Monday, September 29, 2008

End of an Era

I read with a bit of sadness an AP article printed in our local on the paper on the probable demise of Kodachrome film. I have mostly been shooting digitally myself for quite a long time, so I guess I am a part of the reason for this happening.

I loved Kodachrome. I shot it exclusively for many years, even after the E6 films had improved to a point they rivaled Kodachrome quality.

About 25 years ago I was in the camera department of a local store and they had all of their stock of Kodachrome 25 marked down to a dollar a roll. Most of them were 36 exposure rolls.
It was close dated but I bought all they had and put it in the freezer. I think I ended up with about 50 or so rolls of the stuff. It lasted me about 10 months. I was sad to shoot the last roll of it. It was a very sharp film and I loved the colors that it gave me.

Even though Kodak hasn't officially announced they are ending the production of this great film, the current stocks of the film have a 2009 expiration date, and as of yet they haven't produced any more.

I'm sure that it will be a mater of time.

Maybe I'll get a few rolls and shoot them before this film goes the way of the Dodo. So I can say I shot it till the end.