting slide film through that camera is a special treat. I recently switched to the Kodak slide emulsions as I thought they were more versitile than the Fuji Astia I normally shoot.

I really notice the difference when I run some slide film through my 6x7. Oh man its a beast, but the medium format slide enlargements look soooo much better anything I can get with my 40D (even with L glass).

With the amount of information thats shared online its inevitable that travelers will prefer digital photography. But there's been a recent renewed interest in film, especially from the hipster crowd. I'm suprised at how many Leicas I see on my travels these days. I can't remember the last time I saw a trip report done with film.

Anyone want to host a slide fim party?


Oh, and anyone wanting to offload their film equipment PM me!