Kodachrome days- to be revisited?

Last week Kodak  announced that they are commencing manufacture of Ektachrome colour slide film again and that they will be launching a Super 8 film camera to use Ektachrome Super 8 film.See  KODAK
They also announced that they are investigating the feasibility of manufacturing Kodachrome film again. Behind these announcements is the fact there has been a big upswing in demand for film from younger enthusiasts who are turning to film in the same way as young music enthusiasts are turning to vinyl records. Also many movie studios want to shoot on film for the "look". It seems as if everything old is new again.

Fuji have been trying very hard to drive their remaining film business into the ground by repeatadly jacking up prices and discontinuing emulsions. Maybe Kodak's move will cause them to reappraise this strategy.
Starting Kodachrome again will not be easy. Most of the complex coating equipment will have been scrapped. Also much of the hands on know how will have been lost when the technicians left. There is also the question of processing as Kodachrome requires complex processing. There was only one Kodachrome processing lab left operating when Kodak discontinued manufacture of the film, Dwayne's Photo Service in Parsons, Kansas, USA and that processed the " last" roll of Kodachrome which was taken by Steve McCurry in 2010.

If Kodachrome does reappear I would be tempted to run a few rolls through my Hasselblad. Big 6x6 Kodachrome slides-magic but surely very expensive.

I first put the story below onto the blog in November 2013 and it maybe of interest again in view of Kodak's announcement.

Early Kodachrome Days

I found this Kodachrome slide last weekend in a shoebox full of discarded slides. It was taken by me in 1960 on my first camera-an Halina 35X-pictured below.
The Halina was apparently made in China - although it was marked "Made in Hong Kong"-and had a resemblance to a Leica although Leica themselves had not adopted the red dot at that time. Maybe the Leica resemblance and a few favourable reviews and the price attracted me. As it happens I have fond memories of that camera and its surprisingly good results. Of course it had no exposure metering so I used a newly acquired and quite reliable little hand held Hanimex Sekonic lightmeter. The Halina had a metal body and you had to manually cock the shutter as well as advance the film after each shot and I do remember that the focussing was always very stiff which I found out was a characteristic of the model not just my example.

Soon after I received the camera as my 14th birthday present from my parents I took it and a much prized cassette of the -to me- incredibly expensive Kodachrome film on our family holiday to N Devon in the UK. The Kodachrome was the original 10 ASA ( today's ISO) emulsion. Hand held shots were really only possible in bright sunlight- usually a rare commodity in the UK but not luckily on that holiday. The film had almost no exposure latitude and it was very contrasty. But it was sharp and the colours were bright as you would expect from Kodachrome. Of course the last thing you need with a contrasty film is bright sunlight but with only 10 ISO and a maximum aperture on the camera of F3.5 you really had no choice.
Kodachrome could at that time only be processed by Kodak themselves and the processing was included in the price of the film. When you purchased the film there was a small envelope in the box and you put the cassette of exposed film into it , stuck on some postage stamps and posted it back to Kodak -in my case to their laboratory in the UK. A week or so later a little yellow box of 36 mounted slides popped through the post box. The films were identified by Kodak with numbers on labels which were stapled on the leader of the films as they were put into the processing machine. It seems these labels often became detached and I received the incorrect slides on a number of occasions. It must have been very harrowing for someone waiting for slides of the big wedding or whatever to receive someone else's slides. I heard that at that time Kodak had a department wholly devoted to chasing up incorrectly directed slides.
This-above- is the first slide I have ever scanned from that little very basic camera and I am still very surprised by the quality. I have not manipulated it at all .This is just how it came out of the camera. This slide is 53 years old -from a completely different era. Since then everything has changed and improved so much - including hopefully my photographic skills.
But this story just took another turn for on Monday morning it was pouring with rain (at last) and I spent time clearing out a cupboard and found a slide numbered "1" on the cardboard mount from that first film. It was, not perhaps surprisingly, a photo of my home at that time- 17 Station Avenue, Ewell, Surrey, England. There was little fogging into the lip of the cassette which is visible on the right hand edge. I did search in Lightroom for some detail in the shadows but there is none -they are black .That's how it was. So there - bottom-my first colour photo - the first of tens of thousands as it turned out.

I'm not right in the head

Well it has been raining for two days so far and I am stuck indoors-which I really do not enjoy - but I have taken the opportunity to have a mammoth clean out of my office/study.I have tried to be ruthless -things which seemed worth keeping even a couple of years ago have gone into the garbage.
I need to take a very deep breath and dispose of some books.I have given a few away lately but I need to do better.But at least I do not keep magazines.

There are so many negatives.prints and slides in boxes.So many "gems" waiting to be discovered or rediscovered but the reality is that they will never see the light of day again.This set me reflecting on how much time and money I have spent on photography over the past 50 odd years and what I have achieved.I certainly did not do it for financial reward because it has been a serious money hole-perhaps not as bad as a boat or smoking or gambling or motor racing but a big hole nonetheless.
I have won a few competitions and had photos and photo stories published over the years but the reward to effort ratio is very poor.So why do I do it? I guess that I do it because it is an engaging activity.It certainly gives me a different point of view-I see the world in a different way as I constantly look for photo opportunities.But maybe beyond this justification it is because I'm not right in the head.This thought was triggered by an interesting and very well written blog I recently read where the author asks that question see IS RELEVANCE RELEVANT?

 In an effort to prove the proposition that I'm also not right in the head whilst on my clean up I sought out an example of my photographic eccentricity where I expended effort and money on a totally pointless photographic exercise- and I decided that Scala film is a very good example.
Now Scala was a black and white slide film made by the German Agfa company.Production seems to have stopped about 9 years ago.It had to be processed by specialist labs so even if there is some still around in freezers processing would be an issue.The film was very fine grain and had great tonality but so what.Imagine being invited to a black and white slide evening.
Whoever needed black and white slides? Well certainly not me but that did not stop me out of curiosity running a 36 exposure film through my Leica back in 1998.I have mislaid or more probably thrown out most of the slides but here are two examples to prove that I am not right in the head.
Note - Since typing the above I have been told that there is a lab in Denver still processing Scala film.

It's all about the lens

I've posted this story because a very kind reader of the blog from the US has emailed me to say that he loves the blog-thank you,Jim- but he is new to photography and he just cannot understand why I am so enthusiastic about the Leica X1 as it seems to him to have a very basic specification and lacks the features he would expect on a camera costing a quarter of the price.
Jim,forget all the bells and whistles-they are just frills-all you need are some basic controls and a superb lens.It's all about the lens and the proof of the pudding is in the eating as the old saying goes.
Take a look at the photo below -on a fullsize monitor not on a tablet or worse still a phone.It was a handheld shot taken with the Leica X1 from the top of the Arc De Triomph in Paris last year.This is from a DNG (RAW) file which I have not sharpened There is some slight distortion because the camera was pointing down.The resolution is so good that on the original file on my Mac monitor I can easily read the names on the cafe awnings on the sidewalk well down the Champs Elysees.I can also see the bags people are carrying far in the distance and read a sign on a building right on the side of the frame.The resolution of the lens is excellent right upto the corners but it's a "gentle" sharpness not the harsh "edgy" sharpness you get with so many cameras nowadays.And look at the colour.It really looks like the colours and tones of Paris on a very dull July day.

The technical details are Leica X1-24mm -ISO 100 -1/320th at F5.6.The photo is the full frame-originally just 12 MP.

And as they say in the ads ..wait there's more,Jim.Below are a few more photos from my X1 file.These are all jpegs -the X1 can turn out beautiful jpegs.Hopefully these shots are the clinchers and now you do understand why I am enthusiastic about the little X1.And the final good news Jim is that nowadays you can pick up a good X1 second hand for a modest sum.

One of the first pictures I ever took with my X1

Light thoughts

"If I knew how to take a good photograph, I'd do it every time."

Robert Doisneau 

 

The irony of this remark is that Robert Doisneau was a brilliant photographer who took many great photos the most famous of which is "The Kiss"-below.There was a large exhibition of his work in the Pompidou Centre in Paris when I was there in 2013.I don't know if it is a permanent display but if it is it is worth seeking out.

I've been taking photos for over 50 years and it really is only in the last few years that I have fully admitted to myself that it's the quality of the light which really makes a good photo.I should have heeded the words of George Eastman earlier.
 

“EMBRACE LIGHT. ADMIRE IT. LOVE IT. BUT ABOVE ALL, KNOW LIGHT. KNOW IF FOR ALL YOU ARE WORTH, AND YOU WILL KNOW THE KEY TO PHOTOGRAPHY” 

GEORGE EASTMAN (1854-1932) FOUNDER OF EASTMAN KODAK 

The right light really is ingredient X.That's what Doisneau captured in this photo above.Granted it's a very captivating scene in an iconic location but look at the wonderful light and how he has exposed for the couple and let the building in the background burn out and how the light has pulled up the edges of the subjects.Although this looks like an amazing "decisive moment" and it was applauded as such for many years we now know that it was staged.Despite this it is still a great photo and he certainly set it up to use the light very effectively.

I tried to do the same in the portrait of grandaughter,Poppy, below.I exposed for her face and let the background burn out and the diffused back/side sunlight caught her hair and the side of her face and shoulders.
Photo Leica X Vario.

The strong early morning side lighting turned the scene of the painters below into a photograph worth taking for me in my travels up the north coast earlier this week.The photograph was not without its moments as the painters saw me taking it and turned rather hostile suspecting that I was an undercover inspector from the government health and safety organisation.I was able to reassure them,just,that I was only an eccentric who walked around on very early cold mornings carrying a camera and photographing men up ladders for fun.Leica X1 photo.

Full moon

Full moon over Terrigal -4th March 9.28pm.Leica X Vario photo.1/30th second at F4.5.ISO 12500.Noise reduction and B&W conversion in LR5.

Bathurst 12 hours-A Really Great Race.

I spent the weekend in Bathurst in western NSW with friend Warren at the Bathurst 12 hour GT tace.and it was fabulous.I have not been to the Mount Panorama track for a few years since a lot of money has been spent on the facilities.It is now not only one of the world's greatest race circuits but it now has great facilities for the spectators and the crews.
The admission price was very good value( astonishing value compared to the F1 Grand Prix ),the viewing areas are excellent,there was by Australian standards a good crowd and the ambience was wonderful.

The admission price included admission to the paddock and you could look into the pits and even talk to the drivers.It was a world away from Formula 1.The spectators were knowledgeable motor racing fans and there were lots of families.It was just delightful and I thought I would never say this but to my mind it was nearly as good as the Le Mans 24 hour race.And it was only 300 kms from home over the Blue Mountains.

The only negatives were that it was just a bit too hot -34ºC ambient and clear skies at 2.00pm with a track temperature of 54ºC and many of the overseas drivers charged a little too hard and did not give the circuit the respect it demands so there were way too many incidents and way too many safety car deployments as a result.

The race itself was an absolute cracker and the last 2 laps were the most exciting motor racing I have ever seen in 50 years of spectating with the lead being contested by 7 cars.In the end a Nissan GT-R driven by Chuyo San,Reep and Strauss won from an Audi R8 with an Aston Martin in third place.The variety of front running cars was great-the first seven places were taken by Nissan,Audi,Aston-Martin,Bentley,Mercedes,Ferrari and Lamborghini-but sadly no Porsche.In qualifying Belgian driver,Laurens Vantoor in an Audi R8,recorded the fastest ever lap of the Mount Panorama circuit.This car finished in second place.

Overall a fantastic weekend and thank you Warren for being excellent company.I was silly enough to carry a load of camera gear with me hiking over the top of that very hot mountain thereby breaking all my own rules about carrying minimal gear and not taking anymore action photos of motor sport.You can judge whether my efforts were worthwhile from this selection of photos from the weekend.I will post details of the gear in a future story and more photos will follow.

The weekend's most important piece of gear-sunscreen.

A taste of France

 I reckon that French tourism will need all the help it can get in 2015 so I'm chiming in with my contributions in the hope that someone in the French Tourism Office will notice and thank me in the usual fashion-a return air ticket to Sydney to Paris will be just fine.Nothing fancy-I'll be happy to take the back of the bus if the budget is tight.Dream on.
Anyway some photos of French food -all taken on my meanderings in Paris.French food is just special.Enjoy and plan your trip to France for 2015.

The Pick of 2014

Over 250 photos have appeared on the blog during 2014 so selecting a year end "pick of" selection is not easy.I have selected photos taken by me which for me best evoke the atmosphere of a place or event.
The selection includes photos of the Le Mans Classic,China,Hong Kong,France and in particular Paris,Germany,Austria and Australia.
I really like photographing people and 65% of the photos I have selected contain people.Any selection I make has to include photos of Porsches and of course cats although in this case it is not one of my cats which makes the cut.Most of the photos were taken with the Leica X1.